French firm Keolis has been shortlisted by the Railway Procurement Agency for the operating contract for Metro North in Dublin.
Keolis runs public transport systems in the French cities of Lyon, Lille and Rennes. It also runs a metro system at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
The company employs 33,000 people worldwide, including 22,000 drivers in seven European countries and Canada.
Metro North will connect Swords and Lissenhall, via Dublin Airport, to St Stephen's Green in Dublin city centre.
The system is expected to transport 34 million passengers per year and connect customers from Dublin Airport to the city centre in less than 20 minutes.
