Dublin Suburban Rail
Encyclopedia
The Dublin Suburban Rail network, (now branded DART
Dublin Area Rapid Transit
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit 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...

/Commuter
), is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, most of the Greater Dublin Area
Greater Dublin Area
Greater Dublin Area , or simply Greater Dublin, is a term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and various counties in the hinterland of the city in Ireland. The term has no basis in law and no local government, department of government or agency of the state is bound by the term...

 and outlying towns. The system is made up of five lines:
  • Northern Commuter - Dublin Pearse
    Dublin Pearse railway station
    Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

     to Dundalk
    Dundalk railway station
    Dundalk Clarke railway station serves Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland. It consists of an island platform, with a bay facing south. It is served by the Dublin-Belfast "Enterprise" express trains as well as local Commuter services to and from Dublin...

    .
  • South Eastern Commuter - Dublin Connolly
    Dublin Connolly railway station
    Dublin Connolly, commonly called Connolly station , is one of the main railway stations in Dublin, Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. Opened in 1844 as Amiens Street Station, the ornate facade has a distinctive Italianate tower at its centre...

     to Gorey
    Gorey railway station
    Gorey railway station opened on 16 November 1863, and serves the town of Gorey in County Wexford, Ireland. It consists of two platforms, one of which is on a passing loop. At present, the down loop is only signalled for workings in the Enniscorthy direction. There is a water tower, still used by...

    .
  • South Western Commuter - Dublin Heuston
    Dublin Heuston railway station
    Dublin Heuston , commonly called Heuston Station , is one of Ireland's main railway stations, serving the south, southwest and west. It is operated by Iarnród Éireann , the national railway operator...

     to Portlaoise
    Portlaoise railway station
    Portlaoise railway station is a railway station situated above the town of Portlaoise, in County Laois. It is the end of the widening commuter belt for Dublin, and the western limit in the "Giant Hop" zone.-External links:*...

    .
  • Western Commuter - Dublin Pearse
    Dublin Pearse railway station
    Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

     / Docklands
    Docklands railway station
    Docklands Station is a new railway station serving the Dublin Docklands area in Ireland owned by Córas Iompair Éireann planned as part of the Government Transport 21 initiative....

     to Longford
    Longford railway station
    Longford railway station serves the town of Longford in County Longford.Longford is about 91 km from Sligo and 122 km from Dublin. It lies on the Dublin-Sligo route of the Irish railway network, and is served by Sligo-Dublin intercity services. Despite its distance from Dublin, the town...

    .
  • Dublin Area Rapid Transit
    Dublin Area Rapid Transit
    The Dublin Area Rapid Transit 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...

     (DART)
    - Greystones
    Greystones railway station
    Greystones railway station serves Greystones in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the southern terminus of the DART electrified rail network, and is not served by all DART trains. Trains had previously terminated at Bray Daly Station. Construction began on the extended service between 1995 and 1999,...

     to Howth
    Howth railway station
    Howth DART station , opened on 30 May 1847, serves Howth Head and the harbour town of Howth in County Dublin, Ireland, in the administration of Fingal...

    /Malahide
    Malahide railway station
    Malahide railway station serves Malahide in Fingal . It was built by George Papworth for the Dublin and Drogheda Railway and opened on 25 May 1844....

    .


The lines are owned and operated by Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...

, however the Luas
Luas
Luas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a tram or light rail system serving Dublin, the first such system in the decades since the closure of the last of the Dublin tramways. In 2007, the system carried 28.4 million passengers, a growth of 10% since...

 (light rail) system is not officially part of this network, and is not operated by Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...

. As of October 2006 only the Luas Red Line between Connolly and Heuston stations is featured on DART network maps.

Service frequency

Services run from 05:30 to 00:42 from Monday to Saturday and 08:25 to 00:42 on Sunday. However, frequency varies by line, with the DART service being more frequent (every 15 minutes off peak, every few minutes peak) and services to outer stations being less frequent (maybe one every hour off peak). Less trains run on Sunday than any other day, and special timetables may be made for public holidays. There are no services on Christmas Day.

