Ireland: Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has awarded the MetroLink programme delivery partner contract to Jacobs AECOM, an AECOM-Jacobs joint venture set to oversee Dublin’s planned 19km metro line.

Official rendering of the MetroLink entrance at Tara Street in Dublin at night
Official project rendering of the planned MetroLink station entrance at Tara Street in Dublin, used in TII’s 10 September 2026 appointment notice. Image: MetroLink / Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

The agency announced the award of the Programme Delivery Partner (PDP) Support Services contract on 10 September 2026, after what it called a highly competitive procurement. Jacobs AECOM will work directly within the MetroLink team to oversee and coordinate the construction, integration and commissioning stages of the project, a role TII regards as central to delivering MetroLink within a defined budget and timeframe and to the highest standards of safety and quality.

MetroLink is planned as a fully automated, mostly underground line with 16 new stations, linking Swords and Dublin Airport with the city centre. TII puts the journey time from North Dublin to the city centre at 25 minutes, with interchanges to Irish Rail, DART, Luas and bus services.

Lorcan O’Connor, chief executive of TII, said:

“The appointment of Jacobs AECOM as our Programme Delivery Partner marks a critical transition for MetroLink as we move from planning into full-scale delivery preparation.”

What the programme delivery partner contract covers

TII’s tender notice gave the contract an estimated value of €550 million and a duration of 144 months, or 12 years, including any options and renewals. Work is assigned through task orders. The partner will support the MetroLink directorate before and after contracts are signed, providing safety, project management, site supervision and contract administration services across the contracts TII procures for the scheme.

AECOM said the joint venture will support procurement and delivery of the metro system, bringing integrated programme management, governance and risk management and handling the interfaces between multiple contracts.

Michael Flynn, MetroLink’s interim programme director, said:

“The Programme Delivery Partner will provide the essential on-the-ground project management, scheduling, and engineering oversight needed to turn our operative Railway Order and active procurements into physical reality.”

Context

The award follows the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála to grant the MetroLink Railway Order in October 2025, authorising the works needed to build the line. When it invited bids for the delivery partner role in November 2025, TII said construction would take around nine years from receipt of that order.

The main works are being procured separately. TII opened the competition for the M401 and M402 civil engineering contracts, covering tunnelling, station excavations and structures, in February 2026. In May it launched procurement for the M500 public-private partnership contract, which covers rolling stock, signalling, systems, station fit-out and 25 years of operation and maintenance, and it expects each of these procurements to take between 18 and 24 months.

MetroLink delivery partner, civil works and PPP contracts: scope, estimated value and latest step published by TII (as of 11 September 2026)
Contract Main scope Estimated value stated by TII Latest published step
Programme Delivery Partner Support Services Safety, project management, site supervision and contract administration, assigned through task orders; 144 months including any options and renewals €550 million Award to Jacobs AECOM announced on 10 September 2026
M401 – Southern Section (Charlemont to Northwood) Bored tunnels, portals and shafts; below-ground excavations up to 35m deep for 10 stations, including shell and core structures €4.565 billion (excl. VAT) Procurement launched on 3 February 2026
M402 – Northern Section (Northwood to Estuary) M50 and Broadmeadow River viaducts, surface and at-grade sections, bored tunnels, five stations and preparation of the Dardistown depot site €3.347 billion (excl. VAT) Procurement launched on 3 February 2026
M500 – Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (PPP) Rolling stock, GoA4 signalling, depot, trackwork, power and systems, fit-out of 16 stations, and 25 years of operation and maintenance; expected duration of about 32 years €7.3 billion (excl. VAT, net present value) Procurement launched on 1 May 2026

Of the four contracts listed, the delivery partner role is the one whose award TII has announced; its most recent updates on the M401, M402 and M500 contracts concern the launch of their procurement. The values are estimates published in tender and contract notices and are calculated on different bases: the M401 and M402 figures are maximum contract notice values that include inflation and risk, and TII expects tenders to come in considerably lower, while the M500 figure is expressed in net present value and is not contractually binding. For that reason the figures should not be added together. Sources: TII’s delivery partner tender notice and award announcement, and its announcements on the M401 and M402 contracts and the M500 contract.