The Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART), or Mearlíne Átha Cliath in Irish, is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running mainly along the coastline of Dublin Bay on the Trans-Dublin route, from Greystones in County Wicklow, through Dublin to Howth and Malahide in County Dublin.

Trains are powered via a 1500V DC overhead catenary along a short section of the Irish Rail Network, all of which is Irish Broad Gauge (5 ft 3 in (1600 mm)). The national rail operator, Iarnród Éireann (IE), administers the DART system. On its inception in 1984, the DART was run by Coras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) of whom IE is now a subsidiary. Part of the DART route, from the city centre to Dún Laoghaire, is of historic note — it was the first railway in Ireland, opening as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway on 17 December 1834. The DART forms part of the Dublin Suburban Rail network.

Dublin Area Rapid Transit route[1]
Station Malahide Howth Portmarnock Sutton Bayside Howth Junction & Donaghmede Kilbarrack Raheny Harmonstown Killester Clontarf Road Connolly Loopline Bridge over River Liffey Tara Street Pearse Grand Canal Dock Lansdowne Road Sandymount Sydney Parade Booterstown Blackrock Seapoint Salthill & Monkstown Dún Laoghaire Sandycove & Glasthule Glenageary Dalkey Killiney Shankill Bray Greystones

Development and redevelopment of the DART

The original DART service, created in 1984, ran from Howth which is north-east of Dublin, through the city centre stations of Connolly, Tara Street, and Pearse, and south to Bray in County Wicklow. This remained the route for some 15 years, until the extension by one stop further south to the town of Greystones, and north from Howth Junction & Donaghmede by two stops further along the Belfast main line to Portmarnock and Malahide. The current route is schematically shown in the accompanying map.

In the early 1980s, in preparation for electrification, two new stations were added. Sandymount station at Sandymount Avenue was opened on the site where a station had previously stood, and Salthill was built on the site of the original railway terminus, between Seapoint and Dún Laoghaire. At the time of the electrification work from 1981-82, the former branch to Dun Laoghaire pier used by ferry passengers was disconnected as the main track had to be lowered in order to fit the overhead power cables under road bridges in Dun Laoghaire; some ten years later a new passenger ferry terminal was built immediately adjacent to the main Dun Laoghaire station.

Under the Irish Government's Transport 21 investment programme, the DART is to be extended with a new tunnel under the city from Heuston Station to the new Docklands station in Spencer Dock. This tunnel, known as the Interconnector or DART Underground, will allow DART services to run from Celbridge/Hazelhatch to Heuston Station to St. Stephen's Green to Spencer Dock and on to Balbriggan. The existing DART line will be modified to run from Bray to Maynooth. These two lines will have an interchange at Pearse Station.

Operational details

A mixed fleet of electric multiple-unit trains provides the service:

• 38 surviving two-car sets built by GEC and LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) of Germany in 1983 (8100 class)
• 5 two-car sets built by GEC-Alsthom of Barcelona, Spain in 1999 (8200 class)
• 17 four-car sets built by Tokyu Car Corporation of Yokohama in three separate orders between 2000 and 2004 (8500, 8510 & 8520 classes).
• Both the 8510 & 8520 classes are fitted with CCTV in the saloon areas.
• The 8520 class is fully air-conditioned.

They normally run coupled as eight- or six-car trains in the peak periods, typically between 07:00-09:30 and 17:00-18:30, and four-car trains at other times. Japanese sets typically operate with an Alstom unit to make a six-car train. Work is currently under way to allow the original LHB sets to work in tandem with the newer sets. 40 two-car units were purchased initially – two were subsequently lost in a depot fire in 2001. The DART now carries more than 80,000 passengers daily. During 2003-5, development works were undertaken to lengthen platforms and improve disabled access at suburban stations and to upgrade the power grid. This enabled the lengthening of most peak time trains from 6 to 8 cars to reduce overcrowding.

A single person drives each train from a cab in the leading carriage. All trains have automatic sliding doors under the control of the driver. All trains in the Dublin suburban area including the DART are monitored and regulated by a Central Traffic Control (CTC) facility based in Connolly Station, known as Suburban CTC. Passenger information in the form of electronic information displays on each platform is updated in real time based on the progress of trains. Automatic PA announcements are made in case of delays - these announcements are tailored to each station. Due to extensive computer automation the main control room only needs a staff of 4 people: two signallers, one with responsibility for level crossings, an electrical control officer (ECO), who supervises the electrical power supply equipment and an overall supervisor. Normally only the main CTC control room is staffed, but back-up local control rooms are also provided, allowing services to continue in the event of serious technical problems.

Journeys require a ticket to be purchased before starting. As of 2007, a one-way ticket costs between €1.20 and €3.80, depending on distance travelled. To gain access to the platform passengers must pass through a turnstile that requires a valid ticket — the underside of the ticket is automatically printed with the date, time and a 3-digit code representing the station in which the ticket was validated. Ticket checks on the trains themselves are relatively rare and mainly occur off-peak. Generally, a member of staff checks tickets on arrival at each destination. Exit validation equipment that requires a valid ticket to open the exit gate exists at stations between Connolly and Lansdowne Road, except at Pearse, which has manual exit validation. The main form of fraud prevention remains the initial validation.

DART services begin at approx. 05:40 on weekdays and finish before midnight. No DART services run on Christmas Day or the following day, St. Stephen's Day.

DART's competitors

Iarnród Éireann currently operates a rail monopoly. The only other company to operate on lines in the Republic of Ireland is Northern Ireland Railways, which operates a joint railway service between Dublin and Belfast named Enterprise.

