PUBLIC TRANSPORT

All Photographs Supplied By William Murphy

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DART

DART TRAINS COMING AND GOING WHILE THE RUGBY FANS ARREAR TO BE CONFUSED

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TARA STREET STATION IN DUBLIN

The station was unusually busy for a Saturday as there was a Rugby Match at Lansdowne. As soon as I arrived there was a special train and that reduced the pressure on the southbound service however because of the crowding I abandoned my plan to visit Greystones and travelled North to Howth instead.

The Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (stylised as DART) is an electrified commuter rail railway network serving the coastline and city of Dublin, Ireland. The service makes up the core of Dublin’s suburban railway network, stretching from Greystones, County Wicklow, in the south to Howth and Malahide in north County Dublin. The DART serves 31 stations and consists of 53 route kilometres of electrified railway (46 km (29 mi) double track, 7 km (4.3 mi) single), and carries in the region of 20 million passengers per year. In a similar manner to the Berlin S-Bahn, the DART blends elements of a commuter rail service and a rapid transit system.

The DART system was established by Córas Iompair Éireann in 1984 to replace an ageing fleet of diesel-powered locomotives. It was, and still is, the only electric mainline railway in Ireland, and one of two currently operating electric railways, the other being the Luas tram which opened in 2004. Since 1987, the service is operated by Iarnród Éireann, Ireland’s national rail operator. Contemporary rolling stock on the DART network is powered by 1,500 V DC overhead lines and uses the 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Irish gauge.

All trains in the Dublin suburban area, including DART services, are monitored and regulated by a Central Traffic Control (CTC) facility located in Connolly Station, known as Suburban CTC. This facility has been extensively automated and requires a staff of five; two signallers, one with responsibility for level crossings, an electrical control officer, who supervises the electrical power supply equipment and an overall supervisor. The main CTC is staffed at all times however, there are also backup local control rooms which allow services to continue in the event of serious technical problems.

A single driver is responsible for the management of each train from the cab in the leading carriage. Automatic doors are controlled by the driver and are armed upon arrival at stations. Real-time passenger information displays on station platforms offer passengers updates on the next train arrival times, service updates and outages. Automatic PA announcements are made in case of service disruptions and are tailored to each station.

The majority of stations on the network have been renovated to include automatic barriers which require passengers to submit their tickets for verification before they can set foot on the platform. A ticket is required in advance of boarding DART services and can be purchased at stations from staffed kiosks and automated machines. Passengers can also avail of the option of using a Leap Card, Dublin’s integrated ticketing scheme. Leap cards are offered as contactless cards onto which passengers can load set ticket options or a cash balance. Leap fares are typically cheaper than paying in cash for a journey. On the DART network, users tag on at their point of entry and tag off at their exit point. Irish Rail, along with Dublin’s other public transport operators operated its own smart card system which was phased out to coincide with the Leap Card’s introduction. Revenue protection officers check passengers’ tickets to ensure validity both onboard trains and on station platforms at random intervals.

Several proposals have been made to expand the DART network beyond the coastal mainline and provide service to the north and west of the city. These expansion plans included a proposed tunnel linking the Docklands Station at Spencer Dock in the city’s quays and Heuston Station. This proposed DART Underground project, first posited in 1972, included plans for services from Celbridge/Hazelhatch to the Docklands via St. Stephen’s Green. The DART Underground project was put on hold in September 2015. While included in the Greater Dublin Transport Strategy 2016-2035 (published in 2016), the DART Underground proposal was not included in the Greater Dublin Area Strategy 2022-2042 (published in 2021).

In 2017, IÉ announced plans to procure a new fleet of trains with the intention of extending DART services from 2023 onwards. An initial purchase of 100 vehicles was proposed to allow replacement of the existing fleet; this proposed purchase would include bi-mode units to allow services to run beyond the existing electrified network.

In December 2021, IÉ announced that Alstom had been selected as the provider of up to 750 new vehicles, with 325 planned as part of the DART+ plan. Part of Alstom’s X’Trapolis family, an initial purchase of 95 vehicles is to be undertaken, formed into 19 5-car units. A total of 13 of these are due to be fitted both with pantographs to operate using the 1,500 V DC OHLE on the main DART network, and batteries to allow operation on non-electrified routes. The battery operation is planned to allow the extension of DART services as far as Drogheda. The remaining units in the initial batch are expected to also be 5-car, fitted with pantograph only.[23]

In 2023, Alstom revealed prototypes of the new DART trains. The prototype plans include 4 bike spaces per car, space to charge e-bikes and scooters, dedicated wheelchair areas, and automatic ramps for passenger accessibility. In April 2023, TD Fergus O’Dowd suggested that the first set of trains were due to be delivered by 2025, enabling expansion of DART services to Drogheda along the DART+ Coastal North route.

BLACKROCK TRAIN STATION AND NEARBY

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I USED A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO CAMERA TODAY

The Dublin and Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) Railway was the first suburban railway in the world. The line began operating in 1834 and was built by William Dargan, an engineer from County Laois.
The idea for the railway arose from proposals by the merchants of Dublin to link the city with Dún Laoghaire Harbour, because the levels of silt at Dublin Port meant that large ships could no longer dock there and instead called at Dún Laoghaire. The line ran from Westland Row (Pearse Street) to Seapoint and shortly after was extended to Dún Laoghaire. Blackrock Station opened on 17 December 1834.

Blackrock once had a natural coastline which ran along the Rock Road. This disappeared when the train line was built in 1834 making the space between the road and the track into a marsh. Before the line was built, the locals used the beach as a bathing area.

