Cabinet to consider approving increased cost of Metrolink project
The completion date is ‘still’ the mid-2030s despite issues the project has faced.
The cost of the MetroLink project could rise as a new business model is to be considered by the government.
The interim chief of the Metrolink told an Oireachtas committee that an updated cost for the project could not be shared publicly until ministers had considered the proposal.
The last estimated cost in 2021 ranged between 7.16 billion and 12.25 billion euro.
Interim programme director Michael Flynn told committee members this did not reflect “significant” inflation in the construction sector since then.
“It’s important to note that this figure is over five years old and does not reflect significant construction inflation in recent years, as well as a number of new requirements and commitments that have been incorporated through the railway order process, all of which will influence the updated cost profile,” he told the committee on infrastructure and the National Development Plan delivery.
“We have concluded the re-examining of the overall cost forecast model and have submitted a revised business case to the National Transport Authority.
“They are undertaking a comprehensive review of this business case in collaboration with the Department of Transport, and we anticipate a government decision on MetroLink in the coming weeks.
“As this revised business case requires consideration by Cabinet, it would not be appropriate to discuss the figures until it has received government sign-off.”
Mr Flynn said “strong momentum” was key to “cost control” and said they were still expecting the project to be completed by the mid-2030s.
A metro line for Dublin has been proposed over recent decades, but none have yet proceeded to build stage – despite hundreds of millions of euros being spent on different planned routes.
The current plan is for an 18.8km route with 16 stations, most of which will be underground, that is expected to allow people to travel from Dublin Airport and Swords to the city centre in around 25 minutes.
Mr Flynn said it would “seamlessly integrate” with rail, Luas tram, and bus services, with a future peak capacity of up to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction.
The long-delayed flagship infrastructure project faced the resignation of its programme director Sean Sweeney this year and a residents’ legal challenge ahead of construction due to begin next year.
New Zealander Mr Sweeney, who said his departure was due to family reasons, had estimated that major construction would start at the end of 2027 and that it could be the mid-2030s before people would be able to take the metro to the airport.
Mr Flynn said that they were “still aiming” for the mid-2030s despite an impact on the planning process and the fact that two years had been added to the timescale.
“So obviously there’s been an impact on the planning process, so achieving the railway order has broadly added two years to the timescales that we had envisaged when we’re doing the preliminary business case, but those timescales will then get firmed up once we get through the approval process,” he said.
“We’re still aiming for the mid-2030s.”
He said 725 million euro will have been spent on the project by the end of 2026.
Asked whether consideration had been given for an Irish name for the project and the use of Irish for station names, Mr Flynn said: “It’s not something that I have familiarity with, but I will go back to base and come back to you with an answer on that.”