Irish Cabinet Grants Historic Approval for €9.5 Billion Dublin MetroLink Project to Enter Market Tendering Stage
Green Light for Detailed Procurement on Ireland’s First Automated Metro Rail System
DUBLIN, Ireland — In a transformative leap forward for Irish national transport infrastructure, the Government of Ireland has formally granted Cabinet approval for the €9.5 billion Dublin MetroLink project to proceed into the detailed market tendering and procurement phase. Announced by the Minister for Transport, the statutory Cabinet sign-off empowers the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to formally invite binding competitive tenders from pre-qualified international engineering and construction consortia to build and operate Ireland’s inaugural driverless mass transit railway.
The landmark procurement milestone follows the definitive granting of the Railway Order planning permission by An Coimisiún Pleanála earlier in 2026, establishing the uncompromised legal and regulatory foundation for the historic 18.8-kilometre transport corridor.
18.8 Kilometres, 16 Modern Stations, and 20,000 Passengers Per Hour
Engineered to deliver high-capacity, turn-up-and-go urban mobility, MetroLink spans from the northern community of Swords, directly through Dublin Airport, and across key urban hubs including Ballymun, DCU, and Glasnevin before terminating at Charlemont in south-central Dublin. The route incorporates 16 state-of-the-art stations, of which 11 will be constructed deep underground, featuring full-height platform edge screen doors, tactile guidance, and universal step-free passenger accessibility.
Equipped with computerized GoA4 fully automated driverless rolling stock, MetroLink is designed to operate high-frequency headways of 90 to 120 seconds during peak hours, providing capacity to transport up to 20,000 passengers per direction every hour. The system will cut journey times between Dublin Airport and the city centre to under 25 minutes, providing a rapid, predictable transit spine immune to surface motorway gridlock.
Integrated Multimodal Interchange with DART, Luas, and Intercity Rail
MetroLink is designed as the multimodal backbone of the Greater Dublin Area transit network. Strategically positioned interchanges will connect seamlessly with the Luas Green Line at Charlemont, the Luas Red Line at O'Connell Street, and Irish Rail’s national and DART commuter rail networks at the new Glasnevin interchange station and Tara Street.
Subterranean construction will employ two massive, high-precision Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) to excavate single-bore running tunnels beneath central Dublin. Specialized seismic and structural monitoring sensors will safeguard the integrity of Dublin's historic Georgian architecture and municipal utilities throughout the tunneling trajectory.
Advancing Site Preparations in 2027 Ahead of Regional Decarbonization
Irish transport ministers emphasized that advancing MetroLink into procurement is an indispensable pillar of Ireland's statutory Climate Action Plan. By providing a clean, fully electric mass transit alternative, the system is projected to remove tens of millions of private car journeys annually from the congested M50 and M1 motorway corridors, significantly curtailing urban carbon emissions and improving air quality.
With commercial tender packages being evaluated through late 2026, initial utility diversions, archaeological surveys, and site enablement contracts are scheduled to break ground across Dublin in 2027, marking the physical beginning of Ireland's most ambitious public transport project.