DART rail services resume after overnight repair work

DART rail services have resumed, following major disruption yesterday.

Rail services between Connolly and Dún Laoghaire stations were cancelled from 9pm last night, having earlier been suspended between Pearse and Dún Laoghaire, due to what was described as a "significant issue to overhead line equipment".

The disruption impacted the evening peak services, with alternative bus services in operation.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed services resumed following overnight works to repair the line damage, however there will be reduced capacity on some services as a result.

The 6.54am service between Greystones and Malahide was affected, along with the return journey at 08.30am.

The 10.04am Greystones to Howth service will also operate on a reduced capacity.

The 05.30am Dundalk to Grand Canal Dock commuter service also operated with smaller numbers, as did the 07.55am service between Drogheda and Dún Laoghaire.

The 06.59am service between Connolly and Bray was cancelled due to what is described by Irish Rail as "an operational issue stemming from the damage to overhead lines yesterday", according to a statement on X.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Head of Corporate Communications at Iarnród Éireann Barry Kenny explained what damage had been caused to the overhead lines.

"It does appear that some of the overhead wire system was sagging and the arm at the top of the DART that connects with the wires pulled that away as a result," he said.

"We’ll be obviously reviewing that with the recovered material right now, but the priority was to repair it as quickly as we could and get services back in place this morning."

Mr Kenny said that although services are back up and running, there is reduced capacity on a number of lines.

"That's simply because some train sets were out of place after last night," he said.

"Probably not as acute an issue on a Friday compared to other days, but all trains are moving," he added.