Govt claims about DART in Fingal are meaningless without increased capacity

​Fianna Fáil TD in Dublin Fingal, Darragh O’Brien has said that the Government’s claims included in the National Planning Framework, that they plan to extend existing DART lines and introduce DART services to Donabate, Rush/Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan, are encouraging noises but they are meaningless without addressing the issue of capacity on this train line. 

Commenting this week, O’Brien said, “The Northside transport hub in Connolly is already struggling while it is operating at full capacity. We need to be able to get more trains into the city per hour and this can only be done if the existing hub in Connolly station is expanded.
 “The Government’s plans for Fingal DART services fail to address the crux of the problem – capacity at Connolly.
“I have been in regular contact with senior representatives in Iarnrod Eireann and it’s my belief that extending DART services without increasing capacity to take more trains into the city does not result in an overall improvement to service.
“The Government’s decision to omit DART underground from the National Planning Framework is unbelievably short-sighted. The DART Interconnector must be a crucial element of any plan to improve rail infrastructure in the Capital and particularly in the North County.
“As a daily rail commuter into the city myself, it is obvious to every commuter that the capacity issues in Connolly need to be addressed.
“If the Government actually take action on the plans as they stand, the people of Fingal can only expect to find it increasingly difficult to travel into the city by train in any reasonable time frame.”
He concluded, “Poor planning and ill throughout Government announcements will do little or nothing to form a sustainable public transport service in North County Dublin.”