Minister for Transport, Pascal Donohue has announced plans to expand Ireland’s rail services in 2016. The new plans include increasing the frequency of DART services to every 10 minutes. A public consultation on expansion plans and schedule changes is open to feedback until December 8th.
“Proposed changes, which will see Dart services running every 10 minutes and for longer hours, will be great news for customers as it should mean less congestion on carriages at peak times and enhanced reliability, both of which will be welcomed,” the Minister said.
Iarnród Éireann have experienced an increase in passenger numbers 0f 5% this year. DART services have seen an increase of 8 per cent in 2015.
To see the proposals, draft timetables and give feedback go to irishrail.ie
A number of changes have been proposed including:
– Dart weekday services to a 10-minute frequency
– Departure time changes on all Connolly routes
– First daily Dart services proposed to depart at 5.50am from Malahide (currently 6.30am), at 6.00am from Howth (currently 6.05am), and at 5.35am from Bray (currently 5.40am)
– Scheduled departures every 15 minutes on Saturday and every 20 minutes on Sunday.
– An extra express morning peak service from Dundalk/Drogheda proposed to leave Dundalk at 7.30am.
– An increased frequency for Dundalk
– A revised Dublin/Belfast Enterprise schedule to see more intervals between services, resulting in changes to departure times.