Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

cgcsb · 04-02-2026 09:37PM

19 months seems long. From publishing tenders to contract award. Considering they've done pre market engagement

csirl · 04-02-2026 09:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124205350#Comment_124205350

Though metro was a DBFOM PPP project. This looks like a watering down of this? Or is this just for basic excavating and prep of the route before the main contract?

goingnowhere · 04-02-2026 10:22PM

This is the most complex civil contract the state has issued since Ardnacrusha. The level of detail in the tender docs will be significant and there will be a lot of back and forward between the tenderers and TII.

This is not a hospital for little people where they had "a concept". This is a fully spec'd project very precise detail on what it will look like when complete

So a price has been set which is the max they will pay (which is set in the business case somewhere), the game is for the tenderers to bid lower to win.

spillit67 · 04-02-2026 10:25PM

https://www.metrolink.ie/supply-chain/supplier-opportunities#m400m500

Is this the detail on timelines? Updated today.

Thomas.Telford · 04-02-2026 11:45PM

Contract Package

Milestone

Proposed New Date

M401 (South)

Contract Notice

3rd Feb (Unchanged)

PQQ Period

Q2/26

ITN Issue

Q3/26

M402(North)

Contract Notice

3rd Feb (Unchanged)

PQQ Period

Q2/26

ITN Issue

Q4/26

M500 (DBFOM)

Contract Notice

Q2/26

PQQ Period

Q3/26

ITT Issue

Q4/26

Bsharp · 04-02-2026 11:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206547#Comment_124206547

the main civil works packages are D&B. Then there's an M500 package which is a DBFOM PPP.

orangerhyme · 05-02-2026 12:30AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206416#Comment_124206416

I wonder when we'll see the construction start building in anticipation of the Metrolink in places like Ballymun out to Estuary.

Maybe when the contracts are awarded in late 2027 they'll apply for PP.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Ballymun and Northwood. Rapid gentrification.

CatInABox · 05-02-2026 10:05AM

I put this into the Luas Finglas thread, as it's literally got Luas Finglas in the title of the video, but I thought itd be somewhat of interest here too, seeing as Metrolink has been designed with BIM as well. They talk about Luas Finlgas BIM around the 30 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLEr4XGb0s0

Engineers Ireland have a video up on how TII have designed the Luas Finglas project, specifically their use of BIM. Building Information Modelling allows for a 3d model of a project to be created, which has many benefits, but possibly the main benefit that Irish society will appreciate is that the design has to be finalised (or near final) far earlier in the project. This means that a project following BIM essentially can't have the same issues that have plagued the NCH, for example, as the design is complete, and a 3d model is available that people can "walk around". The NCH had people discover that they needed doors cut into poured concrete, etc.

salmocab · 05-02-2026 10:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124207241#Comment_124207241

one of the worst things the state ever did is the NCH the amount of bad press it brings in to anything else that’s to be built by the state is phenomenal. They made an absolute balls of that project from start to (almost) finish that it must really annoy the like of TII who are generally quite good at delivering that they get tarred with the same brush. Anytime I read anything online about metro it’s full of comments about over runs and 5 times the price and even people just saying things like BAM will probably be doing it. They believe that there was corruption in the deal with BAM in the NCH when it was just plain incompetence

spacetweek · 08-02-2026 09:13PM

In case anyone didn't see it when the Metrolink.ie Supplier Opportunities was linked before, there is a timeline graphic.

https://www.metrolink.ie/supply-chain/supplier-opportunities

We'll see contract award for various elements in the following quarters:

Archaeology & Env Monitoring - Q2 '26

Heritage - Q3 '26

Utilities & Enabling - Q4 '26. This is a big one and will be a very visible symbol that the project really is breaking ground as worksites with the Metrolink branding spring up all over the city centre and northside. Exciting!

Minor Works - Q1 '27.

spacetweek · 08-02-2026 10:14PM

Am I right in saying that the M401/402 only cover "heavy civils", and will not include the following elements?

- Trains
- Railway track
- Electrical installations
- Station fit out, platform screen doors, escalators, lifts, machinery
- Ventilation, water, sewage, telecoms
- The depot (these contracts only cover site preparation for same)
- Park & Ride at Estuary (these contracts only cover site preparation for same)
- Control Centre (as the trains will be automated and remotely monitored only)

josip · 09-02-2026 10:45AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218810#Comment_124218810

What happens the timeline if the TBM 'discovers' dinosaur bones under the Liffey?

Or surface works in NCD stumble across Brian Boru's holiday home?

Cookiemunster · 09-02-2026 11:44AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124219796#Comment_124219796

There's a reason surface archaeology is done on the route before construction begins.

And anything the TBM 'finds' will be crushed and sent out the tunnel as spoil before anyone even knew it was there.

Sam Russell · 09-02-2026 01:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124219796#Comment_124219796

I think the only thing that would stop the TBM would be an undocumented sewer pipe or water main, or aquifer. Unlikely, but there is a large sewer at canal near Charlemont that was unknown.

KrisW1001 · 09-02-2026 01:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124219942#Comment_124219942

I think we’ll be fine. The 10th century Viking settlement at Wood Quay was found a 3 metres below surface level. The top of the Metro tunnel will be 15 metres below surface, so anything there would be from around 3000 BCE (I know it doesn’t exactly work like that, but I don’t think it’s hugely wrong). That was the Late Stone Age in Ireland, around the time Newgrange was constructed, and long before any evidence of human settlement in what is now Dublin.

bk · 09-02-2026 02:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124220210#Comment_124220210

You’d potentially run into more issues with the cut and cover Metro station digs, then tunnelling.

Though the above ground and cut and cover sections outside the city could also throw up surprises. Hopefully not.

