Source: RTE.ie »

Iarnród Éireann will today lodge its application to build Dublin’s Underground DART designed to link-up the city’s transportation system.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has consistently said that the Underground DART and Metro North will both go ahead despite a combined cost of around €5bn.

The application to An Bord Pleanála for the Underground DART comes as the board prepares to give its decision, expected by the end of next month, on Metro North, which will run from the city centre to Swords.

The Underground DART, or Interconnector, has been described as the most important part of Transport 21. Running from the Docklands to Heuston Station and Inchicore it will allow rail passengers from Cork to connect to Belfast.

It will open up two DART lines, one running from Balbriggan to Kildare the other from Maynooth to Bray intersecting at Pearse Street Station. The Underground DART will also link with Metro North at St Stephen’s Green, with the Inter-city lines at Heuston and with the LUAS.

Like the Metro North it will be a public-private partnership and the Government will not have to pay for its construction until it is completed as planned in 2018.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has called on the Minister for Transport to publicly commit financially to the project’s completion.