DART service to carry more passengers

DART passenger capacity is due to increase by 30% by the end of 2005, Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said today.

At the completion of the first phase of the €176m upgrade, the minister said the number of passengers per hour would rise from 11,800 to 16,000.

He described the light rail system as one of the greatest public transport success stories.

“The daily numbers travelling on DART have increased from 35,000 when the service began in 1984 to 90,000 today.”

The need to upgrade the DART became apparent in 2001, when it emerged the service was carrying nearly two-and-a-half times more passengers than it was designed to carry when it was built in 1984. No extra carriages were added to the fleet over a 16 year period.

Iarnród Éireann has now spent €80m on 40 new DART carriages, which are being built in Japan.

This will double the size of the fleet and 16 carriages have already been delivered. The state rail company is extending its Fairview Depot in Dublin to cater for the expanded fleet.

All the stations on the southern side of the 35-kilometre DART line from Greystones to Pearse Station have been upgraded to accommodate larger eight-carriage trains and normal weekend service has resumed.

But the north-side section of the DART from Pearse Station to Howth will be closed at weekends for 10 months, with the exception of three weekends at Christmas. Additional Dublin Bus services will be provided for passengers along the line.

The upgraded DART stations will be fully-accessible to disabled people, who previously were unable to cross the overhead platforms in some locations.