NOW IS THE time to get Metro North built, a seminar in Fingal was told yesterday.
Speaking at a mayor’s conference, the mayor of Fingal Cllr Darragh Butler said that the plan needed to be fast-tracked. He said that Fingal County Council is advocating the sustainable development and business case for Metro North to be fast-tracked so that future development can be underpinned by the service.
However, the deputy head of the National Transport Authority Hugh Creegan, speaking at the same event, said that fast-tracking may not be possible.
The chief executive of Fingal County Council said the metro “economic corridor” needed the certainty of fast-tracking to allow for future planning, especially considering the false dawns the project has endured.
“A decision to bring forward the implementation of this critical phase of national infrastructure will also create the certainty required to stimulate investment by public, commercial, semi-state and private sectors to ensure that complementary development occurs in the most suitable places and at the right time.”
The light rail line, which would link Dublin city to Swords via the airport, was originally announced in 2001 and formed a key part of the Transport 21 plan.
However, despite videos such as this being produced, no work has ever taken place.
The idea was revived in 2015 when the last government announced plans to build a 14-stop line by 2026 as part of a capital investment plan. It will cost over €2 billion.
At the mayor’s conference in Swords yesterday, delegates were told that Metro North could transform the northern Dublin economy.
Fingal County Council’s Director of Strategic and Planning Infrastructure, AnnMarie Farrelly, outlined how the Council has used its recently-approved 2017-2023 Development Plan to copper-fasten the Metro North Economic Corridor as far as Lissenhall where the Council envisages, in addition to a major park-and-ride facility, a new mixed use urban area with significant levels of residential and employment development.
Ed Hearne, Fingal County Council’s Director of Economic, Enterprise and Tourism, spoke about how Metro North will underpin the economic growth of the county and added:
“A decision on the early delivery of Metro North can bring the certainty and confidence to unlock further investment and deliver a transformative economic impact for Fingal and the Dublin region.”
Consultation
A public consultation on the plan will begin next year, local TD Alan Farrell says.
“I have received confirmation from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport that preparatory work is on-going in relation to the planning and design of Metro North and a dedicated steering group for the project has been established and is meeting regularly.
The National Transport Authority, working in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, is undertaking an option analysis to complete a selection study of station locations and the possible metro alignments. This will allow for the final route and station configuration to be finalised.
It is envisaged that some sections of the line close to the city and around the airport will be underground, with other parts of the mooted transport system running on elevated tracks.
The overall length of the project is 17km and around 30 trams will run in each direction an hour. Trams will be 60 metres long – twice the size of the current Luas trams – and will take 19 minutes to get from the airport to O’Connell Street.
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