Plans to house driving training simulators at Inchicore Railway Works

DRIVER training simulator machines will be supplied to larnród Éireann by Alstrom, as part of the DART+ Commuter Fleet Framework Agreement, reports Maurice Garvey.

According to documents lodged with Dublin City Council, larnród Éireann are seeking planning permission to construct a prefabricated modular and demountable building within the existing Inchicore Railway Works to house driver training simulator machines.

The plans state that the facility will be used by the Railway Undertaking (larnród Éireann) Training Department to train and upskill drivers to operate the new DART+ vehicles.

Alstrom, a leading supplier of trains and rail infrastructure, have built, or are building, just under 40 per cent of the UK mainline train fleet, as well as the entire fleets in service with London Underground and Dublin Luas.

larnród Éireann were recently approved planning permission for an energy retrofit for the Chief Mechanical Engineers building at Inchicore Railway Works.

The site is a protected structure under the city council development plan. Plans include an energy retrofit of the existing building including the internal insulation of the roof and the internal drylining of the external walls, the introduction of internal secondary glazing and a mechanical ventilations system.

According to a planning department report, the proposed retrofit is to ensure its continued use as an administrative operation within the Inchicore Railway Works, the use for which it was originally constructed.

In 2021 Inchicore Railway Works celebrated their 175-year anniversary.