Minister wants late night trains to run all year and is talking 'options' with Iarnród Eireann

TRANSPORT MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien says he is in talks with Iarnród Eireann about expanding late night rail services beyond the Christmas and New Year festive period.

DART, Maynooth, Dundalk and Kildare late-night trains are currently in operation to cover the holiday period. 

Late-night services will also operate after New Year’s festivities in Dublin city centre, around one hour later than pre-Christmas late-night services, which can operate till around 2am.

Aside from the Christmas period, the majority of train services terminate around 11.30pm. 

Late-night trains

In an interview with The Journal, the transport minister said he would like to see train services run later into the night throughout the year.  

“I’ve discussed that very thing with Iarnród Eireann,” he said, stating that the government is investing heavily in the rail network and he wants to see it used to its maximum. 

O’Brien said he has asked Irish Rail to look at “options” that are available.

“I think that the late night Darts have been really well received, and they’re running late on New Year’s Eve as well for the first time,” he added. 

The minister said it is something that he is not just saying is “under consideration”, stating that people often hear that phrase and think it will never get done.

“It’s something I would like to see done, yeah, but I have to weigh it up with regard to how we need a safe rail network. Maintenance is critical,” he said.

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Asked about the possibility of rolling out more late-night trains, a spokesperson for Iarnród Eireann pointed to the issue of maintaining the network.

They said the vast majority of its infrastructure maintenance work is done overnight.

“It is a very narrow window as it is each night to undertake works and continuous late night services would mean we would have to increase the level of disruptive works at weekends,” said the spokesperson.

They added that late night services are operated at key busier times such as pre-Christmas, New Years, St Patrick’s Night, and after major concerts and other large late evening events during the year.

The minister said €600 million is being invested in the rail network next year in a bid to improve accessibility but O’Brien added that he would like to see the train services “run later throughout the course [of the year]“.

The minister highlighted that there has been an increase of 24-hour bus routes, “which we never had before”. Late night bus services and the Luas also running that little bit later is welcome, he said, but late night train services is something the minister is actively pursuing.

Congestion charge not under consideration

O’Brien said that 295 new Dart carriages, unveiled yesterday, will be coming into use over the course of the next couple of years, which he said is going to “transform the passenger experience”.

A further 100 new energy-efficient DART carriages, which will fully replace the original fleet in service since the DART first opened in 1984, brings the total government investment in new electric-powered trains to approximately €670 million.

Asked about the recent congestion in the capital and whether a congestion charge for drivers is under consideration, the minister said:

“Nope, there’s not. And I won’t be bringing in congestion charges.”

He went on to state that congestion will ease up when accessibility improvements are made through public transport.

Dublin is now the 11th-most congested city in the world, according to a new report by a US-based transport data and analytics company, which was published yesterday.

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