Planning board gives green light for extension of Luas into Dublin's northside

The  3.9 kilometre extension is projected to serve the needs of close to 60,000 people when completed. File photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Planning has been granted for an extension , first proposed in 2018, of Dublin’s red Luas line, which could see the tram service extend for an additional 4km into the city’s suburban northside at a projected cost of €600m.

An Coimisiún Pleanála has officially granted a railway order, the rail equivalent of planning permission, for an extension of the line from the Broombridge station near Cabra in the north city as far as Charlestown in the northern suburbs close to the M50 ring motorway.

In recommending the extension, senior planning inspector with the commission, Donal Donnelly, said the scheme “would deliver a key component for achieving the policy objectives of the National Planning Framework and will enable delivery of compact sustainable growth in Dublin city”.

He said the proposed 3.9 kilometre extension would also “provide safer infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists and would deliver sustainable connectivity and integration with other transport services” while further improving the “public realm” along the projected tram corridor.

Mr Donnelly added that the justification for the scheme, which is projected to serve the needs of close to 60,000 people when completed, has been “adequately demonstrated”.

A 'big day' for Finglas

Local Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe, who had first advocated for a Finglas Luas extension seven years ago, said the granting of permission represents “a big day for our community”.

He said that when the project was first proposed there were many advocating for the extension who “thought it would not be achieved”.

Despite the proposed line being technically a post-2027 project under the National Development Plan, Mr McAuliffe said he hoped it will be expedited “given the ease with which it can be delivered”.

“It is a short route and an extension of an existing line, so it’s a very deliverable, shovel-ready infrastructure project,” he said, adding the extension has “the potential to transform north Dublin”.

The four-stop extension represents something of a coup for the locality given that planning has been achieved more quickly than expected.

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However, local sources indicated that leaving the project on the shelf for two additional years would not be ideal, with most agreeing that a five-year timeline for completion of the extension should be achievable.

In order to expedite construction, the project would have to be brought to Cabinet by the National Transport Authority, an entity already heavily engaged in even larger-scale infrastructure projects like BusConnects and Metrolink.

Should the extension proceed it would mark the first major extension to the Luas since the southside green line and northside red lines joined in 2017.