The Rail Procurement Agency has put its weight behind a Cross-City Luas 'spur' to Cabra, Ballymun and on to the Airport and Swords as its preferred option for a public transport solution for the Fingal capital, should Metro North not go ahead.

The RPA has briefed local councillors on the project, known as 'Luas D2' which it says, could be delivered at a much lower cost than Metro North if that rail project is not resurrected by the Government in its promised review this year.

The cost of the Luas D2 line would be of the order of €700 to €800 million, according to the agency.

The RPA said this lower-cost solution could deliver competitive travelling times compared to the Metro and cater for the capacity requirements of the route, shifting around 5,500 passengers per hour, per direction in the medium term.

The route would cater for the same catchment area as Metro North and have stops along the way at key locations like Dublin City University.

When the Luas spur arrives in Swords it will have three stops in the town, at the Pavilions Shopping Centre, near Swords Castle and at the Estuary with a park and ride facility planned for the Estuary stop.

Another possible advantage of the proposal, as opposed to Metro North, according to the RPA is the reduced requirement for tunnelling.

Only 2.1km of this route is underground, compared to 10.2km of tunnelling for the full Metro North proposal.

The RPA said the cost of the tunnelling that is required will be offset by the shorter route and reduced impact on roads and traffic during construction, compared to the Metro North project. It also claimed the service would have reduced operational costs.

Fingal Independent