Rolling stock

As of 2006, the majority of rolling stock used on the non-DART services are IE 2900 Class
IE 2900 Class
The 29000 Class is a type of four-car Diesel Multiple Unit operated by Iarnród Éireann. The units were built in Spain by CAF in two batches between 2002 and 2005.-Description:...

 diesel multiple units, with IE 2600 Class
IE 2600 Class
The 2600 Class is a type of Diesel Multiple Unit operated on the Irish railway network by Iarnród Éireann, used mainly for short-haul Commuter services. At present the entire class is based in Cork, and is used on local services to Mallow, Midleton, Cobh and on token services to Tralee...

, IE 2700 Class
IE 2700 Class
The 2700 and 2750 Classes are two related types of diesel multiple unit operated by Iarnród Éireann. The 2700 Class units are 2-car sets; 25 cars were built by GEC Alsthom in 1997 and 1998, and began entering service in December 1998...

, and IE 2800 Class
IE 2800 Class
The 2800 Class is a type of Diesel Multiple Unit operated on the Irish railway network by Iarnród Éireann, used mainly for short-haul Commuter services.-Description:...

 DMUs also in use for some services. The Class 2900 DMUs are fitted with interior LEDs and automated information systems. CIE 8100 Class
CIE 8100 Class
The CIÉ 8100 class were the first electrical multiple units used on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit system. Built by GEC and LHB in 1983/84, they are two-car units, and were the only units used on the DART before the arrival of the 8200 Class. 40 two car sets were delivered, numbered 8101/8301 to...

 electric multiple units form the backbone of the DART services, with IE 8200 Class
IE 8200 Class
The Iarnród Éireann 8200 Class electrical multiple units were built for the Dublin Area Rapid Transit . The units are two-car sets, of which there are five. They are numbered in the sequence 8201+8401, etc... The units first entered service in 2000...

 and IE 8500 Class
IE 8500 Class
The 8500, 8510 and 8520 classes are three related types of EMU used by Iarnrod Eireann on the DART network in Dublin. The total fleet numbers a total of 17 four-car trains, all of which were constructed by the Tokyu Car Corporation.-8500 Class:...

 (and its variations) also in use. Locomotive hauled services are no longer generally used on DART/Commuter services, although these (typically British Railways Mark 1
British Railways Mark 1
British Railways Mark 1 was the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways. Following nationalisation in 1948, BR had continued to build carriages to the designs of the "Big Four" companies , and the Mark 1 was intended to be the...

 trains, the "Cravens") were a feature before the delivery of the Class 2800 DMUs in the early 2000s. Currently Commuter services are operated by 2600, 2700, 2800, 29000 and 22000 class (note services on Kildare commuter are now operated by 22000 class intercity railcars)

Northern Commuter

Fleet: 29000, 2800 class dmus.
Stations served - Dublin Pearse
Dublin Pearse railway station
Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

, Tara Street
Tara Street railway station
Tara Street is the 3rd busiest railway station in Ireland , with over 25,000 passengers using it daily. The station is arguably the closest station to the Dublin city centre and certainly is the closest to O'Connell Bridge....

, Dublin Connolly
Dublin Connolly railway station
Dublin Connolly, commonly called Connolly station , is one of the main railway stations in Dublin, Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. Opened in 1844 as Amiens Street Station, the ornate facade has a distinctive Italianate tower at its centre...

, Howth Junction
Howth Junction railway station
Howth Junction & Donaghmede railway station serves the area of Donaghmede, and parts of Kilbarrack in Dublin. It is located where the Dublin-Belfast railway line and Dublin-Malahide line separates from the Dublin-Howth line. It is located in Donaghmede....

, Clongriffin
Clongriffin railway station
Clongriffin railway station serves Dublin Area Rapid Transit and InterCity .-Location:Clongriffin railway station is situated along the Dublin–Belfast railway line between Portmarnock railway station and Howth Junction.-History:...

, Portmarnock
Portmarnock railway station
Portmarnock railway station serves Portmarnock in County Dublin.The station opened on 25 May 1844.- External links :*...

, Malahide
Malahide railway station
Malahide railway station serves Malahide in Fingal . It was built by George Papworth for the Dublin and Drogheda Railway and opened on 25 May 1844....

, Donabate
Donabate railway station
Donabate railway station serves Donabate in Fingal. Donabate railway station is owned by Iarnród Éireann. The station has two platforms, one for each of the two lines which runs through the station. Built in the mid-19th century, the station has a traditional appearance. The building has a small...

