Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

jd · 29-01-2026 10:49PM

I did laugh at this part from the Indo article

"On arrival at Sean Sweeney’s office at Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s (TII) headquarters in Dublin 8, one of the first things that stands out is a mock-up of a Time magazine cover naming Dartmouth Square residents Person of the Year hanging on the wall."

Kermit.de.frog · 30-01-2026 12:06AM

They must be agitated they inadvertently helped commoners get their homes purchased by the state at inflated prices too.

murphaph · 30-01-2026 09:34AM

I think anyone who sells a property adjacent to a future metro station will end up having made a signifcant loss compared to holding and selling after the metro opens. Most people still don't get how transformational it will be so it hasn't impacted property prices and won't until it's "common knowledge" that it's extremely beneficial to live near a mode of transport that will run late into the night every night and (almost) never go on strike.

salmocab · 30-01-2026 09:42AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124191805#Comment_124191805

in general I’d agree but there is already a luas stop there and it’s close to town anyway I don’t think that particular location is going to be worth much more for having a metro stop.

murphaph · 30-01-2026 09:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124191817#Comment_124191817

You have to think about the residents of Dartmouth Square jetting off on their skiing weekends. Straight onto the metro and up to the airport in no time. Stress free bliss for the darlings. It will be "cool" to "slum it" with the plebs.

KrisW1001 · 30-01-2026 10:06AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124191817#Comment_124191817

Yes, it will be worth more because of the the better connectivity: outside your door you can now get quickly to anywhere Luas goes and anywhere Metro goes. Where both lines serve the same place (St Stephen’s Green, O’Connell St), Metro will be at least twice as fast. Metro also has very good links with DART, although I accept that from Dartmouth Square that’s not hugely useful.

Of course there’s easy access to the airport, but you also get a quick connection for your check-up at the Mater hospital (or visiting your accountant in Mountjoy).

Zebra3 · 30-01-2026 11:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124191827#Comment_124191827

Wouldn’t surprise me if most of those types still drove anyway.

murphaph · 30-01-2026 11:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124191985#Comment_124191985

Probably but the market value of their properties isn't determined by what use the current owners make of them but by what use potential buyers would. I will eat my hat if metro doesn't significantly increase property prices along its route, even in Dartmouth Square. Direct connection to the airport alone will be worth a premium for frequent business travellers who can now spend an extra hour in bed before that 6am flight.

salmocab · 30-01-2026 12:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124192058#Comment_124192058

I don’t know. Not sure what extra premium goes in a 3 million house that already has very good connectivity because getting to the airport is easier. I’m sure most of the line will benefit but given its proximity to the city and the luas I’m really not sure there’s going to be a bump in worth.

cgcsb · 30-01-2026 02:58PM

I know it's early days but hear me out, the metro should run 24 hr from opening, with maintenance closures only when required between midnight and 4am Sunday to Wednesday. Even if the frequency is low at times every 20 mins or so. As it stands Dublin's few 24 hr bus services seem to be wedged at least 5 nights a week, even with 30 minute frequencies, I've seen a lot of frustrated people give up and get taxis. Like all things public transport in Ireland the worry that people won't use it just never seems to materialise.

murphaph · 30-01-2026 03:27PM

I tend to agree. Can't imagine it will need nightly maintenance, certainly not when it opens.

KrisW1001 · 30-01-2026 03:49PM

Inspection and maintenance should always be done as regular, small jobs. Also, reliability of any complex system follows what’s known as the “bathtub failure curve” (details here). There’s a relatively high number of initial failures immediately after commencement due to mis-installation or manufacturing defects, then a long period of reliability, then finally a rise in failures as components age; this means that you should allow for more maintenance time in the first year, not less.

A maximum of 22 hours per day is what’s planned, with 24 hour running an option for extremely busy periods like December weekends. Honestly, outside of that peak season, the demand between 03:00 to 05:00 is so low that it could be accommodated by a half-hourly Night Bus service running on the same route.

bk · 30-01-2026 05:23PM

Copenhagen runs their fully automated trains 24/7. Unfortunately there is a key feature in their design that enables that, which isn’t present in our design.

