Dublin Area Rapid Transit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An 8200 Class DART unit, Iarnród Éireann 8203, at Grand Canal Dock station in 2001

Some DART trains feature these LED route describers - green indicates the route which has already been travelled, orange the route expected to be followed and flashing red the next station.

The Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running primarily along the coastline of Dublin Bay, from Greystones in county Wicklow to Howth and Malahide in Dublin. Trains are powered via a 1500v DC overhead power supply along a short section of the Irish standard gauge rail network of 1600mm (5'3"). The DART system is administered by the national rail operator, Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail). At the time of its inception in 1984, the DART was run by Coras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) of whom Iarnród Éireann is now a subsidiary. Part of the DART's route, from the city centre to Dún Laoghaire, is of historic note — it was the first railway in Ireland, opening as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway on 17 December 1834. The DART forms part of the Dublin Suburban Rail network.

1 Development, and Redevelopment, of the DART
2 Operational Details
3 DART's Competitors
4 Criticism of DART
- 4.1 Integration with road traffic
- 4.2 Criticism of the DART concept
5 DART stations
- 5.1 List of DART stations
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Development, and Redevelopment, of the DART

The original DART service, created in 1984, ran from Howth, a fishing village on a peninsula to the north-east of Dublin city centre, through the city centre stations of Connolly, Tara Street, and Pearse, to the port suburb of Dún Laoghaire and terminated at Bray. This was the route for some 15 years, until the line electrification was extended south one stop further to the town of Greystones, and North from Howth Junction two stops further along the Belfast main line to Malahide. The current route is schematically shown in the map below.

In the early 1980s, in preparation for electrification, two new stations were provided which at the time were not in use by the then diesel suburban rail service. Sandymount station at Sandymount Avenue was opened on the site where a station had previously stood, and Salthill was built at the original terminus of the railway, between Seapoint and Dún Laoghaire to the north of the West Pier. At the time of the electrification work from 1981-82, the former branch to Dun Laoghaire pier used by ferry passengers was disconnected as the main track had to be lowered in order to fit the overhead power cables under road bridges in Dun Laoghaire; some ten years later a new passenger ferry terminal was built immediately adjacent to the main Dun Laoghaire station.

Under the Irish Government's investment programme Transport 21, the DART is to be extended with a new tunnel under the city from Heuston Station to Spencer Dock. This tunnel, known as the Interconnector, will allow DART services to run from Celbridge/Hazelhatch to Heuston Station to St. Stephen's Green to Spencer Dock and on to Balbriggan. The existing DART line will be modified to run from Bray to Maynooth. These two lines will have an interchange at Pearse Station.

[edit] Operational Details

DART train passing through Bray

A poster on board the DART informing users of the effects that leaves have on the tracks and ultimately the rail service.

The service is provided by a mixed fleet of electric multiple unit trains. 38 two-car sets by LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) of Germany built in 1983 (8100 class), five two-car sets by Alstom of Barcelona, Spain built in 1999 (8200 class) and most recently 17 four-car Japanese-built sets by Tokyu Car of Yokohama between 2000 and 2004 (8500, 8510 & 8520 classes). They normally run coupled as eight- or six-car trains in the peak periods, typically 07:00-09:30 and 17:00-18:30, and four-car trains at other times. Japanese sets typically operate with an Alstom unit to make a six-car train. Work is currently under way to allow the original LHB sets to work in tandem with the newer sets. 40 two-car units were purchased initially – two were subsequently lost in a fire in 2001. DART now carries in excess of 80,000 passengers daily. During 2003-5, development works were undertaken to lengthen platforms and improve disabled access at suburban stations and also to upgrade the power grid. This enabled the lengthening of most peak time trains from 6 to 8 cars to reduce overcrowding.

Each train is driven by a single person from a cab in the leading carriage. All trains have automatic sliding doors under the control of the driver. All trains in the Dublin suburban area including DART are monitored and regulated by a Central Traffic Control (CTC) facility based in Connolly Station, known as Suburban CTC. Passenger information in the form of electronic information displays on each platform is updated in real time based on the progress of trains. Automatic public address announcements are made in the event of delays - these announcements are tailored to each station. Due to extensive computer automation the main control room only needs a staff of 4 people: two signallers, one with responsibility for level crossings, an electrical control officer (ECO), who supervises the electrical power supply equipment and an overall supervisor. Only the main CTC control room is normally staffed, but back-up local control rooms are also provided, allowing services to continue in the event of serious technical problems.