, Rush and Lusk
Rush and Lusk railway station
Rush and Lusk railway station serves the towns of Rush and Lusk in County Dublin, Ireland.The station opened on 25 May 1844. The station was also featured in one scene in the biopic, Michael Collins.- External links :*...

, Skerries
Skerries railway station
Skerries railway station serves Skerries in County Dublin, Ireland. The station opened on 25 May 1844.- External links :*...

, Balbriggan
Balbriggan railway station
Balbriggan railway station serves Balbriggan in County Dublin. It is the northern limit of the Dublin suburban rail network and of the short hop zone.The station opened on 25 May 1844 and closed for goods traffic on 2 December 1974...

, Gormanston
Gormanston railway station
Gormanston railway station opened in May 1845 and serves Gormanston in County Meath, Ireland.- External links :*...

, Laytown
Laytown railway station
Laytown railway station serves Laytown and Bettystown in County Meath, Ireland. The station opened on 25 May 1844 and was renamed as Laytown & Bettystown in 1913. It was since renamed back to Laytown. It is about 20 minutes' walk from the venue of yearly Laytown races.- External links :*...

, Drogheda
Drogheda railway station
Drogheda MacBride railway station serves Drogheda in County Louth, Ireland. There is a railcar servicing depot for commuter trains here.The original Drogheda station opened on 25 May 1844 about a quarter mile southeast. The passenger station was resited when the first temporary Boyne Viaduct...

, Dundalk
Dundalk railway station
Dundalk Clarke railway station serves Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland. It consists of an island platform, with a bay facing south. It is served by the Dublin-Belfast "Enterprise" express trains as well as local Commuter services to and from Dublin...

.


and/or Dundalk South have been mooted as possible additional stations. The track is shared with the Dublin-Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 Enterprise service, and DART services as far as Malahide
Malahide railway station
Malahide railway station serves Malahide in Fingal . It was built by George Papworth for the Dublin and Drogheda Railway and opened on 25 May 1844....

. The bridge
Boyne Viaduct
The Boyne Viaduct , a 30m high railway bridge, or viaduct, that crosses the River Boyne in Drogheda, carrying the main Dublin–Belfast railway line. It was the seventh bridge of its kind in the world when built and considered one of the wonders of the age...

 at Drogheda is single track which may hinder high frequency services in the long term. The halt at Mosney
Mosney
Mosney Accommodation Centre, formerly Butlin's Mosney, and Mosney Holiday Centre; in County Meath, Ireland, is situated approximately from Dublin. It is probably best known as the site of a Butlin's holiday camp in the second half of the 20th century and as the site for the National Finals of the...

 is no longer used due to the closure of the holiday camp there.

Transport 21
Transport 21
Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced in November 2005. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. A cost estimate of €34 billion was attached to the plan at the time....

 envisages electrification as far as Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....

 by 2015, with the stations between Balbriggan and Malahide incorporated into a new DART service between Balbriggan and Hazelhatch (see below).

South Eastern Commuter

Fleet 22000 class dmu
Stations served - Dublin Connolly
Dublin Connolly railway station
Dublin Connolly, commonly called Connolly station , is one of the main railway stations in Dublin, Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. Opened in 1844 as Amiens Street Station, the ornate facade has a distinctive Italianate tower at its centre...

, Tara Street
Tara Street railway station
Tara Street is the 3rd busiest railway station in Ireland , with over 25,000 passengers using it daily. The station is arguably the closest station to the Dublin city centre and certainly is the closest to O'Connell Bridge....

, Dublin Pearse
Dublin Pearse railway station
Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

, Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road railway station
Lansdowne Road railway station serves Lansdowne Road in Dublin, Ireland. There is a level crossing because the railway line is almost level to the surrounding land. The station serves the 'white collar' businesses of the Ballsbridge and Upper Baggot Street areas of Dublin 4...

, Sydney Parade
Sydney Parade railway station
Sydney Parade Railway Station is located at Sydney Parade Avenue in Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland.The station opened in January 1835 as a halt on the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. In 1852, it was upgraded to a full station with the construction of shelters, stone platforms, and a footbridge.The...

