Going underground ... the €3bn plan for Dublin's Dart expansion
Tuesday November 24 2009
Iarnrod Eireann is to seek planning permission next year for a €3bn underground Dart line linking the Docklands to Inchicore.
The completed Interconnector would link all lines -- the Dart, the intercity, the Luas and Metro North -- into an integrated network.
Permission for the 7.5km subway, which is to be financed through a public-private partnership (PPP), is expected to be sought early in the new year.
Important
Twenty trains will be able to travel in each direction per hour, allowing 64,000 commuters to use the service every 60 minutes.
Construction on the line is expected to go ahead, despite the crisis in the public finances.
Iarnrod Eireann has been told by the Government to continue designing the project and to secure planning permission.
The company said the underground Dart is the single-most important piece of infrastructure in terms of encouraging commuters to use public transport rather than their cars.
Under the PPP, the line would be built by a private sector entity, which would then receive payments over a fixed period of time to cover the construction costs.
Public consultations are to be held on the route of the proposed line, pending the application for a railway order.
Iarnrod Eireann had originally planned to make the terminus in Heuston Station, but this has been abandoned as it would disrupt existing services. The company is now proposing that the terminus be placed in Inchicore.
The number of rail passengers in Dublin could rise to 100 million a year if the plan goes ahead, and up to 7,000 jobs a year may be created.
A spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann said all options "are being explored in relation to PPP, including the concessionary period and the type of contract".
If the project gets the go-ahead, work will begin in 2011 and should be completed by 2016.
comurphy@herald.ie
- Cormac Murphy
