DART+ update: new trains on the Drogheda line from summer 2027
What Iarnród Éireann told the Oireachtas transport committee about the new DART fleet, DART+ Coastal North, West and South West.
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Iarnród Éireann’s chief executive, Mary Considine, and three of her directors appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport on 21 October. Much of the session was about overcrowding, and much of the answer was DART+: new trains first, then new lines. Here is what they said, and what it means if you take the train.
Timeline
| When | What’s due |
|---|---|
| End of November 2026 | Decision expected on DART+ West’s business case. South West’s went in at the same time |
| End of 2026 | Planning application to extend DART+ West to Kilcock, with a new depot |
| Early 2027 | Public consultation on FourNorth: extra tracks between Connolly and Malahide |
| March 2027 | Tenders for the new Spencer Dock station and accessibility works at Connolly |
| 2027 | Extra track at Malahide and Clongriffin, work at Mosney and Skerries, and DART+ West’s enabling works |
| Early summer 2027 | DART+ South West’s main construction tender, if approved |
| Summer 2027 | First new battery DART trains in service on the Drogheda line |
| End of 2027 | About 50 to 55 new carriages in service, and a timetable review in December. DART+ West contracts awarded and construction under way |
| Summer 2028 | DART+ South West’s main contract signed, with its new trains |
| 2029 | Hourly DART to and from Wicklow |
| 2030 | All 285 new carriages in service |
| End of 2032 | DART+ West opens: a DART every 10 minutes at rush hour from Kilcock and M3 Parkway |
| 2034 | DART+ South West opens: a DART every 10 minutes to Hazelhatch |
The new trains: Drogheda line first, from summer 2027
The first of the new DART trains are battery-electric, so they can run beyond the overhead wires, and they start on the Drogheda commuter line. Their charging equipment is already installed at Drogheda station.
- Delivered so far: 9 five-carriage trains (45 of the first order’s 95 carriages). Paul Hendrick, director of capital investments, expects about 65 carriages, or 13 of the 19 trains, by June.
- What’s holding them up: a safety approval from the European rail regulator. Iarnród Éireann planned to submit its safety case in late October, and the review takes six months, which is why the first trains are due in service in summer 2027.
- How many by the end of 2027: “approximately 50 or 55 carriages in service”, according to Barry Kenny, head of corporate communications.
- The goal for the line: “three ten-car sets running per hour between Drogheda and the city centre and vice versa”, as the trains roll out through 2027 (Hendrick).
- The rest of the order: 285 carriages are on order in all (57 five-carriage trains), and all of them should be in service by 2030. Hendrick said the fleet orders are “on course” to stay within their €700 million budget.
The trains were originally due in 2025, as the committee’s chair, Michael Murphy TD, pointed out.
What it means if you’re not on the Drogheda line: the new trains free up the intercity and commuter trains used there today, to run elsewhere. Kenny said the timetable would be looked at again in December 2027, once there’s “a critical mass”, with some extra capacity in place for the busy autumn months if possible. Considine was clear that the first order “will not address every need”: the trains it frees up will go to “the most congested part of the network” first.
DART+ Coastal North and FourNorth: Malahide to Drogheda
- 2027: extra track at Malahide and Clongriffin, and work at Mosney and Skerries “to assist with the capacity challenges of the intercity service, combined with the commuter fleet” (Hendrick).
- FourNorth adds tracks between Connolly and Malahide, which Considine called “the most congested part of our network”. Public consultation is hoped for early in 2027.
- Rush and Lusk: Grace Boland TD welcomed the works under way at the station, and pressed for a way to reach it other than by car. Its car parks are full on both sides.
- Howth level crossing: Hendrick said its signalling would change and he thought the crossing “is being retained, but it is a different arrangement”. He undertook to confirm this.
Wicklow
Charging equipment and other works for battery DART trains to Wicklow are out to tender, for completion in 2029. That will allow an hourly DART service to and from Wicklow.
DART+ West: Maynooth and M3 Parkway, open by end of 2032
- Funding: the business case for the next approval stage is with the NTA and the Department of Transport, and Iarnród Éireann expected a decision by the end of November.
- Before the end of 2026: a planning application (railway order) to extend the line from Maynooth to Kilcock, with double track and a new depot there.
- 2027: enabling works begin.
- March 2027: tenders for a new station at Spencer Dock and for accessibility works at Connolly.
- End of 2027: contracts awarded and construction under way, after a further Government decision.
- End of 2032: opening, with “a ten-minute DART service pattern from Kilcock and the M3 parkway in Dunboyne … into town and back” at rush hour (Hendrick).
Level crossings on the line can only close once the roads and bridges that replace them are built, and closing them is needed for the new signalling.
DART+ South West: Hazelhatch, open in 2034
This needs the same approval as DART+ West, and both were submitted together. If it’s approved:
- Early summer 2027: the main construction tender goes out.
- Summer 2028: the main contract is signed, along with a contract for its new trains.
- 2034: opening, with a ten-minute DART service to Hazelhatch.
The key piece is widening the line into Heuston from two tracks to four while keeping trains running, which is why it takes so long. DART+ West and South West together bring 260 more carriages on top of the 285 already ordered.
The catch
All of these dates depend on funding and approvals still to come. Considine also warned that “there will be continual disruptions as we continue to build out the network and introduce new fleet”. MyTrain shows Irish Rail’s service updates over the map and in Menu › Service updates.
From the Oireachtas record of the Joint Committee on Transport, 21 October 2026: Remit of Iarnród Éireann: Discussion. Quotes are as spoken; “next year” in the session means 2027.