IAE Response to Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s call for submissions to METROLINK proposal

21 Oct IAE Response to Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s call for submissions to METROLINK proposal

Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE)
2018

The Academy has made a response to Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s (TII) call for submissions in relation to its METROLINK proposal. The Academy’s proposals are in line with its Feb 2015 submission to the National Transport Authority (NTA) on Transport Strategy for the GDA 2015-2035 and its April 2016 report Sustainable Transport Infrastructure 2035. Both documents called for the development of Metro North/South, from Swords to Sandyford, as now proposed by TII. The Academy’s submission indicates that by choosing an alternative alignment, to that proposed between the M50 and the Royal Canal, the requirement for bored tunnelling could be substantially limited and the number of underground stations reduced from six to one, thus saving over €500m on civil engineering costs. The Academy also considers that the alternative alignment it put forward would also make a greater contribution to integrated land use and transport planning and make a comparable contribution to social inclusion. The Academy also identified a number of technical issues in the city area where alternative solutions may be more appropriate.