DART+ Programme & DART Underground

The Dublin Transportation Office's November 2001 strategy 'A Platform for Change — Outline of an integrated transportation strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2000–2016' first formally proposed a heavy-rail Interconnector tunnel linking Heuston with the DART network via Pearse, St Stephen's Green and Spencer Dock. This is the originating document behind every subsequent DART Underground / DART+ Tunnel proposal.

The Transport 21 capital programme, announced by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Transport Martin Cullen in November 2005 with a headline cost of €34 bn, formally adopted the DART Interconnector tunnel alongside Metro North as government policy. Delivery responsibility sat with the Railway Procurement Agency (later merged into Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and Iarnród Éireann.

In June 2010 Iarnród Éireann submitted a Railway Order application under the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001 for the 7.6 km DART Underground tunnel from Inchicore via Heuston, Christchurch, St Stephen's Green and Pearse to Docklands. The estimated cost was €4 bn, with anticipation of 2018 completion if construction began in 2012. An Bord Pleanála's oral hearing ran from late 2010 into 2011 and dealt with roughly 280 objections.

On 10 November 2011 the Fine Gael–Labour government published its Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012–2016, deferring both DART Underground and Metro North. Transport Minister Leo Varadkar (who had confirmed the cancellation of the A5 Monaghan–Derry road project the day before) signed off on the capital cuts. Taoiseach Enda Kenny framed the choice as 'this is about choosing what the country needs most over the next few years and deferring other projects' until finances improved. Transport capital spending fell from €1.5 bn in 2011 to €0.8 bn by 2016.

An Bord Pleanála granted the Railway Order for the 7.6 km DART Underground tunnel in December 2011, only weeks after the government had deferred its funding. The order authorised stations at Heuston, Christchurch, St Stephen's Green, Pearse and Docklands and stood as a live consent until 2025; the project never proceeded to construction.

On the recommendation of the NTA, Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe announced in September 2015 that the €3 bn DART Underground scheme as designed would be ceased and replaced with a 'lower-cost solution', with the Railway Order due to expire on 24 September 2015. The Irish Times reported on 8 September 2015 that Donohoe had briefed Cabinet colleagues the previous week. The 'lower-cost' DART+ programme — surface electrification of the Maynooth, Kildare and Northern lines — became the substitute.

On 20 July 2020 the European Commission announced a €8.8 million Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) grant to fund studies into the electrification, re-signalling, station upgrades and bridge replacements on the Kildare line — what would become DART+ South West. Senator James Lawless (Fianna Fáil, Kildare North) welcomed the funding as a 'next step' towards construction.

On 26 August 2020 the National Transport Authority published the DART+ programme: surface electrification of three commuter lines (Northern, Maynooth/M3 Parkway, Kildare) to extend the DART beyond Dublin to Drogheda, Maynooth/M3 Parkway and Hazelhatch/Celbridge, plus an upgrade of the southern line to Greystones. The headline cost was €2 bn–€2.6 bn, with a fleet order of approximately 600 new carriages and elimination of multiple level crossings. The DART+ Tunnel question — successor to DART Underground — was explicitly excluded from the funded plan.

The NTA's draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2022–2042 (published for public consultation on 9 November 2021) confirmed that the underground DART tunnel — successor to the 2011-approved scheme — would not proceed before 2042. NTA CEO Anne Graham stated the corridor would be 'preserved and protected' for delivery beyond the 20-year plan, citing modelling that the net public-transport ridership gain from the tunnel would be only ~10,000 per day on a 1.4 m/day base. The same strategy locked DART+ surface electrification into the 2022–2030 band.

In December 2021 the Government granted 'Approval in Principle' for the DART+ West element of the DART+ Programme, enabling Iarnród Éireann to proceed to a Railway Order application. The NTA Board had previously approved the DART+ Programme Preliminary Business Case for submission to the Department of Transport and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; DART+ South West and DART+ Coastal elements remained subject to separate later approvals.

On Friday 29 July 2022 Iarnród Éireann lodged the DART+ West Railway Order application with An Bord Pleanála: 40 km of electrification from Maynooth and M3 Parkway to Connolly/Spencer Dock, twelve stations on the Maynooth line, three on the M3 Parkway line, a new Spencer Dock interchange station, six level-crossing closures and a new depot west of Maynooth. Minister for Transport Éamon Ryan welcomed the lodgement; NTA CEO Anne Graham and Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade made supporting statements. The public consultation ran 5 August – 30 September 2022.