, Blackrock
Blackrock railway station
Blackrock railway station serves Blackrock in County Dublin, Ireland.The station opened on 17 December 1834.The station is served by the 7, 7a, 8, 17, 45 and 114 buses....

, Dún Laoghaire
Dun Laoghaire railway station
Dún Laoghaire/Mallin railway station , serves Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin, Ireland.The station has been named Mallin Station since 1966, after Michael Mallin, although it is usually referred to simply as Dún Laoghaire. It features two through platforms and one terminal platform...

, Bray, Greystones
Greystones railway station
Greystones railway station serves Greystones in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the southern terminus of the DART electrified rail network, and is not served by all DART trains. Trains had previously terminated at Bray Daly Station. Construction began on the extended service between 1995 and 1999,...

, Kilcoole
Kilcoole railway station
Kilcoole halt serves the towns of Kilcoole and Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow, Ireland. The station is unstaffed and is not wheelchair-accessible as the only entrance is via a wicket gate...

, Wicklow
Wicklow railway station
Wicklow railway station serves the town of Wicklow in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a two platform station with passing loop. A typical DSER signal cabin is mounted on the footbridge. At the Dublin end, there is a bridge situated on a curve....

, Rathdrum
Rathdrum railway station
Rathdrum railway station serves the town of Rathdrum in County Wicklow, Ireland. It opened on 18 July 1863, replacing the earlier terminus at Rathdrum when the line was extended. It is a two platform station with a passing loop, and water tower at the south end of one platform...

, Arklow
Arklow railway station
Arklow railway station opened on 16 November 1863 and serves the town of Arklow in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. The station consists of two platforms, one of which is served by a passing loop....

, Gorey
Gorey railway station
Gorey railway station opened on 16 November 1863, and serves the town of Gorey in County Wexford, Ireland. It consists of two platforms, one of which is on a passing loop. At present, the down loop is only signalled for workings in the Enniscorthy direction. There is a water tower, still used by...

.


The services share track with the mainline service to Rosslare
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....

 and the DART service as far as Greystones
Greystones
Greystones is a coastal town and small seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is located on Ireland’s east coast, south of Bray and south of Dublin , with a population in the region of 15,000....

. The line is single track from Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

 onwards. This is the least frequent DART/Commuter service, with only a handful of trains daily.

South Western Commuter

Sometimes called the Kildare Suburban or Kildare Commuter line. Previously known as the Arrow service.

Fleet: 22000 class dmu.
Stations served - Dublin Heuston
Dublin Heuston railway station
Dublin Heuston , commonly called Heuston Station , is one of Ireland's main railway stations, serving the south, southwest and west. It is operated by Iarnród Éireann , the national railway operator...

, Cherry Orchard & Parkwest
Cherry Orchard and Parkwest railway station
Park West and Cherry Orchard railway station is an Iarnród Éireann railway station in Ballyfermot, Dublin, serving the Parkwest and the Cherry Orchard area.-Description:...

, Clondalkin & Fonthill
Clondalkin railway station
Clondalkin/Fonthill railway station serves the suburb of Clondalkin in County Dublin. It is served by South Western Commuter services. It opened on 13 October 2008,...

, Adamstown
Adamstown railway station, Dublin
Adamstown railway station is a recently opened station serving the new town of Adamstown. It is on the Kildare line between Hazelhatch and Celbridge railway station and Clondalkin railway stations, just south of the old Lucan South station which closed in 1947. It opened on 10 April 2007...

, Hazelhatch & Celbridge
Hazelhatch and Celbridge railway station
Hazelhatch and Celbridge railway station serves the village of Hazelhatch and the neighbouring large town of Celbridge in County Kildare.The station opened on 4 August 1846 and closed for goods traffic on 9 June 1947...

, Sallins & Naas
Sallins and Naas railway station
Sallins and Naas railway station is located in the centre of the village of Sallins, Co. Kildare and also serves the nearby town of Naas. Originally called Sallins, it opened on 4 August 1846 and was the junction for the Tullow branch, which included the original Naas station...

, Newbridge, Kildare
Kildare railway station
Kildare railway station is a railway station in Kildare. It has three tracks, one for through services and two platforms. As the first major station on the south- and west-bound line from Heuston station, it is served, or at least passed-through, by a large number of trains. It is also the...

.


