MetroLink hearing to start as residents of homes facing demolition to make way for €9.5bn plan have their say

Residents of 78 homes and the owners of a historic pub facing demolition to make way for MetroLink will have their say at a hearing into the project beginning today.

The hearing into the mainly underground rail line proposed for Dublin has been convened by An Bord Pleanála and is scheduled to take six weeks.

More than 150 witnesses will speak, representing thousands of residents, businesses, shops, state agencies and public services involved in or affected by the plans.

They include residents of the College Gate apartment block and Townsend Street houses in Dublin city centre which would be knocked down to build a Metro station at Tara Street.

The adjoining Markievicz leisure centre and swimming pool will also go if the project is approved.

A 200-year-old pub, the Brian Boru in Glasnevin, which is referenced in James Joyce’s Ulysses, will also be demolished.

The project developers, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority, say the demolitions are “regrettable but necessary” after multiple alternatives were deemed unworkable. In total, 29 buildings and four roadway footbridges will be removed and sports pitches at five locations moved or replaced.

Scores of statues, monuments, art installations, historic lampposts, railings and other architecturally important features will have to be placed in storage while the works are under way.

Tree felling, vegetation clearance and site purchases will also be required at numerous locations.

Before any substantial works begin, routes will have to be cleared of underground utilities.

That requires diverting more than 12km of water and sewage pipes, 15km of electricity and telecoms cables and over 2km of gas pipes.

Work on the project is expected to take about nine years from start to finish.

As currently designed, MetroLink runs for 19km between Estuary, outside Swords in north Dublin to Charlemont, close to Ranelagh in south Dublin, with 11.7km underground. It has 16 stations and interchanges with Irish Rail, Dart, Luas and Dublin Bus services.

At the Estuary end, a station and park-and-ride facility with 3,000 parking spaces is planned.

The line then travels by viaduct over the Ward and Broadmeadow rivers and continues overground, serving three stations until it reaches Dublin Airport where it goes into a tunnel.

It surfaces at the next stop, Dardistown, where the maintenance depot will be located, and then continues by bridge over the M50 to Northwood.

From there, it goes underground and remains tunnelled all the way to and through Dublin city centre until the final stop at Charlemont.

It will carry 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction – two and a half times more than the Luas Green Line.

Trains would run every 90 seconds at peak times, travelling between Swords and the city centre in 25 minutes and between the airport and the city centre in 20 minutes.

Cost estimates are running at €9.5 billion although Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has previously warned it could go as high as €21.5bn.

Already €300m has been spent on site investigations, archaeological surveys, designs and other preparations for the current proposal and an earlier, shorter version, Metro North.

A railway order, the equivalent of planning permission for rail projects, was granted for Metro North in 2010 – nine years after the project was first proposed – but it was shelved because of the economic crisis.

It was revived in 2015 and the route for the current version was announced in 2018.

Calls to expand and decarbonise public transport in the car-choked city have grown since then.

It is estimated 53 million trips would be taken on MetroLink’s electric carriages in its first year, replacing around half that number of car journeys.

The need for better links with Dublin Airport is also raised regularly by MetroLink supporters.

However, there is strong opposition to aspects of the project.

Ranelagh residents want the Charlemont terminus to be relocated, arguing it will irrevocably change the character of their neighbourhood.

Concern is also expressed that this location will not easily facilitate extension of the line further south in future.

Of all the submissions received, 27pc were in relation to Charlemont.

The largest impacts will be felt by individuals such as the Hedigan family, who have owned the Brian Boru pub since 1906, and the residents and owners of the College Gate and Townsend Street homes.

Compensation for their loss has yet to be agreed.

Other concerns relate to noise, vibration, traffic and dust during construction.

Damage to property from ground disturbance is also a fear as tunnels will be dug beneath properties to a depth of at least 20 metres.

Impact on landscapes and streetscapes, loss of architectural heritage and harm to wildlife are also raised.

Around 8,000 construction workers will be needed if MetroLink proceeds, and while it will be fully automated and driverless, it is expected 300 people will be employed full-time in operating the service once it is complete, potentially in 2035.

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