They use two separate tunnels, so at night, with reduced frequency, they close one tunnel for maintenance and the trains use the other tunnel in turn.

I don’t think that will be possible for us as we use one larger single bore tunnel.

murphaph · 30-01-2026 11:06PM

Here in Germany you often see a special waist height barrier that bolts to the sleepers to separate running lines from lines under maintenance so staff don't inadvertently walk into the running lines. I wonder would it be possible to include a permanent barrier like that between the running lines so we could follow the Copenhagen example. If you have a 6am flight you can't use Metro link to get to the airport if it only starts running at 5 am as in most cases you will want to be at the airport at 5 at the latest...the thing is, 6am is a really busy time of day at the airport. It would be most unfortunate if that initial wave of flights couldn't be served by metro.

Consonata · 30-01-2026 11:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124193945#Comment_124193945

A lot of workers would also be working at 6am, notably the Mater. Would be a shame if it couldnt be served by Metro for its night staff/early morning staff

murphaph · 30-01-2026 11:21PM

Indeed and all the airport workers too.

KrisW1001 · 31-01-2026 12:55AM

My guess is first trains will run at 0500. There really is not demand before then. Yes, flights check in before 0500, but how many of those travelling on those would be coming from the Metro catchment?

At the hours the Metro will be closed, there's basically no traffic to impede buses on their way through the city, and for the number of passengers that would use the trains, buses are a better option.

L1011 · 31-01-2026 01:02AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124194175#Comment_124194175

Staff.

A HUGE volume of staff need to get to the airport to allow passengers to check in, go through security, get breakfast, get airport pints and get on the planes. Lots of those live in Swords and Santry.

They mostly drive, albeit the 24h 41 has reduce that a lot. There is an insane amount of surface carparking for them.

bikeman1 · 31-01-2026 08:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124194175#Comment_124194175

I think you are misunderstanding the demand in an early morning service. The metro must cater for the first wave of departures. I would like to see a 04:00 metro from Charlemont with a circa 04:30 arrival at the airport. This would cater for the majority first wave of flights. Ideally even earlier for staff.

I like the German model in many cities. No 24 hour service Sunday night to Wednesday night. A sprinkle service through Thursday night into Friday. Then 24 hour Friday Saturday nights.

Down time should be 00:30-03:30 with prolonged gaps should that be required on specific weekends.

The city is becoming more and more 24 hours. A look at any of the 24 bus routes will show you that.

KrisW1001 · 31-01-2026 10:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124194341#Comment_124194341

If you stop services at 0030, you're harming the night time economy. I'm not taking about clubs, but things like cinema late shows, theatre performances and other events that finish close to midnight.

Before claiming they will be inconvenienced, does anyone know the actual work hours for staff at DUB? I'd be very surprised if anyone was on a 5 a.m. start. Last arrival is around 0230, first departure is 0400.. there's really no gap between these for airport staff, so I'm going to guess that a normal day/night shift pattern is in operation.

Zebra3 · 31-01-2026 10:28AM

Security staff shift at the airport starts at 03:20 (or used to).

bikeman1 · 31-01-2026 04:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124194428#Comment_124194428

What I was saying is a 24 hour services Thursday night through to Sunday morning. This is the peak of the later night time economy and should be catered for. We also have to be realistic with needing some down time in the service for maintenance.

In relation to staff starting at the airport. Every single cabin crew member travels to the airport 75 - 90 minutes before their shift. Baggage handlers, retail staff and early shift staff all arrive in 03:30 - 05:00.

These all must be catered for, of course with all the passengers using the Metro for their flights. Currently the 41 completely fails the city to airport market and can’t be relied upon. The majority of buses run through non stop after Abbey St. until they have sufficiently offloaded enough pax to safely load again.

You also have a huge number of airport staff coming from North of the airport. A handy P&R at Estuary and straight into the terminal would be beneficial for many.

