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DART+ South West Public Consultation begins

12.05.2021

DART+ South West: public consultation begins to extend DART from Heuston to Hazelhatch incl Phoenix Park tunnel. Rail customer capacity to quadruple under transformative project.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan T.D., Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, Mayor of South Dublin, Ed O’Brien and Cathaoirleach of Kildare Co.Co. Mark Stafford joined Iarnród Éireann’s CEO, Jim Meade to formally open the first round of public consultation on the Emerging Preferred Option on DART+  South West at Heuston Station today. 

Funded by the National Transport Authority, under Project Ireland 2040 and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) with powers delegated by the European Union TEN-T core network, the DART+ South West project, as part of the DART+ Programme. The project will deliver an improved electrified network, with increased passenger capacity and enhanced train performance between Hazelhatch & Celbridge and Heuston and Glasnevin/Docklands area via the Phoenix Park Tunnel.  

The project will:

The Emerging Preferred Option is also compatible with future stations at Kylemore and Cabra, although the construction of these stations is not part of this project.  

DART+ South West benefits include: 

 Current Project Status

The first phase of public consultation on this project is now live. It is designed to present the Emerging Preferred option for provision of DART+ South West to communities and stakeholders along the route.

All are encouraged to review the full details at www.dartplus.ie, which also features an interactive virtual room. A dedicated phone line, email address and online feedback form are all available at dartplus.ie. Due to the current public health restrictions, in-person consultation is currently not permitted. A series of webinars for communities along the route will commence next week. 

Upon completion of this consultation, all submissions will be carefully considered by the project design team and these will be used to inform the subsequent design development. Once this design work is complete a second round of public consultations will take place. This will be followed by more detailed design work before the lodging of a railway order application to an Bord Pleanála, A statutory consultation period will take place after lodging of the application and it is expected that An Bord Pleanála will hold an oral hearing on the application, which will be open to all members of the public. 

Speaking at today’s Launch, the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan T.D said: 

"We want to encourage more people to make the switch to public transport by making it faster, more frequent and more accessible. The Dart+ South West project is critical to our overall plans for Dublin and the surrounding counties. I encourage everyone to take the time to engage in this consultation process and feedback your views on how we can create a rail service that serves the needs of all its users”.

Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann Jim Meade said: 

“DART has been one of the nation’s major public transport success stories and DART+, with DART+ South West will bring  sustainable, fast and frequent train services to tens of thousands of new and existing customers. We encourage commuters, residents, communities and all stakeholders to participate in the public consultation to ensure we understand and incorporate their views in the ongoing design process.”

Anne Graham, Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority said:  

“I very much welcome the fact that the first round of public consultation on DART+ South West is now open. This development is a clear indication that real progress is being made across all elements of the DART+ Programme.  Thanks to DART+, passenger capacity and service frequency, travel options  will be vastly improved for people across the rail network in the Greater Dublin Area in the coming years.   DART+ will allow more people to make sustainable travel choices and will contribute to reducing our emissions by providing a reliable alternative to the private car.  NTA looks forward to continuing to work with Iarnród Éireann in making DART+ a reality.”

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