A group of consultants led by Dublin-based Turner & Townsend has been appointed to oversee the delivery of Ireland’s first metro railway.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has appointed a “multidisciplinary client partner team” for Dublin’s MetroLink programme. This partnership will be made up of Turner & Townsend, Canadian group WSP, supported by O’Connor Sutton Cronin, Mace, and PwC.
The almost 20km Dublin MetroLink was originally mooted in 2005 and when a public consultation finally started in 2018, the target was to have it built by 2027. It will now be 2035 before it is up and running.
As of now, it is expected to cost closer to €10 billion rather than the original €3 billion estimate.
TII said MetroLink will be a high-capacity, high-frequency metro railway with 16 new stations running from Swords, to the north of Dublin, to Charlemont in the south of the city.
“Anticipated to carry up to 50 million passengers annually, the new network will act as an integrator for existing air, rail, Dart, Dublin Bus and Luas services across the Greater Dublin Area,” TII said.
It will also provide a direct line to Dublin Airport from the city centre and stops at key city locations including Ballymun, O’Connell Street and St Stephen’s Green.
Turner & Townsend will lead the client partner team, overseeing the delivery of this transformative new project for Dublin and its environs.
Effective immediately, each of the partners has been collectively appointed to a framework which will be in place for the duration of the design, procurement and construction phase, and ultimately seeing MetroLink being brought into operation.
With much of the route running underground and plans for 30 trains every hour in each direction, journey times from Swords to the city centre will be cut down to 25 minutes.
“The project supports the advancement of Ireland to a low emissions transport system, while contributing to the country’s sustainable economic development and population growth,” TII added.
As lead partner, Turner & Townsend has acted as commercial advisor on the programme since 2018.
In collaboration with the partners of the multidisciplinary team, the business will provide programme management office services, overseeing all elements of procurement, design, engineering, safety, information management and sustainability.