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 stations had previously existed on some of these sites. Newbridge station had previously been an InterCity station, though Commuter trains now mainly serve it. 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
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company, established in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann which is...

 Route 90.

A station used only occasionally for "special" trains also exists at the Curragh. The station at Cherry Orchard was relocated to Cherry Orchard & Parkwest in July 2008 and Clondalkin was located further west as Clondalkin & Fonthill on the Fonthill Road in October 2008. 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. There will also be another new station built between Adamstown and Clondalkin
Clondalkin
-Today:Modern Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 43,929 in 2006. Retail facilities include Tesco Ireland- and Dunnes Stores-led shopping centres, and Aldi and Lidl stores on the Fonthill Road and New Nangor Road respectively, and the village centre is a base for...

 at Kishoge, which will be located adjacent to the Lucan Outer Ring Road.

A special development zone (SDZ) called Adamstown
Adamstown, Dublin
Adamstown is the first new town planned in Ireland since Shannon Town in 1982. The new settlement is being developed 16 km from Dublin city centre, on a 220 hectare site just south of Lucan, west of the Griffeen River and north of the Grand Canal. No date has been set for the official...

 is currently under construction. This borders an area from west Lucan to the Kildare rail line and is approx. 16 km from Dublin. It is expected to have 20,000 inhabitants by the time it is completed. A new station opened on 10 April 2007, built and paid for by the developers.

Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Hazelhatch by 2015. Under CIÉ's Interconnector
Interconnector (rail tunnel)
DART Underground , previously known as the Interconnector, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, projected to run under the city centre of Dublin. The tunnel would allow for the expansion of the electrified DART and the Dublin Suburban Rail network, and connect Heuston Station with Pearse Station...

 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
Hazelhatch
Hazelhatch is an area on the border between County Kildare and County Dublin in Ireland. It is located approximately halfway between Celbridge and Newcastle. It is located on the R405 regional road. The Grand Canal passes through the area, and Hazelhatch is one of the places of recreational...

 to Balbriggan
Balbriggan
Balbriggan is a town in the northern part of the administrative county of Fingal, within County Dublin, Ireland. The 2006 census population was 15,559 for Balbriggan and its environs.- Name :...

/Howth
Howth
Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...

. The service would also be directly connected to the rest of the DART/Commuter network at Dublin Pearse
Dublin Pearse railway station
Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

.

Western Commuter

Fleet: 29000, 2800 class dmus.
Stations served - City branch: Dublin Pearse
Dublin Pearse railway station
Dublin Pearse, also known as Pearse Station , located on Westland Row in the Southside in Dublin, Ireland, is Ireland's busiest railway station and an important commuter terminus for the Dublin area.-Services:...

, Tara Street
Tara Street railway station
Tara Street is the 3rd busiest railway station in Ireland , with over 25,000 passengers using it daily. The station is arguably the closest station to the Dublin city centre and certainly is the closest to O'Connell Bridge....

, Dublin Connolly
Dublin Connolly railway station
Dublin Connolly, commonly called Connolly station , is one of the main railway stations in Dublin, Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. Opened in 1844 as Amiens Street Station, the ornate facade has a distinctive Italianate tower at its centre...

, Drumcondra
Drumcondra railway station
Drumcondra is a railway station serving Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland. It is elevated with just the entrance on the main Drumcondra road.The station initially opened on 1 April 1901 but closed on 1 December 1910 with the termination of Kingsbridge to Amiens Street services. Part of the original...

, Broombridge
Broombridge railway station
Broombridge is a railway station serving Cabra, Dublin 7, Ireland. Unlike most stations in Ireland, it is a halt. It lies on the southern bank of the Royal Canal at the western end of what had been Liffey Junction station on the erstwhile Midland Great Western Railway...

, Ashtown
Ashtown railway station
Ashtown is a commuter railway station serving Ashtown, Dublin 15 .It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter railway route.. The station was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway in 1847 for race specials at the now demolished Phoenix Park Racecourse. It opened fully on 1 August 1902....

, Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park railway station
Not to be confused with M3 Parkway railway stationNavan Road Parkway is a railway station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Coras Iompair Éireann and operated by Iarnrod Éireann...

