TD calls for Dart service to Arklow

August 1998

A call for the Dart train services to be extended to Arklow has been made by Fianna Fail constituency TD Dick Roche in a recent submission to DIE and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Enterprise.

After expressing his alarm at a recent report regarding the quality of the rail track between Greystones and Arklow, Deputy Roche has been informed that Iarnrod Eireann plans to replace the Arklow commuter train with new diesel rail cars and to increase the capacity of the train.

These measures are being taken because the company is aware of the growing commuter demands from Arklow, Wicklow town and the north-east portion of the county.

But Deputy Roche pointed out that the company has no plans at present to extend the Dart to Arklow. He said that he believed the company is being ‘short-sighted in failing to realise that Arklow and Wicklow town are now within the commuter belt and should be served by a fully upgraded electrified rail system.’