The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).
The Fingal/North Dublin Transport Study commissioned by the NTA, and which concluded in 2015, examined all existing proposals as well as other possible options to meet the transport needs on the Swords/Dublin Airport/City Centre corridor in the long term. Following the identificiation of an initial 25 options, a short-list of 6 alternatives was selected for comprehensive comparative assessment. This short-list included the DART spur from Clongriffin to the Airport. All the short-listed options were subject to a public consultation process.
Following consideration of the study and the recommendations of the NTA arising from this study, the Government decided that a light-rail link - the new Metro North project - is the optimum long term public transport solution on the corridor. Considerations around the TEN-T regulations for the core network corridor were included in the Fingal/North Dublin Transport study.
The NTA's Transport Strategy for the GDA for the period 2016-2035 was approved by my predecessor last year and published. This now provides the statutory framework for the development of public transport infrastructure in the GDA over the next two decades. The new Metro North project is included in the Strategy; the DART spur from Clongriffin to the airport is not.
Funding for the development of new Metro North is provided under under the Capital Plan which will facilitate construction starting in 2021 with a view to delivering the project by 2026/2027. The Programme for Partnership Government also commits to proceeding with the project.
