Major disruptions to train, Dart and Luas services over bank holiday weekend

THERE WILL BE major disruption to some train, Dart and Luas timetables this May Bank holiday weekend due to engineering works.

Iarnród Éireann will carry out works on tracks and overhead lines in several places from Saturday 2 May, Sunday 3 May and bank holiday Monday 4 May.

All Northern Commuter services into and from Dublin are cancelled and will be replaced with a limited bus service.

Laytown, Gormanston, Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush/Lusk and Donabate stations will all be closed.

Meanwhile, there will be no Dart service between Connolly and Malahide/Howth.

DART services will operate between Connolly and Bray/Greystones only.

Belfast Enterprise services will also be affected, with some Connolly to Belfast trains cancelled.

Dublin Bus and GoAhead will accept rail tickets for affected services.

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Meanwhile, there will also be significant disruption to the Red Line Luas services over the Bank holiday weekend due to essential engineering works.

The Red Line Luas will operate only between Heuston and The Point, with no tram service between Tallaght/ Saggart and Heuston.

Passengers travelling between Tallaght/ Saggart and Heuston (both directions) will need to change over to the bus at the Red Cow Luas Stop.

A replacement bus service will operate every 15 minutes, serving affected stops with some restrictions.

While rail works often take place over bank holiday weekends to make the most of the network not being used by commuters, it is the third bank holiday weekend that DART services have been cancelled.

Several rail users have raised the issue online that the replacement bus service does not have enough capacity, as a standard five carriage DART can carry 550 passengers.

Mark Gleeson, spokesperson for Rail Users Ireland, said replacement buses are “just not good enough”.

He said they are “not equal” for people with disabilities, noting that a DART train can take multiple wheelchairs and has accessible toilets, and that this isn’t the case with buses and coaches.

Luas services on Sunday will be further impacted due to the Dublin City Council Half Marathon, with temporary adjustments across both Luas lines.

Passengers have been strongly encouraged to plan ahead and allow extra travel time. 

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