Greater Dublin Area Draft Transport Strategy 2011-2030

10.3 Passenger rail10.3.1 OverviewOne of the key attributes of rail is its ability tocarry large numbers of people in a reliable andfast manner to their destinations. As such it hasa critical role to play in providing quality publictransport to existing areas, and in supporting theconsolidation and intensification of developmentaround rail in the city centre, the widerMetropolitan Area and larger Hinterland towns.Three classes of rail service will operate in theGreater Dublin Area over the Strategy period.These will be:• Intercity heavy rail services to Dublin citycentre, with limited or no intermediate stops inthe Greater Dublin Area;• Regional heavy rail commuter services to Dublincity centre, typically starting outside the GreaterDublin Area, with limited intermediate stops inthe Greater Dublin Area; and• Metropolitan services (DART heavy rail, Luas andplanned Metro light rail), starting and ending in,or close to, the Dublin Metropolitan Area, andstopping at all intermediate stations and stops.Over the Strategy period existing rail services will beupgraded to provide additional passenger capacityand service quality either by lengthening trains orincreasing rail service frequencies. New corridors willbe required to improve rail coverage and rail track,vehicles and stations will be upgraded.10.3.2 Heavy railThe heavy rail network is a critical part of theoverall transport network for the Greater DublinArea. As well as providing for intercity servicesconnecting to the rest of the island, it also providesfor the movement of over 30 million passengerseach year in the Greater Dublin Area.The network can be divided into four elements:• Northern corridor (Belfast, Drogheda, Balbrigganand Malahide/Howth DART) services;• Southwestern corridor (Galway, Kerry, Limerick,Cork, Waterford, Portlaoise and Kildarecommuter services);• Western corridor (Sligo, Navan and Maynoothcommuter services); and• Southeast corridor (serving Rosslare, Arklow,Wicklow and Bray/Greystones DART services).In addition to continuing to serve existing areasalong rail corridors, heavy rail will also have acrucial role in serving projected large scale tripintensivedevelopment in Designated Towns andDesignated Districts including:• Dublin city centre, Docklands and Heuston areas;• Along the Northern rail corridor in theMetropolitan Area (Clongriffin, Portmarnockand Donabate) and Hinterland Area (Balbrigganand Drogheda);• Along the Southwestern rail corridor in theMetropolitan Area (Clonburris and Adamstown)and Hinterland Area (Naas and Newbridge);• Along the Western corridor in the MetropolitanArea (Ashtown, Blanchardstown south, Leixlip/Maynooth) and Hinterland Area (via a spur toNavan); and• Along the Southeastern corridor in theMetropolitan Area (Dun Laoghaire and Bray) andHinterland Area (Wicklow and Arklow).A major investment programme in the heavy railnetwork is required to improve heavy rail access tothe city centre, facilitate the provision of rail servicesto new development areas and to satisfy growingpassenger demand on all of the rail corridors.10.3.3 Heavy rail infrastructureDART and DART UndergroundSince its introduction in the 1980s, the DART systemhas performed a vital role in the MetropolitanArea’s transport system. More recent enhancementssuch as extensions northwards to Malahide andsouthwards to Greystones, together with stationplatform lengthening, additional train sets and newstations have all increased the attractiveness andcarrying capacity of the DART system.Chapter 10: page 10 www.2030vision.ie