THE EXTENSION OF the DART to Drogheda has today taken a “significant step forward” as Iarnród Éireann lodged a Railway Order application with An Bord Pleanála.
The extension, which will serve communities along the coast from Dublin, will go from Malahide to Drogheda MacBride Station.
It will increase the peak hourly capacity and frequency on the route between Dublin City and Malahide, and Howth and Drogheda. The section in between Malahide and Drogheda, as part of the service been Dublin City and Drogheda, will nearly double in capacity from about 4,800 to 8,800 passengers at peak times, Iarnród Éireann said.
The project is entitled DART+ Coastal North. In advance of the construction of the project, the rail company said that commuters on the route will benefit from new battery electric DART+ trains, which will run under wires from the city centre to Malahide and continue under battery power to Drogheda.
Construction of charging facilities at Drogheda is already underway, Iarnród Éireann said.
The first of these trains will arrive in Ireland in the autumn and after a period of testing and commissioning, will begin entering service on the Drogheda route in early 2026.
An eight week statutory public consultation period for the project is to begin on July 19, until September 20.
This route is now the third route in the DART+ programme to reach this stage.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the lodgement of the planning application cements the department’s commitment to develop “a high-quality, sustainable public transport system in Ireland”.
The planned infrastructure improvements as part of DART+ Coastal North include 37km of electrification of the railway line between Malahide and Drogheda MacBride stations, as improvement of Howth Junction and Donaghmede Station, and modification to Fairview and Drogheda train depots to support the new train fleet.
It also said that reconfiguration is planned for existing track layout and associated infrastructure in the vicinity of the stations.
Subject to planning permission and funding arrangements, construction works on the route could commence later this decade, it said, taking around three years to complete.
Potentially directly impacted landowners and occupiers within the lands referenced in the Railway Order Application were contacted directly in advance of the lodgement of the order on 12th July.
The Railway Order application is live from today and features all of the Railway Order documents.
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