A number of other transport modes are available in Dublin. Apart from the two most popular modes of transport, walking and private vehicle, the CIÉ-owned Dublin Bus is virtually ubiquitous, running all over the city. As such, it has many routes that run parallel to DART for stretches. However, it does not have any scheduled routes that traverse the entire length of the DART line. As in the rest of Ireland, integration of bus and rail services is very limited though there are some "feeder bus" routes for which it is possible to buy a through ticket valid for both the rail and bus section of the journey. Some types of unlimited travel passes can be purchased which are valid for both rail and Dublin Bus or rail and Luas (tram) services but apart from that ticketing is not integrated. Plans by the Railway Procurement Agency to introduce comprehensive integrated ticketing have made slow progress.

The Luas light rail system, which partially integrates with the DART at Connolly Station, is not seen as a competitor, as neither of its routes run along similar routes to DART.

Compared to the LUAS, the competing Dublin Bus routes, and the motor car, the DART is several times faster, and for this reason the preferred transport option for many customers.

Criticism of DART

Perhaps the biggest criticism of the DART is that it is located along a seashore, capturing a one side hinterland. However this has not diminished demand one bit, as the service is packed every morning and evening. This created the most lasting criticism, that the creators had not envisaged the strength of customer demand.^[2] Eventually longer trains, and more peak hour services were introduced in 2001, and this alleviated this issue.

Some aspects of the DART system may constitute fundamental structural shortcomings. Paramount amongst these is the non-exclusive nature of the railway route used. Given two tracks in an urban area, expansion to allow an additional track was also going to be difficult. Other than the short distance between Howth Junction and Howth, the DART shares its tracks with mainline services to Belfast in Northern Ireland and to Rosslare in the south-east, as well as non-DART commuter DMUs known as "Commuter" services. Connolly Station is also shared with mainline services to Sligo and Commuter services to the north-west of the city. Iarnród Éireann hoped to separate the north-western non-DART services from Connolly, running them below the northern line to the new station at Docklands, east of Connolly; when Docklands station opened, new services from Clonsilla started to run there, but omitting Drumcondra. Existing services still run to Connolly, and usually through to Pearse.

The currently shared-line system means that an increase in DART service frequency is almost impossible. Although frequency on the DART is capped by the need to accommodate these other services, often the DART service has priority, causing delays for the higher-speed DMUs and Intercity trains. There are plans to four-track the route for some distance north of Connolly, to alleviate rail congestion at peak times.The signalling system in Connolly station, in Tara Street Station,and in Pearse Station has been modernised to make efficient use of the busiest point on the line.

Integration with road traffic

A problem for both the DART and road traffic, is the existence of numerous level crossings along some of its length. The mechanism in place for this involves automatic full barriers to stop the flow of traffic along the road resulting in localised traffic jams. This is widely seen as a design flaw that could have been avoided at the time of electrification.

Future expansion

The Irish Government has ambition plans to significantly expand the DART service to the west of the city under Transport 21 to provide a far superior transport system for Dublin.^[3] A crucial part of this plan is the Interconnector rail tunnel under Dublin City, which will provide for the electrification of the remainder of the commuter rail network. It will also significantly expand the DART service to the west of the city which will involve carving the existing north-south line into two different services, each running to the west from the city centre.

Under these plans, the Interconnector would be constructed linking the northern portion of the DART line (North of Connolly Station) to the Kildare line via the Docklands station at Spencer Dock and Heuston Station. This strategic tunnel would link the DART directly with existing LUAS light rail lines, hundreds of bus routes, planned Metro lines and extend the high frequency DART service to the Kildare commuter line. A DART service originating from the Northside (i.e. Howth) will divert to the Docklands and from there through a tunnel to Heuston station in order to continue service on the Kildare line.

Simultaneously, the Southern Portion of the existing DART line would branch west after Connolly Station to continue service on the electrified Maynooth commuter line. The Interconnector rail project, by tunnelling through the heart of Dublin will allow for much more effective integration with other elements of Dublin's transport system once complete.

DART stations

One of the best-known stations is at Lansdowne Road, the home of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the venue for Irish rugby and soccer international matches. Further south, the train stops at Sydney Parade, a street of some Georgian and many Edwardian and Victorian red-brick houses in the Dublin embassy belt.

It is believed that the former station at Merrion Gates - between Sydney Parade and Booterstown - will be redeveloped in the near future, though this awaits confirmation.

List of DART stations

North of Howth Junction

Malahide, Portmarnock

Northeast of Howth Junction

Howth, Sutton, Bayside

South of Howth Junction

Howth Junction, Kilbarrack, Raheny, Harmonstown, Killester, Clontarf Road, Connolly

South of the River Liffey

Tara Street, Pearse, Grand Canal Dock, Lansdowne Road, Sandymount, Sydney Parade, Booterstown, Blackrock, Seapoint, Salthill & Monkstown, Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove & Glasthule, Glenageary, Dalkey, Killiney, Shankill, Bray, Greystones

Notes

See also

• Rail transport in Ireland
• Dallas Area Rapid Transit
• Luas the "Dublin Light Rail System"
• Multiple Units of Ireland

External links

• Dublin Area Rapid Transit
• CIE
• Platform11, an Irish rail-users organisation

•  • [ e] Current Rail Operators in Ireland
Iarnrd ireann • Northern Ireland Railways • Enterprise1
Commuter • Dublin Area Rapid Transit • InterCity
1: Operated jointly by Iarnrd ireann and Northern Ireland Railways