[Article] CIÉ invests €59m in Dart fleet upgrade

Victor

This is being announced like it is something new.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/9174620?view=Eircomnet

CIÉ invests €59m in Dart fleet upgrade
From:ireland.com
Monday, 30th October, 2006

CIÉ has embarked on a €59 million upgrade of the original fleet of Dart carriages which have been in use since the Dublin suburban rail service started in 1984.

The upgrade programme by Siemens in Germany will extend the life of the fleet by 20 years and bring the service on a par with newer carriages introduced since 2000.

"The original 76-carriage Dart fleet have served the people of Dublin fantastically well over the last 22 years," said CIÉ chairman Dr John Lynch.

"Now, this major refurbishment programme will ensure that quality and reliability is continued and improved, with the most modern features incorporated, to serve Dubliners for another two decades."

The capacity of the carriages will be increased in the programme and audio and visual automated passenger information systems will be introduced.

New safety features in the upgrade include the introduction of an emergency communication system in the passenger area and fire retardant materials.

The first carriages from the initial batch of 20 returned from Siemens last week.

They will go into service next spring after a testing programme.

jumpymunky

This is great news!! The new trains operate so quietly and efficiently. Does anybody know if/when the DART line extensions north to Balbriggan and north west to Maynooth will be completed??

Zebra3

jumpymunky wrote:

This is great news!! The new trains operate so quietly and efficiently. Does anybody know if/when the DART line extensions north to Balbriggan and north west to Maynooth will be completed??

2114?

John R

Victor wrote:

This is being announced like it is something new.

The only thing that is new is that the first of the refurbished units have <finally> returned from their European sightseeing tour.

Pics of them here

jjbrien

The exterior of the upgraded carriges look good but what about the insides? Hve they put in new seats?

Navan Junction

John R wrote:

Pics of them[/URL]

Looking in very good condition.. Gone for a long time though

John R

jjbrien wrote:

The exterior of the upgraded carriges look good but what about the insides? Hve they put in new seats?

They will have the same design of seats as before.

jjbrien

John R wrote:

They will have the same design of seats as before.

Alot of the seats on the old darts need replacing. There old and smelly. Its a shame they didnt get rid of them and get nice new ones. Pity another oppertunity lost.

John R

jjbrien wrote:

Alot of the seats on the old darts need replacing. There old and smelly. Its a shame they didnt get rid of them and get nice new ones. Pity another oppertunity lost.

They won't be putting the same old seats back, they will use new seat cushions in the original frames.

Besty option IMO, the original units have much more comfy seats than any of the new models.

Red Alert

Interesting how the Mk3's and the DART carriages are due to be treated differently: Mk3's will get the chop, but the dart carriages will get at least 10 extra years service.

Seems like bad value to me

Victor

How come the chassis / bogeys are separate? Have these also been refurbished?

http://www.platform11.org/news/news.php?year=2006&no=22.html

Dart Fiasco
October 18th 2006

Two coaches from the original 1984 DART fleet have returned to Dublin after refurbishment in Germany. But before anyone gets excited, Platform 11 will soon be exposing the scandal behind this refurbishment project which is not all it should be and has caused undue hardship to Dublin commuters. Stay tuned.

Does anyone have a table of how many EMUs have been in use / available over the last few years?