The project, which is expected to cost €135m, is being funded through existing allocations made available under Project Ireland 2040. The project, which was announced by Ireland’s minister for transport, tourism and sport, Mr Shane Ross, on July 18, will be delivered by Irish Rail (IE) and overseen by the National Transport Authority.
The NTCC will be located within the Dublin Heuston station complex and will facilitate the co-location of Dublin City Council’s traffic control centre and Irish Police’s metropolitan area traffic unit on one site.
The new facility will replace the existing Central Traffic Control centre at Dublin Connolly station which will be repurposed as a back-up facility. The existing centre is currently at capacity, and as the ICT systems are approaching obsolescence it cannot facilitate the planned and potential future expansion.
Preliminary design of the facility was undertaken in 2018 and the detailed design has now been completed, incorporating Irish Police and Dublin City Council’s requirements.
The government has launched the procurement process for a contractor to construct the centre, which will comply with Near Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) standards.
Construction is due to be complete by the end of 2021, followed by the fit out and commissioning of the ICT systems by IE, Irish Police and Dublin City Council.
The design, development, fabrication, installation, testing and commissioning and safety approvals phase for the main system at Heuston is expected be completed in 2024, followed by the development of the back-up centre.
