Work has already begun on an underground metro station in Dublin even though planning permission for the rail line is yet to be lodged.
Construction on the terminus at Charlemont, which currently serves the Luas Green line, started last year.
Planning permission for the Metrolink, running from Swords to the city centre via Dublin airport, is expected to be lodged this year.
But the Irish Times reports construction works costing €12.5 million have already gone ahead to allow an underground station at Charlemont near Ranelagh.
Investment firm Hines was granted permission to redevelop nearby offices on the basis it would accommodate a metro or light rail. It's undertaken enabling works to allow a station to be developed, with the state reimbursing the company once they're complete.
Local residents groups, which have called for the line to end in the city centre rather than at Charlemont, say transport authorities were preempting the planning process and locking in the route for the line.
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