Airport DART LinkThe Council’s View

• Sean McGrath• Senior Executive Engineer• Fingal County Council

Introduction• What is the Airport DART Link?• 7km link from Clongriffin to Airport• Trains to City Centre and

Bray/Greystones• Cost €300M or €200M or €150M• Generate 9 MPPA in 2030

Indicative Route

History• 1994 - Dublin Transportation Initiative• Not included – open for future

evaluation• 1997 - A Platform for Change• Not included - low passenger numbers • 2011 – 2030 Vision• Not included – rejected at initial stage

Reasons for Rejection• Very low flows• No development potential (green

belt,airport)• No additional capacity in city centre

– Displaces Howth / Malahide or Maynooth services• Does not serve Swords, MetroPark, Ballymun,

Drumcondra, Parnell Square, O’Connell Street, St Stephen’s Green

Metro North• Integrated with land use planning (joined up thinking)• 27,000 jobs or 16,000 jobs and 11,000 residential units• Already approved• Serves: Airport, Swords, MetroPark, Ballymun, DCU,

Drumcondra, Mater Hospital, Parnell Square, O’Connell Street, Trinity College, St Stephen’s Green (14 stops)

• Serves airport employee catchment• Straight from city centre• Critically - new capacity in city centre

NTA Passenger Numbers• NTA model peak hour two-way flows:• DART:• 1,400 without Metro North• 500 with Metro North• Metro North:• 22,000• Metro North needs to be built anyway, so

DART is needless and wasteful duplication.

Questions• How are IE’s flows so much higher than

NTA’s?• There are currently 31 DART stations. How

does adding one more station lead to a “50% increase in passenger numbers”?

• Are there any other suburban rail lines without any stations for a length of 7Km?

• Are there any airports within 10Km of their city centre?

Conclusions

• Not integrated with land use• Serves only one new station• Does not serve current employment

catchment• NTA flow forecast are extremely low