Capital’s controversial €5bn metro could be on track by 2015

DUBLIN’S metro system could be fully operational by 2015 if planning permission for the e5 billion project is granted this year.

A public hearing of An Bord Pleanála yesterday heard that the controversial underground light rail system is the biggest public infrastructural project in the history of the state.

The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) — overseeing the planning of the metro — said it would create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, and another 2,000 indirectly. “If approved, it will bring a myriad of benefits to our capital city,” said James Connolly SC, for the RPA.