The City of Dublin has awarded the contract to a consultant for its passenger rail station area study and vision plan.

NBBJ has been selected as the consultant after it was the sole responder to the RFP, IJGlobal has learnt. The firm has included engineering company WSP in its team for the study.

The city’s Division of Transportation & Mobility requested a scope, fee, and schedule to develop a study for the rail station.

The consultant will be required to:

• evaluate potential multi-modal rail station locations
• develop a station master plan
• prepare a visioning and capacity study
• form an implementation plan with funding mechanisms including a potential P3

The station will be located on a roughly 100-acre city-owned property in the periphery of west Dublin. The procuring authority will finalise the scope of work with the consultant before contract authorisation.

Establishing a passenger rail service in central Ohio has been a goal for the region for many years. The service will be critical for the continued economic growth of the region which is projected to increase in population by roughly 60% by 2050.

The passenger rail will act as a spine of a regional multi-modal network that will provide employers access to a much wider labour pool and provide workers with increased access to jobs and housing along with lower commuting costs.

“Dublin is committed to being one of the world’s most connected communities and providing the most advanced multi-modal transportation options for our residents, businesses and visitors,” says City of Dublin Director of Transportation & Mobility Jeannie Willis. “It’s important that we invest in this planning study to best assess the benefits that passenger rail service can offer and how that might positively impact our community as a whole.”