This marsh area was the cause of local nuisance, as even though water would flow in and out with the tide, it was not enough to wash the area out. This made the marsh very unpleasant to the nose. It was later decided by the Blackrock Towns Commissioners to fill in the area and construct the Blackrock Park in 1873. The granite gates at the main entrance once belonged to a house called Vauxhall and the gardens at the entrance were part of the gardens of the old house.

In 2007, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council published plans for the conservation and development of the park. The plans include extensive redevelopment of the course of the Priory River, as well as refurbishment of several of the buildings within the park.

Blackrock baths were provided for by the railway company in 1839 and were built beside the Blackrock train station. A special train ticket also permitted entrance to the baths. In 1887, the baths were rebuilt in concrete with a large gentlemen’s bath and a smaller ladies’ bath. In 1928, the Urban District Council bought the baths for £2,000 and readied them for the Tailteann Games. The baths, with a 50-metre pool, were well known for their swimming galas and water polo and could accommodate up to 1,000 spectators. Eddie Heron lived in Sandycove and is known for his achievement as 36 years undefeated Springboard and Highboard Diving Champion of Ireland. A plaque commemorating him is on the railway bridge that crosses over to the baths.

BOOTERSTOWN MARSH AND TRAIN STATION

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I USED A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO

Today I got the DART [Dublin Area Rapid Transit] to Booterstown and I then walked to Blackrock. The trains were packed and there were many visitors from the UK because it is a major holiday in the UK. I had intended to get a train from Blackrock to Dun Laoghaire but changed my mind as the last of my four batteries was at 20% [this is one of the major problems with the Sigma DP3 Quattro].

The area is home to Booterstown marsh, a bird sanctuary which has been leased for many years by An Taisce, who have worked to protect it. Species seen regularly include mallard, Eurasian teal, common moorhen, water rail, grey heron, little egret, common redshank, greenshank, Eurasian curlew, common snipe, Eurasian oystercatcher, bar-tailed godwit, common kingfisher, sedge warbler and dunlin.

The Catholic Church of the Assumption is a focal point of the area along Booterstown Avenue.

Booterstown has a dedicated Circus Field located along the Rock Road, where both Tom Duffy’s Circus (June/July) and Fossett’s Circus (October) are set up once a year.

The Old Punch Bowl pub, which stands at the bottom of Booterstown Avenue, was established in 1779.

Merrion Cemetery is an old cemetery that was used from the 13th century to 1866 and is located at Bellevue between Booterstown and Merrion off the Rock Road.

Booterstown was recorded in 1488 as one of the locations for the boundary of The Pale … “He’s out there … totally beyond the Pale of any acceptable human conduct.” That’s how the U.S. Army describes Marlon Brando’s rogue colonel, Kurtz, in the movie Apocalypse Now.

LEVEL CROSSING OR RAILWAY CROSSING

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SERPENTINE AVENUE

A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion. Other names include railway level crossing, railway crossing (chiefly international), grade crossing or railroad crossing (chiefly American), road through railroad, criss-cross, train crossing, and RXR (abbreviated).

There are more than 100,000 level crossings in Europe and more than 200,000 in North America.

There are currently 909 level crossings on the Irish Rail network, a number which has reduced from over 2,000 since the turn of the century. These are a combination of automated CCTV crossings, manned crossing and unmanned user operated accommodation crossings, including on farmlands.

In June of last year Irish Rail announced that they had seen a surge in incidents at level crossings across the State and urged the public to be vigilant when crossing railways, particularly in Dublin.

There had been 54 incidents at level crossing in the first six months of 2022, up from 31 for the same period in 2021. Irish Rail said that some of these incidents had been “particularly worrying” and have been shared on social media.

The majority of incidents at level crossings in 2022 were in Dublin. These included incidents at crossings on Lansdowne Road, Serpentine Ave, Sandymount Ave, Sutton, Bray, Merrion Gates and Baldoyle Road. In Cork, the Banteer level crossing also had incidents.

PEARSE STATION WAITING FOR A TRAIN TO DALKEY

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EASTER WEEKEND 2023

Easter weekend did not start well for me. I arrived at Pearse Station after discovering that there was no general public access to Trinity College only to discover that trains terminated at Dun Laoghaire [Good Friday – Easter Monday]. The limited service will be a problem for me on Easter Sunday as I had been invited to Sunday lunch in Dalkey.

Pearse railway station or Dublin Pearse is a railway station on Westland Row on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland’s busiest commuter station and second busiest station overall (behind Dublin Connolly railway station) with 9 million passenger journeys through the station in 2016.

Major renovation commenced in 2007 with publicity erected in the station for this in March 2008. As part of phase 1, automatic ticket validation machines were installed on platforms 1 and 2. The front entrance of the station was changed. The former Spar shop was completely taken out of the station and the old ticket barriers were removed. Platforms 3, 4 and 5 were removed. New signage and CCTV cameras were added on both active platforms and, on Platform 2, a larger waiting area for passengers was provided.

An additional Southbound entrance (Pearse Street and Trinity Bio Science) was opened 9 April 2013. At the official opening of the entrance by Minister Leo Varadkar the National Transport Authority used the term Pearse Street Station[c] in the title of a page on its website although there was no evidence of any official renaming. with other examples of that usage in media elsewhere.

The roof structure comprises two main sections – the main station area roof has 40 barrelled roof trusses, each spanning 28 metres, over 38 bays, with additional gable end structures at both ends. Adjacent to the main station roof there is a second similar roof, which covers a car park and station infrastructure area. This is smaller and comprises 19 trusses over 18 bays. A €10m roof replacement project started in August 2018 and was completed in June 2020. Pearse Station was closed for 13 weekends over the two years to facilitate the replacement project. During these weekends, northside DART, Maynooth and Drogheda services operated to and from Connolly Station, with southside DART and Rosslare services operating from Grand Canal Dock.