Sam Russell · 10-02-2026 12:25PM

Mod: Why do posters keep going off topic. Buses and Dublin Bus have nothing to do with Metrolink!!!!

If you wish to discuss DB at the Airport, open a new thread.

tom1ie · 11-02-2026 03:15PM

Will you be able to pay for a journey on metrolink by tapping your phone or bank card like on the London Underground?

bk · 11-02-2026 03:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124226602#Comment_124226602

Yes, it is specifically named and included in the tender for the next gen ticketing project.

josip · 11-02-2026 03:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124226611#Comment_124226611

Does that mean if you transfer to the metro from the Dart at Tara for example you will have 2 separate tickets or will Dart tickets be tap and go by then also and the ticketing integrated?

bk · 11-02-2026 03:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124226619#Comment_124226619

DART will be support contactless cards too long before Metrolink is complete (I know!). Just like today with DART and Luas, you would tap on and off with your contactless card/phone on both and behind the scenes it will work out the 90 minute ticket, daily and weekly capping that should apply.

The rollout of the next gen ticketing looks like, phase 1: a trail of new validators with Leap card support, phase 2: full rollout to Dublin City buses and Luas with support for contactless cards and phones, phase 3: support for it on DART.

DART is separate as it requires them replacing all the existing gates with new ones, so more civils work involved there. Personally I think they should just have taken the opportunity to drop the gates and follow the Luas/Metro model, but that is a conversation for another thread!

tom1ie · 12-02-2026 11:03AM

Will metrolink trains have air conditioning?
I was in London recently and on the Bakerloo line on the London underground the heat on the train was very noticeable so it got me thinking will we have air conditioning on metrolink?
Thanks.

CatInABox · 12-02-2026 11:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124228972#Comment_124228972

I'm actually not all that sure, to be honest. I can't remember anything from the docs, but it's been a while since I ran through them.

Probably won't be an issue though, as Metrolink won't have most of the issues that the Underground has, namely the complete lack of any ventilation on most of the lines. The station designs are vastly different between the two systems, with Metrolink being a big, relatively open box, and the Underground being a series of narrow tubes that go lower and lower, with no ventilation shafts on most lines.

Ultimately, aircon on underground trains is impossible to do if you've no way of removing the heat from the station (aircon takes the heat from inside the train and moves it outside…. right into the stations and tunnels). Hopefully this means that it won't be necessary on the Metrolink, but ideally we'd still have that capability built into the trains.

KrisW1001 · 12-02-2026 11:40AM

Yes. MetroLink trains will be air-conditioned. It’s hard to purchase trains that aren’t.

London’s deep lines lack the necessary ventilation to cool them. This is a flaw that goes right back to their original design and construction at the very start of the 20th Century. Back then, the designers relied on the surrounding ground to act as a heat sink, but after a century of ever-increasing traffic, that doesn’t work anymore (the heat can’t easily escape upwards either, as so much of London’s land is built upon).

Nobody designs underground lines like this anymore: the MetroLink tunnels and stations are extensively ventilated, and designed with high-frequency, air-conditioned trains in mind.

Mellor · 12-02-2026 12:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206497#Comment_124206497

Not at all. It's a massive process. Interested parties will have to pass pre-qualification, preparing the tender is a significant amount of work, with many many consultants. Then the actual assessment.

If the contract is award before the end of 2027 they're going well.

josip · 12-02-2026 01:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124229086#Comment_124229086

London needs more facade ventilation. And slightly deeper shafts 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njVbhCiC7c8

Mellor · 12-02-2026 01:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206625#Comment_124206625

It's not a concept, but I can't imagine it's anywhere close to "a fully spec'd", there will be some details. It's a design and build tender, the contractors will need to reference design and develop it to construction documentation level.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124207241#Comment_124207241

BIM is not a new or in any way cutting edge. The vast majority of projects of all scales are in BIM as standard, it's been that way for a while.
It's completely necessary to use BIM to deliver these projects. But I don't think it creates the kind of protection you are alluding to. While BIM means a building is final early in the process, the ease of co-ordination changes means that changes happen constantly.

The NCH was also designed in BIM.

L1011 · 12-02-2026 02:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124229086#Comment_124229086

The new deep level tube trains (2024 stock, which won't be introduced until later this year, or 2027) will have AC, the claim being that they have managed to eliminate enough heat losses from the drivetrain to allow it.

I suspect it'll be a disaster. And also not all lines have had stock ordered for them.

KrisW1001 · 12-02-2026 02:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124229582#Comment_124229582

There are multiple solutions, because there are multiple causes of the problem. Rolling stock is the major contributor - braking heat was about 40% responsible for heating; the new stock uses more regenerative braking thus reducing that to the point where AC is no longer a net increase in heat.

The second line of attack is to cool the tunnels. A pilot project in 2019 involved the deployment of a heat-pump on the deep-tube network in Islington, to take the heat away from the tunnels. The pump operates during Winter, and provides district heating. The plan is that because it is extracting more heat from the tunnels than is actually produced by the trains, this pumping will slowly cool the network so that it eventually returns to a normal working temperature during Summer. Here’s details: GEA heat pump upgrades waste heat from the London Underground to warm homes, two leisure centres and a school in Islington

riddlinrussell · 12-02-2026 04:03PM

Not To further derail the thread with London Underground talk, but AC on the new trains makes perfect sense given the majority of the tube network (even large sections of the "deep level") are above ground and could benefit in Summer.

Metrolink shouldn't have any of those issues, modern system, modern ventilation, modern trains with less heat waste, and we don't have London clay which is very heat absorbent until it isn't.

Dublin - Metrolink (Swords to Charlemont only)

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