THE DART LINE will be closed between Grand Canal Dock and Bray between Saturday and Monday as Irish Rail carries out major works. 

The works are being carried out as thousands of people are set to travel to Croke Park for the Leinster Rugby semi-final at 4.30pm on Saturday.

Irish Rail is carrying out track renewals, overhead line renewals and train protection system works at multiple sites. 

It said these works were planned in December 2023 as part of its 2024 works programme. 

Irish Rail said that in planning its works programme, it examined all major events and the May weekend, at the time of planning, had no major sporting fixture or concert taking place. 

It noted that when the Leinster Rugby event was scheduled, to defer the work at that time would have resulted in a cost “significantly over €500,000″. 

“More critically, the train protection system project is on a critical path and losing time on this would impact the testing programme,” Irish Rail said. 

The public transport provide said that while the vast majority of the works are taking place overnight without causing disruption, “certain major works do unavoidably involve service impacts”.

What public transport alternatives will be available? 

Irish Rail has said that since the Leinster fixture was confirmed, it has worked with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and its fellow public transport operators to ensure there is additional capacity on bus and Luas services. 

Dublin Bus and Go Ahead will accept Dart tickets, and provide “significant additional capacity”, particularly for Saturday’s Leinster semi-final at Croke Park, Irish Rail said. 

There will also be limited supplementary bus services operating from Bray and Dun Laoghaire Stations to Grand Canal Dock before the match and from Grand Canal Dock to Dun Laoghaire and Bray Stations after the match.

It should be noted that this supplementary bus capacity is limited.

There will also be extra services on the following routes: 

• Dublin Bus route 7 – Dun Laoghaire to Mountjoy Square
• Dublin Bus route 155 – Bray Station to O’Connell Street
• Go Ahead route 45A – Bray Station to Dun Laoghaire Station

Accounting for the rugby match on Saturday, Irish Rail said it will be providing a “comprehensive service” from Howth/Malahide to the city centre and Grand Canal Dock.

There will be extra services on the Maynooth line (directly serving Drumcondra) and the northern commuter services. 

On Sunday and Monday, a revised timetable will operate on all routes. For Dart and Commuter services, this will be a Sunday service.