Dublin Suburban Rail
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The Dublin Suburban Rail network (now branded DART/Commuter) is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland, as well as most of the Greater Dublin Area. Some towns even further afield are also served for commuters. The system is made up of five lines:
- Northern Commuter - Dublin Pearse to Dundalk.
- South Eastern Commuter - Dublin Connolly to Wicklow.
- South Western Commuter - Dublin Heuston to Kildare.
- Western Commuter - Dublin Pearse / Docklands to Longford.
- Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) - Greystones to Howth/Malahide.
The lines are owned and operated by Iarnród Éireann, however the Luas (light rail) system is not officially part of this network, and is not operated by Iarnród Éireann. As of October 2006 the Luas Red Line between Connolly and Heuston stations only is featured on Iarnród Éireann's network map on DART trains.
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[edit] Service frequency
Services run from approxemtely 06:00-23:30. Services are frequent on the DART line (usually every 15-20 minutes off peak, and even more frequent at peak times). Services are also frequent at peak times on the Western and Northern lines (approximately every fifteen minutes). However off-peak services on the Western and Northern lines can be as infrequent as hourly, and occasionally greater. Service frequency on Sundays is even less. However from 14 January 2007 the Western line will operate an hourly service from 09:30 to 18:30 on Sundays.
Services are less frequent on the South Western line, however there are trains approximately hourly. From 14 January 2007 the South Western line will operate on Sundays for the first time, with five services each way. The South Eastern line is the least frequent, with only four trains a day at present.
[edit] Rolling Stock
As of 2006, the majority of rolling stock used on the non-DART services on the network are IE 2900 Class diesel multiple units, with IE 2600 Class, IE 2700 Class, and IE 2800 Class DMUs also in use for some services. The Class 2900 DMUs are fitted with interior LEDs and automated information systems. Locomotive hauled services are no longer generally used on DART/Commuter services, although these (typically British Railways Mark 1 trains, the "Cravens") were a feature prior to the delivery of the Class 2800 DMUs in the early 2000s.
[edit] Routes
[edit] Northern Commuter
- Stations served - Dublin Pearse, Tara Street, Dublin Connolly, Howth Junction, Portmarnock, Malahide, Donabate, Rush and Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan, Gormanston, Laytown, Drogheda, Dundalk.
Dunleer and/or Drogheda North have been mooted as possible additional stations. The track is shared with Dublin-Belfast Enterprise services, and shared with DART services as far as Malahide. The bridge at Drogheda is single track which may hinder high frequency services in the long term. The halt at Mosney is no longer used due to the ending of the holiday camp there.
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Balbriggan by 2015, with the stations between Balbriggan and Malahide incorporated into a new DART service between Balbriggan and Hazelhatch (see below).
[edit] South Eastern Commuter
- Stations served - Dublin Connolly, Tara Street, Dublin Pearse, Lansdowne Road, Sydney Parade, Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones, Kilcoole, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey.
The services share track with mainline service to Rosslare and DART service as far as Greystones. The line is single track from Bray onwards. This service is the least frequent DART/Commuter service of all, with only a handful of trains daily.
[edit] South Western Commuter
Sometimes called the Kildare Suburban or Kildare Commuter line. Previously known as the Arrow service.
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch and Celbridge, Sallins and Naas, Newbridge, Kildare.
This service is the newest Dublin DART/Commuter line. It was launched in 1994 as the Arrow service, shortly after the delivery of the then Arrow-branded Class 2600 railcars. Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch and Celbridge and Sallins and Naas stations were opened on the same day, although previous stations had existed on some of these sites. Newbridge station had previously been an InterCity station, though it is now mainly served by Commuter trains. The stations on the line were at the time of launch all "Arrow" branded also, though this branding has now been removed. This line does not connect directly with the rest of the network, being operated out of Dublin Heuston, however it is connected by the Luas and Dublin Bus Route 90.
A station used only occasionally for "special" trains also exists at the Curragh. Plans currently exist to relocate the stations at Cherry Orchard (moving to Park West) and Clondalkin (moving to Fonthill Road). This work is part of the Kildare Route Project, which includes quadruple-tracking the line between Le Fanu Road (east of the present Cherry Orchard station) to just beyond Hazelhatch.
A special development zone (SDZ) called Adamstown is currently under construction. This borders an area from west Lucan to the Kildare rail line and is approx 16km from Dublin. It is expected to have 20,000 inhabitants by the time it is completed. The developers at the site will be building a new station on the line as part of the early phase of the development.
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Hazelhatch by 2015. Under CIÉ's Interconnector project, upon electrification of this line and opening of the interconnector, the existing Kildare line service, as far as Hazelhatch & Celbridge would be replaced by one of two DART lines, running via the Interconnector from Hazelhatch to Balbriggan/Howth. The service would also be directly connected to the rest of the DART/Commuter network at Dublin Pearse.
[edit] Western Commuter
- Stations served - City branch: Dublin Pearse, Tara Street, Dublin Connolly, Drumcondra, Broombridge, Ashtown, Castleknock, Coolmine, Clonsilla, Leixlip Confey, Leixlip Louisa Bridge, Maynooth. Some trains on this service continue to Kilcock, Enfield, Mullingar, Edgeworthstown, and Longford.
Docklands branch: Docklands, Broombridge, Ashtown, Castleknock, Coolmine, Clonsilla.
A new station is currently under construction in the Ashtown area, to be known as Phoenix Park, but will not actually be located in the park as such.
This service had been operated as a limited service from November 1981 until 1990, serving Ashtown (opened January 1982), Clonsilla, Leixlip (now Leixlip Louisa Bridge), and Maynooth. In 1990 new stations were opened at Broombridge, Castleknock, Coolmine, and Leixlip Confey. Another station at Drumcondra was opened in March 1998. Most of the station buildings on this line were a mixture of small block built booking offices and converted steel cabins and there was still a limited service owing to the single track between Clonsilla and Maynooth. In 1999-2000 a major upgrade project took place, with the upgrading of the line between Clonsilla and Maynooth to double track, the entire line being upgraded to continuous welded rail, the building of permanent station buildings at all stations except Broombridge, the replacement of the semaphore signalling with computerised traffic control, and the provision of real time information displays at stations (these have, apart from at Drumcondra, never been activated however).
Since 12 March 2007, several additional weekday services operate on the Maynooth line. However these will only operate from Clonsilla, serving the existing stations to Broombridge, and then terminate at the new Docklands railway station. They do not serve either Drumcondra or the central Dublin stations, nor the stations beyond Clonsilla. It is planned that these services will run on the proposed branch to Littlepace, and eventually Navan, becoming the proposed Meath Commuter service (see [1] and [2])
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Maynooth by 2015. Under CIÉ's Interconnector project, upon electrification of this line and opening of the interconnector, the existing Maynooth line service would be replaced by one of two DART lines, running from Maynooth to Bray.
[edit] Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART)
See separate Dublin Area Rapid Transit article.