Dodge · 31-01-2026 05:17PM

the issue with having the metro have times that suit staff in the airport is that, save for those on the line, most staff won’t be able to connect to it without driving so they’ll just drive to work anyway.

I’m not suggesting it shouldn’t be 24 hour, I’m just saying that having a solo metro line be 24 hour (and a couple of bus routes) won’t change habits for most people.

L1011 · 31-01-2026 06:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124195241#Comment_124195241

Huge amounts live in Swords.

There's also huge turnover, and the metro will make the jobs more attractive to non drivers living on the route.

The slow tram to Manchester airport was built primarily for staff travel although I don't think it has good hours. It's a terrible option to get to the city.

spacetweek · 01-02-2026 11:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124194175#Comment_124194175

Buses are definitely not a better option! 24 hour buses require drivers to work 24 hours a day but the Metro will be automated, requiring only remote monitoring. This job could even be done from home if at an unsociable hour.

bk · 01-02-2026 03:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124197192#Comment_124197192

While true, I also get where Kris is coming from. It is pretty normal for most Metro’s, S-Bahns, LRT and similar high capacity rail service to shutdown overnight around the world. This is normally done to enable proactive maintenance to be done on these systems. People tend not to realise it but usually there are large crews of staff out working the lines overnight.

There are exceptions like Copenhagen Metro, which truly run 24/7/365, but there are few enough of them. London Underground only runs 24/7 on Friday and Saturday nights. Paris Metro doesn’t even run 24/7 at the weekends, instead finishing up just a bit later on the weekends!

In general night buses are adequate to fill in the gaps overnight and given the low traffic congestion at those hours they can often have competitive journey times with the rail service they replace, so can be an acceptable alternative.

I will say I don’t think the 41 is adequate, it shouldn’t be so full that it is bypassing stops. They should make the 16 also 24/7 ahead of the A routes launching and also make sure the A has adequate capacity and frequency too once launched. I know there is also the 19 and 24 now, but in my experience large numbers of airport staff live near the Swords Road corridor, many of them my neighbours and that corridor needs extra overnight resources.

I will say that I do think that Metrolink would have more then enough demand to justify operating 24/7/365 too the airport. The question is more can they figure out a way to operate like that while maintenance staff work on the line safely overnight. The single bore tunnel doesn’t help and to be honest I’m not sure if they have installed enough cross over points to make it feasible.

I’d be interested if anyone knows of a single bore tunnel Metro that operates 24/7/365 and how they manage that?

murphaph · 01-02-2026 04:35PM

I wonder will we end up regretting the single bore solution and rethink it for possible future projects.

Bodan · 01-02-2026 06:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124197995#Comment_124197995

I think we will regret it in the long run, like everything else when we try to do them on the cheap. I cant imagine the savings would be that big in the overall scheme .

Kermit.de.frog · 01-02-2026 06:25PM

Too late to change it now. The DART Underground won't be single bore if it gets off the drawing board. I don't know the practicality of mixing a single with double bore for other metro lines but I'm sure it can be done.

It's a pity we always think too small on everything which means we have to come back years later at huge expense to the taxpayer to fix things or just suck it up. This is one we'll just have to live with. The irony is it's mostly penny pinching in the first place.

The only upside here is that unlike Copenhagen we will be spared ludicrously small and cramped center platforms.

bk · 01-02-2026 06:54PM

Yes, I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when I heard they choose single bore, specifically for this reason. I totally get how it reduces construction costs, but it is definitely a limitation.

The Metrolink docs do mention that 24/7 operation will be possible for special events, etc. but I get the impression that isn’t a regular thing. Best case maybe they could do it over the weekends or maybe for a week or two in December, etc.

There are cross over points, but the tunnel looks very narrow, I don’t think you could have staff working on one track while trains pass in the other one!

As an aside, in the tunnel by the airport there will actually be two tunnel, the second one a separate emergency exit tunnel. The city center tunnel won’t have this!

Kermit, one other advantage our Metro will have over Copenhagen is longer vehicles, 64m versus just 39m in Copenhagen, so our Metro will have more capacity.

Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

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