Ireland Advances Dublin MetroLink to Detailed Procurement Stage Across Three Major Delivery Packages Following Operative Railway Order Approval

Entering the Commercial Delivery Phase for Ireland's First Metro System

DUBLIN, County Dublin — In a transformative milestone for Irish national infrastructure, the Government of Ireland, together with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the National Transport Authority (NTA), has officially approved progression into the detailed international procurement and tendering phase for MetroLink. The historic decision follows the statutory Railway Order becoming legally operative, granting full statutory planning consent for the 18.8-kilometre automated rapid transit mega-project connecting Swords directly to Charlemont in Dublin city centre.

Under the approved delivery framework, TII is launching competitive commercial procurement across three primary contract packages: Rolling Stock, Systems, and Operations; Tunnel and Civils South; and Stations and Civils North. The multi-billion-euro project represents Ireland’s most ambitious transport infrastructure investment to date, engineered to establish the nation’s very first high-capacity, automated driverless underground transit railway.

Connecting Swords, Dublin Airport, and City Centre Hubs

MetroLink is engineered to fundamentally transform connectivity across the Greater Dublin Area. Spanning 16 state-of-the-art stations—including 11 underground stations—the line will create an unbroken rapid transit axis linking fast-growing northern residential communities in Swords, Dublin Airport, Dublin City University (DCU), the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, and key city centre retail, employment, and educational nodes around O’Connell Street, Tara Street, and St Stephen’s Green.

Operating with turn-up-and-go frequencies of trains arriving every 90 seconds during peak periods, the automated metro will transport up to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction, slashing the transit journey from Swords to central Dublin to just 25 minutes and providing a reliable, congestion-free rail link to Dublin Airport for air travelers and tens of thousands of airport workers.

Synergy with the Decarbonized DART+ Rail Expansion

The procurement launch of MetroLink unfolds in tight strategic coordination with the ongoing rollout of the DART+ Programme. With operative Railway Orders secured for DART+ West (electrifying lines to Maynooth and the M3 Parkway) and DART+ South West (advancing through compulsory land purchase toward Hazelhatch and Celbridge), Dublin is concurrently tripling the reach of its electrified heavy rail network.

Seamless intermodal interchanges at Glasnevin (linking MetroLink to DART+ West) and Tara Street (linking to DART Coastal services) will create a fully integrated, high-capacity rail grid that allows seamless cross-county transfers across the capital region.

Slashing Road Congestion and Delivering Climate Action Targets

Irish transport ministers and civic leaders underscored that delivering MetroLink is essential to fulfilling Ireland's statutory climate targets and the Climate Action Plan 2024. By eliminating tens of millions of private vehicle trips annually from the congested M1, M50, and Dublin city arterial corridors, the driverless electric railway will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve urban air quality, and secure sustainable economic productivity for generations to come.