, Castleknock
Castleknock railway station
Castleknock is a railway station in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland.The station opened on 2 July 1990.It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route and is served by Western Commuter services from Pearse Station to Maynooth and Docklands to Clonsilla....

, Coolmine
Coolmine railway station
Coolmine railway station serves Coolmine, County Dublin, Ireland.It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route. A large car park is located next to the station, making it a popular park and ride location. Western Commuter services to both Pearse Station and Docklands call at the station.The...

, Clonsilla
Clonsilla railway station
Clonsilla railway station is a railway station that serves Clonsilla, County Dublin, Ireland.-Services:It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route. The level crossing here is still a gate crossing, operated from a wheel in the signal cabin. As of 2nd September 2010 the reopened Dunboyne...

, Leixlip Confey, Leixlip Louisa Bridge, Maynooth
Maynooth railway station
Maynooth railway station serves the town of Maynooth in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is situated on the south side of the Royal Canal, opposite Dukes' Harbour...

, then continuing onto Kilcock
Kilcock railway station
Kilcock railway station serves the town of Kilcock in County Kildare, Ireland.The railway arrived in Kilcock on 28 June 1847, but the station closed on 1 July 1848, as it was sited on a 1 in 100 gradient, which the locomotives of the day found difficult to start off from. This site was slightly...

, Enfield
Enfield (County Meath) railway station
Enfield railway station serves the town of Enfield in County Meath, Ireland. A water tower exists at the Mullingar end of the station, still used by occasional steam trains. There is also a passing loop. Although no stations now exist between here and Mullingar, a passing loop remains in use at...

, Mullingar
Mullingar railway station
Mullingar railway station serves the town of Mullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland. There was a railway line to Athlone but is now disused.The station opened on 2 October 1848. The Midland Great Western Railway line to Mullingar from Dublin opened in stages from 1846 to 1848, arriving in Mullingar...

, Edgeworthstown
Edgeworthstown railway station
Edgeworthstown railway station serves the town of Edgeworthstown in County Longford. It was formerly called "Mostrim railway station", from an anglicisation of the towns Irish language name, but this fell out of official usage by the 1990s....

 and Longford
Longford railway station
Longford railway station serves the town of Longford in County Longford.Longford is about 91 km from Sligo and 122 km from Dublin. It lies on the Dublin-Sligo route of the Irish railway network, and is served by Sligo-Dublin intercity services. Despite its distance from Dublin, the town...

.


Docklands branch: Docklands
Docklands railway station
Docklands Station is a new railway station serving the Dublin Docklands area in Ireland owned by Córas Iompair Éireann planned as part of the Government Transport 21 initiative....

, Broombridge
Broombridge railway station
Broombridge is a railway station serving Cabra, Dublin 7, Ireland. Unlike most stations in Ireland, it is a halt. It lies on the southern bank of the Royal Canal at the western end of what had been Liffey Junction station on the erstwhile Midland Great Western Railway...

, Ashtown
Ashtown railway station
Ashtown is a commuter railway station serving Ashtown, Dublin 15 .It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter railway route.. The station was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway in 1847 for race specials at the now demolished Phoenix Park Racecourse. It opened fully on 1 August 1902....

, Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park railway station
Not to be confused with M3 Parkway railway stationNavan Road Parkway is a railway station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Coras Iompair Éireann and operated by Iarnrod Éireann...

 Castleknock
Castleknock railway station
Castleknock is a railway station in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland.The station opened on 2 July 1990.It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route and is served by Western Commuter services from Pearse Station to Maynooth and Docklands to Clonsilla....

, Coolmine
Coolmine railway station
Coolmine railway station serves Coolmine, County Dublin, Ireland.It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route. A large car park is located next to the station, making it a popular park and ride location. Western Commuter services to both Pearse Station and Docklands call at the station.The...

, Clonsilla
Clonsilla railway station
Clonsilla railway station is a railway station that serves Clonsilla, County Dublin, Ireland.-Services:It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter route. The level crossing here is still a gate crossing, operated from a wheel in the signal cabin. As of 2nd September 2010 the reopened Dunboyne...

, Hansfield
Hansfield railway station
Hansfield railway station is a planned station on the Dublin-Navan railway line serving the community of Hansfield, located in West Blanchardstown in County Dublin...

