DART + West Railway Order submitted

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THE application for a Railway Order (RO) for DART+ West was lodged by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), the holding company for Iarnród Éireann, with An Bord Pleanála on July 29. The statutory eight-week public consultation period commenced on August 5, and will run until September 30. The application seeks to extend the electrified DART network from Connolly/Spencer Dock area to west of Maynooth, Co Kildare, where a new DART depot will be built at Kilcock, and to M3 Parkway, which reopened in 2010. It is the first major RO application under the current National Development Plan and is funded by the National Transport Authority, under Project Ireland 2040 and is the first extension to DART since it expanded to Malahide and Greystones in 2000. DART+ West will deliver a greatly enhanced passenger carrying capacity, with increases of more than 160% and the works include:

■ 40km of electrification and resignalling of the Maynooth and M3 Parkway lines to the city centre, to allow more trains operate.

■ A new second station entrance on Preston Street and rail capacity enhancements at Connolly station.

■ Construction of a new station at Spencer Dock with direct interchange with the Luas Red Line.

■ Closure of six level crossings and provision of replacement accesses where required for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, to ensure increased service frequency does not result in road congestion at level crossings, or impact on connectivity within communities.

■ Construction of a new DART depot facility west of Maynooth Station, to maintain the new DART+ fleet.

■ All civil, bridge, and ancillary works as necessary to accommodate the project. Minister for Transport, Éamon Ryan TD said: “DART+ West will, for the first time, connect established and new and growing communities to the west of our capital city and into Kildare and Meath along a modern, electrified rail line.”