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MetroLink application to go to An Bord Pleanala by Q2

A Railway Order application for the driverless Dublin MetroLink project will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála by end-Q2, the National Transport Authority has confirmed.

The National Transport Authority has clarified that there are no plans to delay or defer key projects such as Metrolink, Luas to Finglas, Luas to Lucan, Luas to Poolbeg, Luas to Bray, and DART+.

“This is not the case,” a spokesman said.

“NTA has not proposed any change in the timeline for MetroLink,” he said.

The project is scheduled to go to planning shortly, with construction to begin as soon as possible after that. 

Approval

The application will subject to Government approval of the Preliminary Business Case, which has been sent to the Department of Transport for review.

The Railway Order application will include an environmental-impact assessment report, which is nearing completion following the transposition last month of the updated European Directive on environmental impact.

In 2019, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority published their MetroLink preferred route from Swords in north county Dublin to Charlemont in Dublin 6, for public review and feedback.

Technical design

Work has continued to finalise technical design, undertake necessary surveys and investigations, and prepare the necessary documentation required to support a planning consent application.

MetroLink is a key part of:

• Project Ireland 2040,
• National Development Plan 2021-2030,
• Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2016-2035,
• Climate Action Plan 2021.

The total amount spent on MetroLink since 2016 21 is €88.1 million.

Implementation

The start of construction will be determined by the timing and outcome of the statutory planning process and the resolution of legal challenges, if any, the NTA spokesman said. 

The design team for the project has said that a prudent time for construction, systems’ installation, testing and commissioning, is between eight and nine years.

Contractors and suppliers may deliver earlier, however.

Luas to Finglas

The Luas to Finglas project is also due to go to planning in 2024.

The NTA believes that eight potential new Luas lines will be necessary in the decades ahead.

A new rail line is also proposed to serve Navan's projected population increases.

DART extended

DART services are to be extended, beyond DART+, to further locations such as Wicklow, Kilcock, and Sallins. 

DART+ is under design, and schemes including DART+ West and DART+ SouthWest are out for public consultation.

NTA and Íarnród Éireann will shortly announce a framework for the procurement of 600 electric/battery-electric-powered DART carriages for services on the Maynooth, Hazelhatch and Drogheda lines.

Provision remains for a DART tunnel.

Based on projections for 2042, the NTA believes that the net increase of those using public transport because of the tunnel would be 10,000 a day, as part of a total of about 1.4 million daily public-transport-users.