On 22 March 2023 Iarnród Éireann lodged the Railway Order application for DART+ South West: 20 km of electrification, re-signalling and four-tracking from Hazelhatch & Celbridge via Park West / Cherry Orchard and the Phoenix Park Tunnel to Glasnevin, with capacity rising from 5,000 to 20,000 passengers per peak hour per direction. The application is An Bord Pleanála / An Coimisiún Pleanála case reference 316119.

On 12 July 2024 the DART+ Coastal North Railway Order application was lodged with An Bord Pleanála: 37 km of electrification and re-signalling from Malahide to Drogheda MacBride, with platform reconfiguration at multiple stations and depot modifications to support new battery-electric trains. The application projects near-doubling of peak capacity from approximately 4,800 to 8,800 passengers per direction. Public consultation ran 19 July – 20 September 2024. Minister Éamon Ryan, NTA CEO Anne Graham and Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade made statements.

An Bord Pleanála granted the DART+ West Railway Order on 18 July 2024 (case reference 314232), authorising 40 km of electrification, a new Spencer Dock station with Luas Red Line interchange, and a second station entrance at Connolly via Preston Street. The Board attached a condition prohibiting construction of the proposed Maynooth-west depot due to flood-risk concerns, prompting Iarnród Éireann to pursue depot capacity separately under the DART+ Depot project.

An Bord Pleanála granted statutory approval for DART+ South West on 13 November 2024. The decision authorised electrification, re-signalling and four-tracking between Park West & Cherry Orchard and Heuston, plus services from Hazelhatch & Celbridge via the Phoenix Park Tunnel to Glasnevin. Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade said: 'Today is a great day for the communities of North Kildare and South Dublin, the provision of DART services will transform commuting for the existing and new communities along this railway corridor.'

In November 2024 Iarnród Éireann unveiled the first five-carriage train of the new DART+ Fleet, built by Alstom under a framework agreement providing up to 750 electric and battery-electric carriages over a 10-year period. The rolling stock is the operational backbone of every DART+ infrastructure project: surface electrification is only useful once the new trains are in service.

Two judicial-review challenges to the DART+ West Railway Order — by Burke Brothers (a hardware and electrical wholesale company near Ashtown) and the Gowan Motor Group — were withdrawn ahead of a three-day High Court hearing scheduled for 23 June 2025 before Mr Justice Garrett Simons. With the JRs gone the Railway Order became operative; Iarnród Éireann signalled enabling works could begin at the end of 2026, with the first of 185 new carriages entering service the same year. Cost was reported as 'around €1 billion'.

The July 2025 National Development Plan Review allocated multi-billion-euro funding to the DART+ Programme alongside MetroLink, BusConnects and the Western Rail Corridor — Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien said the funding would 'enable us to progress' DART+ and BusConnects, framing the package against an NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for transport of 'over €10 billion'. However, the revised NDP schedule pushed DART+ South West construction from a previously expected 2026 start to '2030+' with procurement in 2028–2029, prompting criticism from transport economist Brian Caulfield (TCD) and Green Party transport spokesperson Feljin Jose, the latter saying the delay 'flies in the face' of policy on enabling housing infrastructure.

An Coimisiún Pleanála (the successor to An Bord Pleanála) approved the DART+ Coastal North Railway Order on 25 August 2025 — the third DART+ project to receive planning consent. The order authorises 37 km of electrification and re-signalling between Malahide and Drogheda MacBride, station reconfiguration at multiple locations and depot modifications. Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade said the DART+ programme 'will truly revolutionise commuting in the Greater Dublin Area'. NTA Interim CEO Hugh Creegan described the decision as 'an important step in delivering a better-connected public transport for the region'. Case reference 320164. Construction projected to take roughly three years from detailed design completion, subject to funding.

On 22 December 2025 the Department of Transport announced the third order from Alstom under the Iarnród Éireann framework — bringing total carriages ordered to 285 (57 five-carriage trains) at total fleet investment of €670 million. Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien framed the order as part of the NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for transport that 'will see over €10 billion of investment in public transport infrastructure'. The new trains are required to actually run the services the DART+ infrastructure consents enable.

