Michael O'Leary slammed for 'insulting' metro comments
On Tuesday, the government announced that the project would get a €2billion boost in funding as part of the national development plan.
The 18.8km rail line, most of which will be underground, is to run from north of Swords to Charlemont in the south of Dublin city centre. Michael O'Leary believes the MetroLink is a waste of money. Pic:Various metro projects have been proposed in recent decades with none proceeding to build stage, but Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said this boost in funding is 'a very definitive commitment to the metro'.
Despite Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe stating that the latest estimated cost for the MetroLink was €11billion, the Ryanair chief believes it will cost about €20billion or 'about a billion a kilometre'.
He told RTE Radio on Wednesday: 'Dublin Airport doesn't need it, Dublin Airport passengers won't use it – they're already well-served by buses.'
Michael also claimed that less than a third of the airport's passengers use buses.
He went to compare the amount of passengers the MetroLink would serve in Dublin, comparing it to the tube which runs from Heathrow and through 'all of London'.
Michael believes that the Dublin metro would only serve around 100,000 people in the city.
He continued: 'Here's the madness of this. This thing is going to start at Stephen's Green in the morning. If you want to get to our first wave of departures, which leave at about 6.30 in the morning, you need to be at the airport at 5.30am.
'Are you seriously going to drive into the centre of Stephen's Green, where there's no car parking, to get this metro to get to Dublin Airport for 5.30 in the morning? No, you're not.
'Let me give you the alternative scenario: for €100 million, this year we could buy 400 buses, and 400 buses would provide exactly the same capacity as this metro from Dublin Airport, in through Ballymun, in through Drumcondra, on bus lanes that already exist.'
He then hit out at the government's handling of public finances, citing the '€330,000 bike shed', and criticised comments by Micheál Martin, who said the Irish capital will not be sustainable without a metro.
The Ryanair boss added: 'Does he not understand that the buses actually will all be electrified by the end of this decade, which will actually be greener than light rail?' Labour Party TD Duncan Smith finds Michael O'Leary's comments 'insulting'. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos
Labour TD Duncan Smith remarked that Michael O'Leary's criticisms of public infrastructure were bound to happen.
He said: 'Dubliners are stuck in daily gridlock. MetroLink is their best chance at affordable, reliable transport that serves communities, not corporate profits.
'As a consistent advocate for MetroLink in Swords, I find it insulting to hear this kind of drive-by commentary from someone who clearly doesn't rely on public transport to get to work.
'Dublin deserves better than a transport plan from a billionaire whose only experience with buses is when he is pretending to be one.'
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