Dart extension to Kilcock not in current plans Kildare TD told

The possible extension of the planned Dart extension to Kilcock appears to be very much on the long finger, according to a Dail reply given to Kildare North Social Democrat TD, Catherine Murphy.

On October 6, Deputy Murphy asked the Minister for Transport the reason for the decision as per the current DART west scheme to cease the line at Maynooth; and if he plans to extend the project to Kilcock, County Kildare.

DART+ West is the upgrade of the commuter rail line to Maynooth and M3 Parkway. A public  consultation on the emerging preferred route for the Maynooth Line, M3 Parkway and city centre  sections is currently on-going. Details of the emerging preferred route are set out on the Iarnród  Éireann website along with a detailed options selection report.  

Hugh Creegan, Deputy Chief Executive, National Transport Authority said that the NTA Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016-2035 and the National Development  Plan 2018-2027, both include the DART+ Programme (previously referred to as DART Expansion) and  identify its western extent as being the expansion of DART services to Maynooth, but not Kilcock. “While further  extensions may be considered in the future, these are outside of the current scope of the DART+  Programme. Accordingly, and to avoid delaying the progression of the current proposals, it is  suggested that the type of further expansion as proposed in your query would fall to be assessed and  evaluated as a potential follow-on project at a later date.”

The public consultation process is due to close on tomorrow, October 21.

Deputy Murphy said long term it made much more sense to extend the line to Kilcock, which is very much within the commuter belt and much nearer to Dublin than Greystone in Wicklow, which currently has the Dart service. “We always seem to think in the short term,” she said.

She said that previously she had coordinated a campaign involving groups in west Dublin and north Kildare, including Leixlip Town Council to double the rail line to Kilcock.

She believes that with the trend towards home or partial home working Kilcock will become more central than it is now.

Deputy Murphy said she will ask about the cost of extending from Maynooth to Kilcock, if only in approximate terms.

In 2019, Deputy Murphy was told that the National Development Plan 2018 – 2027 had allocated €2 billion to the DART expansion programme, prioritising the delivery of the non-tunnel elements of that project for delivery by 2027.
 

This included the electrification and re-signalling of the Maynooth line to Maynooth as well as the electrification of the branch line to the M3 parkway, facilitating dart services to operate on these lines. But there were no plans to electrify the Maynooth line to Kilcock.

 Meanwhile, Iarnród Éireann and  their consultants will review the submissions received and further develop the design to bring forward  the preferred route. It is anticipated that a Railway Order application will be submitted to An Bord  Pleanála towards the middle of 2021.

In his reply the Minister said DART+ is a transformative programme of investment.  “As required by the Public Spending Code, upon completion of the preliminary business case, I will bring it to the Government for decision.”

The Minister referred Deputy Murphy’s question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. .  

Mr Creegan said the DART+ Programme represents the key investment in commuter rail services in the Greater Dublin  Area. “DART+ will provide frequent, modern, electrified services to Drogheda on the Northern  Commuter Line, the Kildare Line (between Hazelhatch and Celbridge), Maynooth and M3 Parkway on  the Maynooth/Sligo Line, while improving DART services on the South-East Line as far south as  Greystones. The DART+ Programme includes both the upgrade of the railway infrastructure and the  purchase of new DART fleet.