1. Malahide· terminus— Current northern terminus of the DART; DART+ Coastal North extends electrification beyond here to Drogheda.
2. Howth· terminus— Branch terminus on the existing DART; included within the DART+ Coastal North scope.
3. Howth Junction & Donaghmede· junction— Junction of the Howth branch and the Northern line; significant upgrades planned under DART+ Coastal North.
4. Dublin Connolly· station— Principal northern Dublin terminus; capacity enhancements planned under DART+ West.
5. Pearse· station— City-centre DART station; would have been an underground interchange under DART Underground.
6. Bray· station— Existing DART station in north Wicklow.
7. Greystones· terminus— Current southern terminus of the DART; DART+ Coastal South still in preliminary design.

1. Spencer Dock (new)· station— New station with Luas Red Line interchange; granted under the DART+ West Railway Order (2024).
2. Dublin Connolly· junction— Capacity enhancements approved; second station entrance via Preston Street.
3. Ashtown· station— Existing Maynooth-line station; Ashtown Road level-crossing replaced by underpass (basis for Burke Bros / Gowan JRs).
4. Maynooth· terminus— Western terminus on the Maynooth line; new depot west of Maynooth was deleted from the Railway Order on flood-risk grounds.
5. M3 Parkway· terminus— Existing terminus on the M3 Parkway branch; part of the DART+ West electrification scope.

1. Hazelhatch & Celbridge· terminus— Western terminus of DART+ South West; capacity rising from 5,000 to 20,000 passengers per peak hour per direction.
2. Park West & Cherry Orchard· junction— Start of approved four-tracking under DART+ South West.
3. Heuston West (proposed)· stationnot served— Mooted new station to serve Clancy Quay / Island Bridge; final inclusion subject to detailed design (status disputed in current project documentation).
4. Dublin Heuston· junction— Through-running enabled via the Phoenix Park Tunnel branch under DART+ South West.
5. Glasnevin (new interchange)· station— New interchange with the Maynooth and Northern lines; MetroLink also targets a station here.

1. Malahide· junction— Existing northern DART terminus; start of new electrification.
2. Balbriggan· station— Existing Northern-line station; electrification under DART+ Coastal North.
3. Drogheda MacBride· terminus— Northern terminus of DART+ Coastal North; nearly doubles peak capacity (4,800 → 8,800 passengers/direction).

1. Bray· station— Within DART+ Coastal South scope; preliminary design as of 2026.
2. Greystones· terminus— Existing southern terminus; scope of any extension beyond Greystones (e.g. Wicklow) not in current Railway Order pipeline.

1. Inchicore (western portal)· waypoint— Western portal of the proposed tunnel; line would have surfaced to connect with Heuston and the Kildare line.
2. Heuston (underground)· station— Underground DART station beneath Heuston.
3. Christchurch (underground)· station— Underground station in the medieval core.
4. St Stephen's Green (underground)· station— Underground station, intended to interchange with the Luas Green Line and (later) MetroLink.
5. Pearse (underground)· station— Underground station beneath the existing surface DART platforms.
6. Docklands / Spencer Dock (eastern portal)· terminus— Eastern portal; surface connection to the Northern line.

The combined DART+ Programme is designed to double peak-hour rail capacity in the Greater Dublin Area from approximately 26,000 to 52,000 passengers per direction per hour, with proportionate gains on each sub-project: DART+ West rising from 5,000 to over 13,200; DART+ South West from 5,000 to 20,000; DART+ Coastal North from about 4,800 to 8,800. The intended modal shift away from car commuting is the core climate-policy rationale for the programme.

Replacing diesel commuter rolling stock with battery-electric / overhead-electric carriages on three of the four corridors out of Dublin removes a large fraction of the Iarnród Éireann fleet's tailpipe emissions, and the additional capacity is intended to support modal shift from private cars under the Climate Action Plan's 42–50% transport-emissions reduction target by 2030. The NTA's 2022 GDA Transport Strategy modelled DART+ as a core component of the package projected to deliver a 69% drop in transport emissions by 2042.

DART+ South West alone was reported in the 2025 NDP Review at 'over €1 billion'; the overall DART+ Programme envelope is in the multi-billion-euro range when the four sub-projects, the €670 m Alstom fleet contract and depot works are aggregated, with funding sequenced over the NDP horizon to 2030 and beyond. The July 2025 NDP Review slipped DART+ South West construction from a 2026 start to '2030+' (procurement 2028–2029), raising real-cost-of-delay risk that compounds with construction-cost inflation.