Journeys require a ticket to be purchased before starting. A typical one-way ticket would cost about €1.60 - €2.00, about the price of a daily newspaper. To gain access to the platform passengers must pass through a turnstile which requires a valid ticket — the underside of the ticket is automatically printed with the date, time and a 3-digit code representing the station in which the ticket was validated. Ticket checks on the trains themselves are relatively rare and mainly occur off-peak. Generally tickets are checked by a member of staff on arrival at your destination. Exit validation equipment where a valid ticket is required by the exit turnstile is currently being installed with Grand Canal Dock the first station to be fitted. The main form of fraud prevention remains the initial validation.

DART services begin at approx. 06:30am on weekday mornings, and finish before midnight. No DART services run on Christmas Day or the following day, St. Stephen's Day.

[edit] DART's Competitors

Iarnród Éireann currently operates a monopoly on Irish rail passenger transport. The only other company to operate on lines in the Republic of Ireland is Northern Ireland Railways, which operates a joint railway service between Dublin and Belfast named Enterprise.

A number of other transport modes are available in Dublin. Apart from the two most popular modes of transport, walking and private vehicle, the CIÉ-owned Dublin Bus is virtually ubiquitous, running all over the city. As such, it has many routes that run somewhat parallel to DART for stretches. However, it does not have any scheduled routes that traverse the entire length of the DART line. As in the rest of Ireland, integration of bus and rail services is very limited though there are some "feeder bus" routes for which it's possible to buy a through ticket valid for both the rail and bus section of the journey. Some types of unlimited travel passses can be purchased valid on rail and Dublin Bus or rail and Luas (tram) services but apart from that ticketing is not integrated. Plans by the Railway Procurement Agency to introduce comprehensive integrated ticketing have made slow progress.

The Luas (pronounced LOO-ESS) light rail system, which partially integrates with the DART at Connolly Station, is not seen as a competitor, as neither of its routes run along similar routes to DART.

[edit] Criticism of DART

Some aspects of the DART system may constitute fundamental structural shortcomings. Paramount amongst these is the non-exclusive nature of the railway route used. Apart from the short distance between Howth Junction and Howth, DART shares its tracks with mainline services to Belfast in Northern Ireland and Rosslare in the south-east, as well as non-DART commuter DMUs known as "Commuter" services. Connolly Station is also shared with services to and from Sligo and Commuter services to the northwest of the city. Iarnród Éireann hopes to separate the north-western non-DART services from Connolly, running them below the northern line to a planned new station at Spencer Dock, east of Connolly.

The current shared-line system means that an increase in frequency for the DART is almost impossible. Although frequency on the DART is capped by accommodating other services, often DART services have priority, causing delays for the higher-speed DMUs and locomotive-hauled trains. There are plans to quadruple-track the route for some distance north of Connolly, to alleviate rail congestion at peak times.

Some critics focus on the lack of capacity on the system at peak times, and also the skeletal patronage of some services outside peak times. However, this is an unavoidable problem that the national road network also suffers from.

During the redevelopment works in 2003-5, major sections were closed at weekends, attracting considerable criticism from would-be passengers and business interests.

[edit] Integration with road traffic

A DART train passes under the Lansdowne Road Rugby Football Stadium and over a level crossing as it enters the station of the same name.

A further pressing problem for the DART, and for some road traffic in Dublin, is the existence of numerous level crossings along some of its length. Since the DART mostly runs at ground level, there are a number of places where the DART meets and has to cross roads. The mechanism in place for this involves automatic full barriers to stop the flow of traffic along the road. This can cause localised traffic jams. This is widely seen as a design flaw that could have been avoided at the time of electrification.

Defenders of the system cite the fact that the Government at the time the design was chosen could not afford to build under or overpasses to avoid these level road crossings. Economic conditions in Ireland have improved enormously since the DART was first constructed.

[edit] Criticism of the DART concept

Some Irish commentators have been strongly critical of the willingness of successive Irish governments to invest in fixed-route transport, such as the DART and LUAS. While some argue that the mass transport needs of the people of Dublin could be met both more cheaply and more quickly by investment in buses and bus lanes, others do not necessarily agree. It has been argued that bus lanes have higher maintenance costs than rail carrying the same volume of traffic.

Stops on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit system are shown on this map

[edit] DART stations

One of the best-known stations is at Lansdowne Road, the home of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and the venue for Irish rugby and soccer international matches. Further south, the train stops at Sydney Parade, a street of some Georgian and many Edwardian and Victorian red-brick houses in the Dublin embassy belt.

It is believed that the former station at Merrion Gates - between Sydney Parade and Booterstown - will be redeveloped in the near future, though this awaits confirmation.