‘Game changer’ to increase DART commuter capacity

Calls continue to be made to increase DART commuter capacity in Lucan and Clondalkin and push for immediate funding for the “game changer” DART+ South West.

Complaints from Adamstown, Lucan and Clondalkin residents about the current state of rail transport in the region continue to be made as DART commuter services remain at full capacity at peak hours, without a remedy in sight.

The council is expected to write to Irish Rail and the Ministers for Transport and Public Expenditure Darragh O’Brien TD and Jack Chambers TD with the hopes of achieving greater capacity on the current service and securing “immediate funding” for the planned DART+ South West works.

Councillor Eoin Ó Broin acknowledged that there is a capacity issue with the line at the moment and called for “cross-party campaigning” to push the Government to deliver the new service, which would double frequency and quadruple capacity.

Cllr Ó Broin said: “The trains are packed in the morning, so they need more carriages. But secondly, the DART on this line, which would be the game changer, has full planning permission.

“Construction could commence once tenders are made which would mean you’d have the DART in a couple of years.

“But the cabinet have not decided to fund DART+ South West, but they have decided to fund DART+ West through Castleknock – Jack Chambers’ constituency – onto Maynooth and Kilcock.”

Councillors in South Dublin were recently given a presentation on the next steps of DART+ which included drawings of future works and a timeline towards construction.

The public transport project is expected to have the main works contract awarded from Q2 2027 onwards, following on from tenders issued later this year in Q3 2026.

750 landowners were notified of Irish Rail’s intention to formally acquire their lands and begin the electrification process of the DART+ South West line.

Deputy Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Councillor Trevor Gilligan noted that increased capacity and an improved rail service would greatly benefit a community constantly dealing with traffic and public transport issues.

The Deputy Mayor recalled the old Clondalkin railway station that allowed him and friends to get into town at speed when it was reopened from 1994 to 2008, before being replaced by Clondalkin/Fonthill.

He said: “We used to have the train station that was over the road. I used to use it a lot when I was younger, going into college from Palmerstown Woods, Cloverhill, straight into town.

“It was a great service – you were in town at Heuston Station in three to four minutes.”

Councillor Ó Broin agreed that speed is a necessity and called on the council to push for these improvements to ensure that the rail in Clondalkin can return to the glory days that the Deputy Mayor had spoken of.

Letters will be sent from South Dublin County Council to Irish Rail and to Minister for Transport and Minister for Public Expenditure on the matters of capacity and the promised new service for the area.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.