No timeline for delivery of Dublin Metrolink

A graphic image dating to 2010 of the proposed Dart underground link at Heuston Station. The proposed 7.6km underground has yet to see the light of day. Picture: Irish Rail/PA

The head of the Department of Transport has said it is not possible to give a timeline for the delivery of the Dublin Metrolink project due to the State’s previous “bad experiences” with infrastructure projects.

Secretary General Ken Spratt told the Public Accounts Committee that the revised public spending code, which was overhauled in December 2019 and requires that specific ‘gateways’ have to be passed before projects can commence, means the only timeline that can be given is for the next phase of the code, as opposed to construction and go-live operation.