      
DUBLIN TRANSPORT - The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit)
The
Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a suburban railway system in
Dublin,
Ireland, running
primarily along the coastline of Dublin Bay, from
Greystones in
Wicklow to
Howth and
Malahide. Trains
are electric, running from a 1500
volt
DC overhead power
supply. The DART system is administered by the national rail operator,
Iarnród Éireann
(Irish Rail). At the time of its inception in 1984, the DART was run by
Coras Iompair Éireann (CIE), of whom Iarnród Éireann is now a
subsidiary. Part of the DART's route, from the city centre to
Dún Laoghaire,
is of historic note — it was one of the first railways in Ireland,
opening as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway in 1834.
Development, and Redevelopment, of the DART
The original DART service,
provided from 1984 onwards, ran from
Howth,
a fishing village to the north of Dublin city centre,
through the city centre stations of
Connolly,
Tara Street, and
Pearse,
to the port suburb of
Dún
Laoghaire and
terminated at
Bray.
This was the route for some 15 years, when the
electrification was extended south one stop to
Greystones, and North from Howth Junction two stops
along the
Belfast
main line to
Malahide.
The current route is schematically shown in the map
below.
In the early 1980s, in preparation
for electrification, two new stations were provided
which at the time were not in use by the existing
diesel-electric service.
Sandymount
station at
Sandymount
Avenue was opened where
a station had previously stood, and
Salthill
was built at the original terminus of the railway,
between
Seapoint
and
Dún
Laoghaire to the north
of the West Pier. At the time of the electrification
work in
1981-82,
the former branch to Dun Laoghaire pier used by ferry
passengers was disconnected as the main track had to be
lowered in order to fit the overhead power cables under
road bridges in Dun Laoghaire; some ten years later a
brand-new passenger ferry terminal was built immediately
adjacent to the main Dun Laoghaire station.
Under the
Transport 21
plan the
DART
is going to be extended with a new tunnel under the city
from
Heuston
Station to
Spencer Dock.
This tunnel know as the
Interconnector
will allow DART services to run from
Celbridge/Hazelhatch
to
Heuston
Station to
St. Stephen's Green
to
Spencer Dock
and on to
Balbriggan.
The existing
DART
line will be modified to run from
Bray
to
Maynooth.
These two lines will have an interchange at
Pearse
Station.
Operational Details
DART train passing through Bray
The service is provided by a mixed
fleet of electric multiple unit trains. 38 two-car sets
by
LHB
of
Germany
built in
1983,
five two-car sets by
Alstom
of
Barcelona,
Spain
built in
1999
and most recently 17 four-car Japanese-built sets by
Tokyu Car
of
Yokohama
between
2000
and
2004.
They normally run coupled as eight- or six-car trains in
the peak periods, typically 07:00-09:30 and 17:00-18:30,
and four-car trains at other times. Japanese sets
typically operate with an
Alstom
unit to make a six-car train. Work is currently ongoing
to allow the original
LHB
sets to work in tandem with the newer sets. 40 two-car
trainsets were purchased initially – two were
subsequently lost in a fire in
2001.
DART now carries in excess of 80,000 passengers daily.
During 2003-5, development works were undertaken to
lengthen platforms and improve disabled access at
suburban stations and also to upgrade the power grid.
This enabled the lengthening of most peak time trains
from 6 to 8 cars to reduce overcrowding.
Each train is driven by a single
person from the cab in the leading carriage. All trains
have automatic doors under the control of the driver.
All trains in the
Dublin
suburban area including DART are monitored and regulated
by a Central Traffic Control (CTC) facility based in
Connolly Station known as Suburban CTC. Passenger
information in the form of electronic information
displays on each platform is updated in real time based
on the progress of trains. Automatic public address
announcements are made in the event of delays - these
announcements are tailored to each station. Thanks to
extensive computer automation the main control room is
staffed by only 4 people: two signallers, one with
responsibility for level crossings, an electrical
control officer (ECO), who supervises the electrical
power supply equipment and an overall supervisor. Only
the main CTC control room is normally staffed, but
backup local control rooms are provided, allowing
services to continue in the event of serious technical
problems.
