The opening of Dublin’s MetroLink in the mid-2030s is said to be “looking like a pipe dream,” as planners in An Bord Pleanala have instructed Transport Infrastructure Ireland to hold a secondary public consultation period to enable the public submissions on additional information submitted during the projects oral hearings.
The oral hearing concluded four months ago, and consultation on the new information will run from August 19th to October 8th, 2024.
An Bord Pleanala’s ability to deal with large transport projects was recently questioned as it took two years to approve the Dart+ West project. In that case, the An Bord Pleanála board had its inspector’s report for around 180 days before making a decision on the project.
MetroLink’s railway order planning application was submitted in September 2022. If there is a similar time frame between an inspector’s report being submitted to the board and the board publishing its decision, the project is unlikely to be decided on until at least mid-2025.
Professor Brian Caulfield, head of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, said: “More consultation, this will bring us into a 3rd year of the planning process… mid-2030s looking like a pipe dream for the delivery of Metro.”
Dublin Commuters, a group that advocates for better sustainable transport, said, “Another round of consultation for MetroLink will surely lead to more delays to its implementation and increased costs.”
The group added: “We’ll be encouraging everyone to submit positive responses when it reopens later this month.”
In a LinkedIn post, the official MetroLink account said: “With the average worker spending almost a month and a half stuck in traffic each year in the capital, MetroLink is urgently needed to improve the quality of life for the people who work, live, and visit here.”
“An oral hearing into the MetroLink project was held earlier this year. An Bord Pleanala has now instructed TII, to hold a secondary public consultation period, to enable the public to review and consider additional information submitted during that hearing,” the MetroLink project team said.
MetroLink said that all documentation for the second round of public consultation is available to view online at the Oral Hearing Documents for Second Round of Public Consultation section on www.metrolinkro.ie.
Hard copies will also be available from August 19 2024 to October 8 2024 at An Bord Pleanala offices, Dublin City Council offices at Civic Offices at Wood Quay, Fingal County Council offices at County Hall in Swords, Transport Infrastructure Ireland offices at Parkgate Business Centre, National Transport Authority (NTA) offices Harcourt Lane and at Ballymun Library. TII said that a workstation with PC will also be available at TII offices to enable all relevant documentation to be accessible for individuals with visual impairments.
IMAGES: Artist impressions of MetroLink, including it passing over the M50 and near Swords.
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Ireland is so behind when it comes to infrastructure!
The metroLink would be a great benefit for Dublin City, especially to and from the Airport, pity it’s not in the plan to come down towards Greystones.
Trying to drive to and from the airport during peak times is next to impossible with traffic congestion.
If you come upon an accident the motorway almost shuts down.
My family were heading back to London last week so i dropped them to get the Aircoach bus across from the Stillorgan Talbot, we waited almost an hour and no sign of a bus, other people were also waiting.
We had to jump in the car and head for the Airport, luckily they had enough time to catch their flight, the other people waiting at the bus stop ended up having to get a taxi.
It’s just a complete joke.
You’d think it would be easier to catch the Aircoach nearer the city than it would be from Wicklow.
Can’t understand why An Bord Pleanála takes so long to get anything done, get heads out of the sand and get the planning sorted.
We’re in the 21st Century, lets move along.
If heading to Dub Airport from Greystones, it would surely be easier, less expensive to the economy and environmentally mere sustainable if you could get a train connection from an already existing north side DART station for that extra few miles, rather than having an entirely new, single-purpose mega-expensive and environmentally destructive underground Metro. I think we need to be very alert to hidden-vested interests, of various sorts, supporting Metrolink.
Hi Charlie, what hidden vested interests are you referring to?
As for MetroLink being about the airport please see another recent article:
Only 1 of 16 MetroLink stations are at Dublin Aiport, so why are its opponents so focused on it? https://irishcycle.com/2024/08/07/only-1-of-16-metrolink-stations-is-at-dublin-aiport-so-why-are-its-opponents-so-focused-on-it/
That would take about 2 hours. You would actually be quicker by car.
Metro will cut that time to around 1 hr or less