Dublin
Interurban, light rail, metro in planning

Interurban

The DART, as it's called by Dubliners, can also be considered commuter rail. As of this writing, it is the only urban rail system in Ireland. This 38 km, 24 station above ground line was inaugurated in 1984. Much of the route came from previous tramways and interurbans. Currently, much of the route is being upgraded, with rebuilt stations, track, and overhead wire. A five station underground section is also planned for DART, coincidentally called DART Underground. However, Transport 21, an Irish pro-rail group, is skeptical. In April 2011, Ireland's transport minister became skeptical as well, and the future of the project, which has already begun to the tune of 40 million, is tenuous as well.  While the project has not been scrapped, it has ben deferred,

DART Official Home Page


Light Rail

Dublin's light rail opened June 30, 2004. Called LUAS, meaning "speed" in the little people's language, it will have three starter segments, lines A, B and, surprisingly, C.

Thirteen of the 22 kilometer, 33 station route in the first phase runs on a dedicated route, segregated from road traffic. Another nine km is street running. The final southern section into Balally will follow the route of the former Harcourt Street-Bray railway line. Plans also exist for Line B (aka Luas 2) to be upgraded to light metro standards, with the section on St. Stephen's Green being moved underground.  Three additional lines are in the planning stages.

LUAS opened a 1.5 km extension in December 2009. It was the first extension since the 2004 opening. A 7.5 km extension to the Green Line, known as B1, opened in October 2010, almost in time to coincide with it's DART counterpart in Texas.  And in July 2011, a 4.2 km Citywest branch serving five new stations on Luas's red line also opened. An 18 km Metro North light rail line is now past the financing stages but on hold due to lack of funding. Which begs one to wonder, how could it have been past the financing stages?. Work on the line, will include at least two tunnel sections, one of which will be at the airport, is on hold with no prospects.

The only LUAS projects still on track is a "link up" between the two existing LUAS lines, now under construction, and the BXS Line to Broombridge, due .to begin construction in 2015.



Transport 21
Adam Winstanley's Luas page
Dublin Light Rail System from Railway Technology
LUAS - Look Back in Horror from Platform 11, an Irish pro-rail organization
Dublin Underground - a private home page about LUAS. DART and the metro
LRTA LUAS and Metro information, updated November 2003
Insiders guide to hidden Dublin for Rail Enthusiasts
LUAS opens: Build it and they will come

Metro

Dublin's metro (Meitreo Átha Cliath), also a part of LUAS, is still under debate. The only thing known for certain is that there will be a metro. It's route, as well as the length and location of it's underground section, is yet to be determined. As of early 2004, the plan was as follows: The line would run at ground level from the airport to Ballymun. The tracks would then become elevated through Ballymun to Dublin City University (DCU) in Glasnevin. From there, the trains would plunge underneath the green to Mater hospital in Phibsboro, Connolly Station, under the River Liffey to St Stephen’s Green. Since then, especially due to the financial instability in the country's banks in the late 2000's, the fate of Dublin's first real metro is tenuous.

Despite the shelving of the metro project, Mater hospital will still get it's metro station !

Dublin to build high speed airport metro
Dublin metro approved and expected to be operational in 2007
Fat chance

Dublin was also once home to an atmospheric railway.