DART+ West involves the closure of six level crossings along the Maynooth corridor (notably Ashtown Road, replaced with an underpass) and associated road-works on adjoining streets. Affected businesses including Burke Brothers (hardware/electrical wholesale) and the Gowan Motor Group brought judicial-review proceedings in the High Court over land-take and traffic-pattern effects on Mill Lane; both withdrew their challenges in June 2025 before the substantive hearing.

By granting and then not funding the DART Underground Railway Order (2011), redesigning it (2015), and ultimately mothballing it beyond 2042 in the 2022 GDA Transport Strategy, the Irish state has effectively foregone the planned through-running of heavy rail between Heuston/Kildare and the Northern/Maynooth corridors via a city-centre tunnel — a structural constraint the NTA's own 2021 feasibility study acknowledged would need to be addressed 'over the longer term'. Critics of the 2022 strategy (including respondents to its public consultation) disputed the NTA's 10,000-net-new-passengers/day modelling, arguing the journey-quality benefit to tens of thousands of existing public-transport users was undervalued.

Member States must ensure that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment are subject to an environmental impact assessment before consent is granted; for rail infrastructure of the type included in DART+ this is a mandatory requirement of any Railway Order under the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001.

If breached: Railway Order can be quashed on judicial review (the live risk that materialised with the Burke Brothers and Gowan Motor Group proceedings on DART+ West); CJEU infringement proceedings against the State.

Any plan or project not directly connected with the management of a Natura 2000 site, but likely to have a significant effect on it, must be subject to an 'appropriate assessment' of its implications for the site's conservation objectives. Relevant on DART+ Coastal North in particular given proximity to coastal SACs/SPAs north of Dublin.

If breached: Railway Order can be quashed on judicial review; project may only proceed under Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest with compensatory measures (Art 6(4)).

Construction or operation of railway infrastructure of the kind included in DART+ requires a Railway Order made by An Bord Pleanála / An Coimisiún Pleanála under the 2001 Act, following statutory public consultation and (where relevant) an oral hearing. Compulsory Purchase Order powers attach.

If breached: No construction can lawfully proceed without the Order; the Order itself can be challenged by judicial review within statutory time limits.

Public bodies including the Department of Transport, NTA and Iarnród Éireann must perform their functions in a manner consistent with the State's climate objectives — net-zero by 2050 and a 51% cut in emissions by 2030 — and with sectoral emissions ceilings. DART+ is one of the largest single transport-decarbonisation interventions used to justify performance against the transport ceiling.

If breached: Judicial review of decisions inconsistent with the climate objectives; loss of headroom under the binding sectoral ceiling forces other parts of transport policy to compensate.

EU grant funding for trans-European transport network projects (including the €8.8 m CEF grant for DART+ South West/Kildare line studies in 2020) is conditional on compliance with the regulation's eligibility, monitoring and reporting requirements; sub-standard project delivery can trigger clawback.

If breached: Clawback of EU funds disbursed; ineligibility for future CEF calls.

Burke Brothers brought a judicial review of An Bord Pleanála's grant of the DART+ West Railway Order, arguing the project would 'significantly affect their operations' through land-take and changes to road layout near Ashtown station (including replacement of the Ashtown Road level crossing with an underpass and anticipated traffic increase on Mill Lane). The challenge was set down for a three-day hearing on 23 June 2025 before Mr Justice Garrett Simons but was withdrawn before the hearing.

Gowan Motor Group brought a separate judicial review of the DART+ West Railway Order alongside Burke Brothers, on broadly similar grounds — land-take and operational disruption from the Ashtown-area works. The challenge was also withdrawn ahead of the June 2025 hearing.

Following publication of the NDP Review that pushed DART+ South West construction to 2030+, Green Party transport spokesperson Feljin Jose argued the delay decisions 'fly in the face' of government policy on enabling infrastructure to unlock housing, attributing them to reduced public-transport funding allocations within the revised plan.

Multiple respondents to the NTA's draft Transport Strategy for the GDA 2022–2042 disputed the modelling underpinning the decision to defer DART+ Tunnel beyond 2042 — specifically the NTA's claim that the tunnel would attract only ~10,000 net new public-transport users per day. Respondents argued the journey-quality and reliability benefit to existing public-transport users was undervalued and that the project should not be deferred. The NTA's Public Consultation Report records the dispute but the deferral position was retained.