Group claims airport rail link will save billions

A TRANSPORT campaign group claims it could provide an alternative rail system to the proposed metro link to Dublin Airport that would save the Exchequer billions of euro.

Platform 11 estimates that its proposal for an over-ground link to the airport, incorporating existing railway track, could be built for just €350m.

The group points out that its AirRail Express option would provide a link cheaper and sooner than the revised €2.5 billion cost of the Government’s metro plans.

“In addition, it will not cause any disruption to the commercial life of Dublin city during construction as well as integrating fully into the DART, Luas and Inter-City rail,” said spokesperson Thomas Sheridan.

He said the proposal was based on proven international practice of having a heavy rail line serve a major airport. Mr Sheridan said such a line in Dublin would not just help link the airport to Dublin city centre but to entire regions of the country.

He pointed out that similar system already operated successfully at airports in Frankfurt, London Stansted, Manchester, Amsterdam and Milan.

The group vehemently opposes the Government’s preferred option of a metro link from the city centre to the airport because it would not integrate with the existing main rail network.

“The proposed airport metro concept is based on getting people out of Dublin Airport into central Dublin and is not a transport solution. It is just sending the problem 10km south,” said Mr Sheridan.

He pointed out that AirRail Express would involve track being built almost entirely on open, flat countryside, compared to the Government’s metro option which would see the line cut through heavily-developed urban areas. For this reason, the group claims its proposal could be delivered in a shorter timeframe and at a lower cost.

“The real strength of Platform 11’s AirRail Express Network is that it delivers an integrated rail transport solution to a vast area of the nation with economic, tourism and social gains to anywhere in Ireland where a rail line exists,” said Mr Sheridan.