DUBLIN AIRPORT may get a rail link if funding can be secured for a spur from the main Dublin Belfast line. A spokesman for Aer Rianta, operator of the airport, said the minimum investment would be £50 million.
Dublin is almost alone among European capitals in not having a rail link from the airport to the city centre.
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board chairman, Mr Roy Bailie, said Dublin could become the North's international airport if the rail spur was built. Belfast International Airport had a direct scheduled service to only one continental city, Amsterdam, Mr Bailie said. The North's tourist industry would be greatly aided by having the more varied air access Dublin could provide.
A new high speed train service between Dublin and Belfast is to come into operation this summer. Journey times will be reduced to 1 1/2 hours with nine trains daily in each direction.
A team from Aer Rianta, Iarnrod Eireann and the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications has been studying the feasibility of linking this enhanced service into Dublin Airport.
The Aer Rianta spokesman said the team has dismissed as unrealistic extending the Luas project to the airport. However, it believed a case could be made for a rail spur line, possibly from Balbriggan.
Support will be sought from the European Commission, which is largely funding Luas, as well as the Exchequer.
Iarnrod Eireann has already received the new rolling stock for the Dublin Belfast line. It was built in Alsace, France, by De Dietrich to Eurostar standards. A spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann said only the restaurant cars had yet to be delivered.