The formal application for the Railway Order granting planning approval for Ireland’s Dart underground rail project was lodged last month with An Bord Pleanala. The application by CIE represents a further milestone in the progress of the project, which is considered the most important piece of rail infrastructure to be constructed under the government’s Transport 21 investment programme.
Dart Underground will deliver a second high capacity Dart line, which will run underneath the heart of Dublin City Centre. The twin bore tunnels will be roughly 7.6km long and will connect the Northern and Kildare rail lines.
Dart Underground will link all of Dublin’s rail systems – Dart, Commuter, InterCity, Luas and Metro – to form an integrated and seamless transport network that will treble the numbers travelling on the Greater Dublin rail system to over 100 million passenger journeys annually.
Ireland’s Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey welcomed the news of the submission of the Railway Order application. “Today marks an important stepping stone in our efforts to increase and improve public transport in Ireland,” said Dempsey.
Dempsey added, “The submission of the Railway Order for the DART Underground brings closer the vision of a mass transit system outlined in Transport 21, and in tandem with Metro North will transform public transportation in the Greater Dublin Area. I particularly welcome the fact that this project will strengthen Iarnrod Eireann’s routes in the Greater Dublin Area into a network by the introduction of a second DART line. This government is committed to investment in important infrastructure that will serve us for many generations to come.”
The Railway Order is the equivalent of a planning permission for new rail schemes and, if granted, will authorise CIE to construct, maintain, improve and operate the DART Underground. The project will involve the construction and operation of approximately 8.6km of new rail (7.6 Km of which will be in tunnels) from the CIE Inchicore Works to tie into the Northern mainline south of East Wall Road and north of the Docklands area. The project will be managed on behalf of CIE by Iarnrod Eireann, supported by expert advisers with international experience of similar major infrastructure projects.
Subject to the granting of the Railway Order construction is expected to start in 2012, with the system being operational in 2018. The tunnels will be constructed using two TBMs, launching from the Docklands, at an average depth of 24m below ground level. The underground stations will be constructed using techniques that will minimize the effect for the local residents, communities and environment. There is potential for more than 75 per cent of the spoil from the construction of the project to be removed by rail.
