“Access to an international airport is a critical condition for a successful city and this has been a major weakness in the case of Dublin. Even with the development of the metro connection to Dublin Airport, the maximum accessibility is not guaranteed,” says the report.

According to the document, the case study of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport illustrates the benefits of a policy to create a station in an international airport that is located on the national railway network rather than to be satisfied with simply connecting the airport to the city by rail line.

“With the coming on stream of the high speed railway network, this has achieved further benefits by being able to position Amsterdam as a hub airport which provides good onward transport options from the airport either by air, or by rail. While Dublin airport is unlikely to seek a position of hub airport, it is of interest to consider the benefits of direct access to the national railway network from the national airport,” authors of the report argues.

“It should be a policy priority to achieve mainline rail access to Dublin Airport. It should be investigated where there is a possibility of a high speed railway line connecting Belfast, Dublin Airport, Midlands Gateway and Shannon Airport as a national new strategic rail corridor. Such a railway line would potentially link the three international airports on the island (Shannon, Dublin, Belfast), provide a direct and fast connection into the west of Ireland, and link Dublin Airport directly with Belfast and Limerick/Shannon.”

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