, Dunboyne
Dunboyne railway station
Dunboyne railway station is a railway station to serve the town of Dunboyne in County Meath. The original Dunboyne station opened in August 1862 on the Clonsilla-Navan railway line, but was closed in January 1947. Since then the town has not been served by passenger trains, with the old station...

, and M3 Parkway.

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
Drumcondra, Dublin
Drumcondra is a residential area and inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is administered by Dublin City Council.The River Tolka and the Royal Canal flow through the area.-History:...

 was re-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 2001 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 however, apart from at Drumcondra and Phoenix Park station, never been activated).

Since 12 March 2007, several additional weekday services operate on the Maynooth line. However these only operate from Clonsilla, serving the existing stations to Broombridge, and then terminate at the new Docklands
Spencer Dock
Spencer Dock is a location within North Wall, Dublin, Ireland. The dockland area was originally part of the end of the Royal Canal, which still reaches the River Liffey here...

 railway station. They do not serve either Drumcondra or the central Dublin stations, or the stations beyond Clonsilla. It is planned that these services will run on the proposed branch to Littlepace
Littlepace
Littlepace is a satellite village just inside the Dublin Border beside Meath. Its nearest villages are Clonee in Meath and Ongar and Clonsilla in Fingal, Ireland. Many of the housing estates in Littlepace are listed as Clonee. The area was built during thre housing boom in Ireland. It is located...

, and eventually Navan
Navan
-People:Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan....

, becoming the proposed Meath Commuter
Dublin-Navan railway line
The Dublin-Navan line was a commuter railway line between Dublin and the town of Navan in County Meath.- History :Navan was originally a significant part of the expanding rail network in Ireland. The Dublin and Drogheda Railway first constructed a branch from the Dublin-Belfast main line through...

service.

On 21 January 2008, Phoenix Park railway station
Phoenix Park railway station
Not to be confused with M3 Parkway railway stationNavan Road Parkway is a railway station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Coras Iompair Éireann and operated by Iarnrod Éireann...

 opened. This station is located beside the N3 road in Ashtown
Ashtown railway station
Ashtown is a commuter railway station serving Ashtown, Dublin 15 .It lies on the Dublin to Longford commuter railway route.. The station was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway in 1847 for race specials at the now demolished Phoenix Park Racecourse. It opened fully on 1 August 1902....

, and despite its name is not located in the Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...

, but has rather been built to serve the Phoenix Park Racecourse Apartments constructed on grounds of the former racecourse adjacent to the park.

Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...

 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
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...

 to Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...

.

See also

  • Dublin Area Rapid Transit
    Dublin Area Rapid Transit
    The Dublin Area Rapid Transit 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...

  • Luas
    Luas
    Luas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a tram or light rail system serving Dublin, the first such system in the decades since the closure of the last of the Dublin tramways. In 2007, the system carried 28.4 million passengers, a growth of 10% since...

  • Dublin Metro
    Dublin Metro
    The Dublin Metro is a proposed metro system for the city of Dublin. The first two lines were set out in the Irish Government's 2005 Transport 21 transport plan: they are known as Metro North and Metro West...

  • Interconnector
    Interconnector (rail tunnel)
    DART Underground , previously known as the Interconnector, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, projected to run under the city centre of Dublin. The tunnel would allow for the expansion of the electrified DART and the Dublin Suburban Rail network, and connect Heuston Station with Pearse Station...

  • Belfast Suburban Rail
    Belfast Suburban Rail
    The Belfast Suburban Rail commuter network serves the metropolitan area of Greater Belfast and some of its commuter towns with three lines. The network is owned by Translink and operated by Northern Ireland Railways ....

  • Cork Suburban Rail
    Cork Suburban Rail
    The Cork Suburban Rail network serves the Metropolitan Cork area in County Cork, Munster, Ireland.There has been a suburban rail system in Cork since the middle of the 19th century however it suffered serious neglect and line closures in the 20th century...

  • Galway Suburban Rail
  • Limerick Suburban Rail
    Limerick Suburban Rail
    Limerick Suburban Rail is are a group of Iarnród Éireann commuter train services from Limerick Colbert to various other destinations on three different lines.* Limerick - Ennis calling at Sixmilebridge* Limerick - Nenagh calling at Castleconnell and Birdhill...


External links

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