Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien recently commented that the €12 billion-€20 billion MetroLink project was on track to proceed with excavation of certain sites starting some time in 2027. But he added that it was now possible that the underground railway would be built and opened on a “phased basis”.
He suggested the system could be made operational and opened for passengers at first from Swords to an unspecified point in the “city centre”. The southern leg towards a terminus at Charlemont in Ranelagh would be completed later. But he didn’t name a particular place where phase one would end in the city centre. Would it be at the Mater hospital or a planned station at O’Connell Street, near the north city Luas lines? Would the later second phase involve just three stations at Tara Street, St Stephen’s Green South and the Grand Canal near Charlemont Luas station? We don’t know.
Other questions remain unanswered, including the total cost of phase one, the additional cost of the remainder of phase two, the time frame for building phase two and whether the opening would be in 2035.
Would it be just a matter of boring the complete tunnel planned but leaving the southern leg for later completion, with three stations built at a later date? What are the economic implications of a two-phase MetroLink compared with the single-phase construction approved of by the Rail Order?
O’Brien was vague on this matter, perhaps deliberately. But assuming that he was serious rather than merely riffing speculatively, we need to know what he has in mind and some insight into his reasoning. Would a phased approach have cost implications? Has the Minister or Department of Public Expenditure been consulted? How does the phased approach affect projected public infrastructure plans?
Some might think there is wisdom in leaving construction of the second phase for further consideration. We were told, after all, that the possibility of extending MetroLink to the southeast, including Belfield and Stillorgan or southwest towards Churchtown and Rathfarnham, was not completely off the table.
[ The Irish Times view on public transport: the high price of chronic delaysOpens in new window ]
Given current traffic restriction policy and plans of Dublin City Council, some might query building a major underground station at St Stephen’s Green near the Green Line Luas and adding another such link at Grand Parade.
Another uncertainty surrounds whether this idea of two-phased construction has been discussed or decided at Cabinet. After the children’s hospital farce, we need to be on our guard collectively against entering into vague and open-ended contracts – rather than fixed priced contracts where the risk of delay is borne by the contracting consortium.
Presumably the basic tunnel boring operation is most economically achieved in a single phase.
One hopes there will be an element of fixed-price public-private partnership in the project. Is the Minister considering drawing out the construction timetable to overcome labour and financial bottlenecks that may occur if the Government proceeds simultaneously with other big projects that have been mooted. These include the North Dublin Drainage project, the Shannon-Dublin pipeline scheme, the Finglas Luas project, Cork light rail and the Galway circular roadway.
The public deserve transparency in relation to these issues. Many people take the attitude: “Just get it done. It has been talked about for far too long.” As understandable as that attitude may be, there also has to be a value-for-money consideration. Otherwise, we pave the way for a repeat of the children’s hospital fiasco.
Doubtless O’Brien will be asked about these matters in the Dáil. He may also have to face a searching question-and-answer session at the joint Oireachtas committee on transport. It is important that he and the National Transport Authority, the Minister for Public Expenditure and the Government are on the same page. This will be one of most expensive infrastructural projects in the history of the State.
Bringing a memorandum to Cabinet for confidential discussion is not sufficient. The recent Accelerating Infrastructure Report, produced by a group chaired by Seán O’Driscoll, emphasised the need for personal accountability both at ministerial and top-level departmental and agency levels if infrastructure is to be delivered effectively and economically. The political buck here cannot be passed to the NTA or some de facto project team.
If the MetroLink project is to be delivered in two phases, the implications have to be spelt out and politically understood. Failure of any kind in delivery of the costly project is not acceptable – especially when we remember that the former chief executive of Irish Rail Jim Meade informed a Dáil committee two years ago that he could deliver a surface rail link to the airport for a far lower €1 billion.