Journeys require a ticket to be purchased before
starting. A typical one-way ticket would cost about
€1.60-2.00, about the price of a daily paper. To gain
access to the platform passengers must pass through a
turnstile which requires a valid ticket — the underside
of the ticket is automatically printed with the date,
time and a 3-digit code representing the station in
which the ticket was validated. Ticket checks on the
trains themselves are relatively rare and mainly occur
off-peak. Generally tickets are checked by a member of
staff on arrival at your destination. Exit validation
equipment where a valid ticket is required by the exit
turnstile is currently being installed with Grand Canal
Dock the first station to be fitted. The main form of
fraud prevention remains the initial validation.
DART services begin at about 06:30
on weekday mornings, and finish before midnight. No DART
services are run on
Christmas Day
or on the following day, known in
Ireland
as
St. Stephen's Day,
a national holiday.
DART's
Competitors
Iarnród Éireann currently operates
a monopoly on Irish rail passenger transport. The only
other company to operate on lines in the Republic of
Ireland is
Northern Ireland Railways,
which operates a joint railway service in the Republic,
Enterprise.
A number of other transport modes
are available in Dublin. Apart from the two most popular
modes of transport, walking and private vehicle, the CIÉ-owned
Dublin Bus
is virtually ubiquitous, running all over the city. As
such, it has many routes that run somewhat parallel to
DART for stretches. However, it does not have any
scheduled routes that traverse the entire length of the
DART line. By and large, integration of bus services as
feeder services to railway stations is minimal
throughout Ireland, as well as in Dublin. However, there
are some specific destinations (e.g. Dublin Airport,
which has no direct rail service) that have buses
providing feeder services to a DART station. Due to a
lack of integrated ticketing, amongst other problems,
these services are not widely used.
The
Luas
(pronounced LOO-USS) light rail system, which partially
integrates with the DART at
Connolly Station,
is not seen as a competitor, as neither of its routes
run along similar routes to DART.
Criticism
of DART
Some aspects of the DART system
may constitute fundamental structural shortcomings.
Paramount amongst these is the non-exclusive nature of
the railway route used. Apart from the short distance
between Howth Junction and Howth, DART shares its tracks
with mainline services to
Belfast
in
Northern Ireland
and
Rosslare
in the south-east, as well as non-DART commuter
DMUs
known as "Commuter" services.
Connolly Station
is also shared with services to and from
Sligo
and Commuter services to the northwest of the city.
Iarnród Éireann hopes to separate the north-western
non-DART services from Connolly, running them below the
northern line to a planned new station at
Spencer Dock,
east of Connolly.
The current shared-line system means that an increase in
frequency for the DART is almost impossible, thus
although they are advertised as being every 10 minutes
average times are 15-25 minutes. Although frequency on
the DART is capped by accommodating other services,
often DART services have priority, causing delays for
the higher-speed DMUs and locomotive-hauled trains.
There are plans to quadruple-track the route for some
distance north of Connolly, to alleviate rail congestion
at peak times.
Some critics focus on the lack of capacity on the system
at peak times, and also the skeletal patronage of some
services outside peak times. However, this is an
unavoidable problem that the national road network also
suffers from.
During the redevelopment works in 2003-5, major sections
were closed at weekends, attracting considerable
criticism from would-be passengers and business
interests.
Integration with road traffic
A DART train
passes under the Lansdowne Road Rugby
Football Stadium and over a level crossing
as it enters the station of the same name.
A further pressing problem for the
DART, and for some road traffic in Dublin, is the
existence of level crossings along some of its length.
Since the DART mostly runs at ground level, there are a
number of places where the DART both meets and has to
cross roads. The mechanism in place for this involves
automatic full barriers
to stop the flow of traffic along the road. This can
cause localised traffic jams. This is widely seen as a
design flaw that could have been avoided at the time of
electrification.
Defenders of the system cite the fact that the
Government at the time the design was chosen could not
afford to build under or overpasses to avoid these level
road crossings. Economic conditions in Ireland have
improved enormously since the DART was first
constructed.
Criticism of the DART concept
Some Irish commentators have been strongly critical of
the willingness of successive Irish governments to
invest in fixed-route transport, such as the DART and
LUAS. While some argue that the mass transport needs of
the people of Dublin could be met both more cheaply and
more quickly by investment in buses and bus lanes,
others do not necessarily agree. It has been argued that
bus lanes have higher maintenance costs than rail if
carrying the same volume of traffic.
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