Detailed plans for the extension of the proposed Dublin airport metro to Swords, at a cost of about €300 million, have been worked out by the Railway Procurement Agency and Fingal County Council.
Under the scheme, the metro would be extended to Swords in the first phase of construction, in tandem with the building of the airport route. When completed, the journey from the city centre to Swords should take 22 minutes.
The proposed route to Swords is along the old Swords by-pass on the N1, which has the advantage of requiring a minimum of land procurement. The route ends at a new park-and-ride facility which has been identified just north of Swords town centre. This would also provide for a bus interchange to serve north Dublin commuters.
While an extension of the metro to Swords has been mooted for some time, the council said yesterday that the route "has recently been more clearly defined following consultation with the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA)".
The cost of the route at ground level is about €200 million and about twice that for a route raised "on stilts". The current proposal envisages the metro running about half way at ground level and about half way on stilts, giving a cost of some €300 million.
About 50 per cent of this cost could be obtained by Fingal County Council using legislation which allows councils to collect special development levies for major infrastructural projects.
The council has told the RPA that levies would come from businesses along the metro route and in the vicinity of the terminus.
The council has given "top priority" to the project in the Fingal County Development Plan which is to be published in coming weeks.
This is reflected in the manager's draft, which was posted to councillors this week, and which says that Swords "town centre" is considerably extended, "even across the old N1 to lands opposite the Pavilions Centre".
A council spokesman told The Irish Times that the case for the metro extension to Swords is robust. Such levies have already been proposed for the extension of the Luas line from Connolly Station to the Point Depot and are also being collected for the extension of the Luas line from Sandyford to Cherrywood in south County Dublin.
Fingal county manager Mr Willie Soffe told councillors the economic case "is self-evident through the additional passenger loading and more sustainable dual-direction travel brought by including the Swords destination for proportionately little additional expenditure".
He said it would ease city congestion "by providing a place where people can leave their cars knowing that in 22 minutes they will be in St Stephen's Green in trains leaving every 4 minutes".
It would also allow airport employees to get to work without using cars and thus reduce the parking needed for staff at the airport, he said.
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