The DART Underground rail line, now proposed to run from Docklands to Inchicore, will complete the trebling of the Greater Dublin area's rail service capacity from 33 million passenger journeys annually now to 100 million passenger journeys upon completion. The DART Underground tunnels will be approximately 7.6 Km in length and will connect the Northern and Kildare rail lines, with underground stations strategically located at Spencer Dock, Pearse, St. Stephen’s Green, Christchurch and Heuston Station, as well as a new surface DART station at Inchicore. The 'expected' cost is €2.5bn.

Dublin Chamber today welcomed Irish Rail's announcement of four consortia in competition to build & finance DART Underground. It is claimed the new rail link will grow Dublin business by €450m, without offsetting losses. These type of projections are best taken with a pinch of salt. 

The Chamber said that a week after the Government backed the DART Underground project in the reviewed capital expenditure programme, Irish Rail have identified the four consortia that will bid to build and finance the project. Dublin’s ability to attract four international consortia is a positive sign of the region’s economic future and will enhance Dublin’s potential, according to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Dublin Chamber believes that major transport infrastructure, such as the DART Underground, will reduce urban sprawl and help concentrate the location of businesses which would improve Dublin’s international competitiveness. According to a report on the project by Colin Buchanan & Partners, the DART Underground will generate ‘wider economic benefits’ that will increase GDP by some €450m per annum by 2020. “Mass transport can be used to encourage businesses to cluster together and international studies have shown that this greater employment density leads to an increase in productivity,” said Aebhric McGibney, Dublin Chamber of Commerce Director of Policy. “Doubling employment within an area can lead to productivity increases of 12.5 per cent. In the services sector, the increase is 22 per cent which means Dublin’s international service business would be more competitive. Dublin services sector is of huge importance as it accounts for 80 per cent of the county’s economy and 47 per cent of Ireland’s services sector.”

Each consortium consists of three or more companies that working together on the project delivery - - including design, construction, and maintenance - -  and the project financing. The assessment of the winning consortium will be based on a number of factors and will take a huge amount of resources from each party involved. Each consortium could spend millions of Euro in tendering for the project. Irish Rail intends to have the contract awarded by mid 2012, which they envisage would last for between 25 and 35 years.

Dublin Chamber also called on Irish Rail to ensure that the winning bidder will work closely with the Railway Procurement Agency and its contractors, which will either be the Metro Express consortium or Celtic Metro Group. “DART Underground and Metro North need to be delivered together in the shortest possible timeframe, while ensuring the city remains fully open for business,” said McGibney.

The project’s Railway Order Application (rail equivalent to planning permission) was submitted to An Bord Pleanála on 30th June. The closing date for submission on the project is August 18th.