€320M Dublin Airport expansion and rail line

FTA Ireland welcomes plans for a new runway at Dublin airport, but says passenger transfer facilities need to be improved.

The Freight Transport Association has welcomed new plans for a runway at Dublin Airport, but say that although the current taxi and bus services are good, there is no rail service.

Irish Rail is planning a new line, which will allow intercity trains to travel direct to Dublin airport from Cork, Galway and Belfast. The company say that the line could cost as little as £300M, and would open the rail network to passengers boosting tourism. This would reduce the need for passengers to use expensive airport parking.

An underground link to Terminal 1 was planned but never built.

The current plans, which were first approved in 2007 but were put on hold due to the economic downturn, include a second landing strip built 1.6km north of the existing runway by 2020.

In 2015, the airport which is the city’s only civil airport, handled a record breaking 25 million passengers. Belfast, with a metropolitan population half the size of Dublin’s, has two airports but it is unlikely that another could be built and so making efficient use of the Dublin  Airport campus is essential.

Neil McDonnell, General Manager of FTA Ireland said: “The Department of Transport now needs to follow through on the good work being carried out by the DAA by providing an efficient rail link to Dublin’s DART, Inter-city and light rail networks. At present, Dublin Airport is entirely dependent on road transport to move its passengers – this needs to change.”

In addition to the latest announcement, plans have been announced for changes to Dublin Airport’s fuel supply and tank management systems, which include modernising the tank-farm and supplying the airport by pipeline rather than road. This will cut down the amount of truck movements from Dublin’s roads every year.

In 2010, the Irish Aviation Authority granted planning permission for a second air traffic control tower to monitor plans at the airport, despite opposition. The 23-storey tower, which would stand taller than Liberty Hall, is estimated to be in place by 2019.

However, a hi-tech alternative may replace the tower if it is found suitable. Experts are examining whether a “remote tower”, which uses camera technology from another location, could be used at Dublin Airport instead.

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