Does Dublin need a Metro rail service?



Metro North is an essential part of the infrastructure needed to support development and guarantee a better quality of life in Dublin, writes FRANK ALLEN

METRO NORTH is a response to the extraordinary growth in population and employment that has taken place in Dublin since the 1990s and is an essential part of the infrastructure needed to support future development.

Ireland's GDP doubled between 1996 and 2006 and employment grew by 40 per cent. Growth in the Dublin area was more dramatic, with employment rising in Dublin city and Co Dublin by 137 per cent and jobs in the Fingal area growing by 184 per cent.

These figures alone explain why the commute between Swords and the city centre has taken longer every year, particularly when many commuters do not have an attractive public transport option available to them. This private car dependency is also contributing to an unsustainable growth in energy usage.

We all want infrastructure to support economic development and commuters, shoppers and policymakers alike recognise that traffic congestion and negative environmental trends must be addressed.

The Government's commitment to fund major improvements in public transport through Transport 21 allowed the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) to begin public consultation on a route for Metro North. Excellent progress has been made in agreeing a preferred route and in achieving strong support from key stakeholders.

When we began consultation two years ago, it was clear that people saw Metro as a link between the city centre and the country's busiest airport. With active participation in consultation by residents, businesses and institutions, the role of Metro North as a vital link for communities on the northside of Dublin is now much better understood.

Metro North is recognised by Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council as necessary to achieving population growth without urban sprawl. Metro North will contribute to the success of Dublin City Council's regeneration of Ballymun and the renewal of the Parnell Square area. Fingal County Council's exciting plans to develop Swords as a consolidated town with a vibrant economy depend critically on proceeding with Metro North without delay.

Hospitals such as the Mater and the Rotunda recognise the benefits of a fast, high-frequency transport service at their doorstep. We are working closely with Dublin City University to integrate its campus with regional and national transport services.

A Metro stop at Drumcondra will provide excellent interchange with Iarnród Éireann's Maynooth line service and will accommodate large crowds attending Croke Park. All of these benefits will not be achieved by Metro North on its own but through interchange with Dart, the Luas Red and Green lines and with bus services at high quality interchanges at many stops.

Visitors to Dublin from the North will be able to park their cars at a 2,000 space park-and-ride at Belinstown and travel to the city centre by Metro in half an hour.

An argument has been made that Metro North should be delayed and that implementation of the Iarnród Éireann interconnector project should be advanced in its place. This argument makes little sense.

The interconnector, whose funding is also provided for in Transport 21, will integrate Dublin's suburban rail network and create additional capacity for commuter rail services. RPA and Iarnród Éireann are working closely together to ensure that passengers can avail of high-quality interchange between Metro North, the reconfigured Dart and the Luas Green line at St Stephen's Green.

This co-operation is also intended to limit the construction impact experienced by the public from the two projects. Apart from the St Stephen's Green interchange, the geographical areas to be served by Metro North and the interconnector are different; Dublin requires both projects to be implemented rather than one or the other.

Considering the advanced stage of design and progress with planning and procurement, a decision to reverse the order of implementation would do nothing to advance the interconnector and would put the implementation of Metro North in jeopardy.

Dublin's pace of economic growth is likely to slow in the short term, but any future projections of employment and population for the region call for high-capacity public transport. There are understandable historical reasons why the Government was not able to fund the scale of infrastructure in Dublin that is regarded as the minimum required for a reasonable quality of life in other European countries.

Through Transport 21, the Government has committed to investing in infrastructure to catch up with urban growth and to make growth sustainable. If we spend the next year agonising about Metro North, the sequence in which projects should be implemented or whether we need a European standard of public transport, we will be deciding in favour of urban sprawl, continued car dependency creating worsening gridlock and a poor quality of life for Dublin's future generations.

Frank Allen is chief executive of the Rail Procurement Agency

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