DART+ (DART Expansion)

Irish Rail incompetence.

Public consultation is a legal requirement of any railway order. In fact my understanding is two rounds of non-statutory(pre-ABP) public consultation is required in addition to statutory(in-ABP) public consultation. Any RO that doesn't follow would be rejected for not following legal procedure, and even if it somehow wasn't it would be a swift JR.

Now whether the changes require an RO is a better question. The works you are referring to are for phase 1 (Bray-Wicklow) include other than track works and platform extensions, some OHLEs and a substation for charging, at least one LC closure, and potentially some modifications to bridges. The track works will be the most likely reason for an RO. As for phase 2(CC-Bray) that is a better question, pretty much the only significant works would be the LC closures and if the Cork line LC closures say anything, it is likely any modifications to the 6 LCs on will require an RO.

Is there any word on the DART depot…? Weren’t we supposed to hear something around this time?

Do we know what some of the potential locations are? From the space constraints alone (2.5km x 300m) I don't think there are that many possible locations?

Also somewhat related to the depot, I still don't think we have heard any news on the third fleet order? I believe it was supposed to be placed last year but nothing has happened and I am not sure if it will even be placed this year.

Third order has no depot dependency

They should scale back plans for the original location a bit and add stabling beside Hazelhatch and elsewhere. The issue is they are trying to do too much at one location.

Yes, that is correct it was "only" part of the site, but at a critical point to access the depot as a whole.

The DART plus website ( https://www.dartplus.ie/en-ie/projects/dart-depot ) mentions the following:

Why is the site previously refused by An Bord Pleanála included again?

The Board’s decision did not preclude the previous site from any new site selection process but rather set out a process to be followed for any site that experiences flooding to be assessed. The Board’s decision set out an approach to be followed in any new site selection process and this approach is being followed.

What other sites are being sites considered?

The options assessment has considered the full extents of the DART network including the three DART+ Programme projects (DART+ Coastal, DART+ Southwest and DART+ West). The study area for this DART+ Depot site selection study was also extended to consider sites within 10km of the furthest extent of the previous DART+ projects.

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So the original site can still be used. Maybe move it further away and complete the full flood risk assessments and have measures in place to deal with floods as per the Boards recommendations. For Irish Rail's credibility, they have to get this application and site perfect.

I know, but every single date in the entire process has been missed and since everything (apparently) has to be done in strict sequence, delays become cumulative.

A year to decide to resubmit the same location seems… long.

There does not seem to be any urgency at all and precisely zero effort to recoup lost time.

Metrolink start is expected in 2028. That is not "SEVEN YEARS" behind schedule. It's more like three. (Metro North is not Metrolink)

Three years is still bad, so there's no need to inflate it and make your complaints look stupid.

Well it's quite obvious that the current lengthy planning approval process is the main cause of delay. So i guess that unless you can change the whole planning, consultation, review, revise, appeal, judicial review cycle etc, then the original estimated timelines didn't accurately reflect the reality of that real planning process.

However if you were to put a realistic timeline in that reflects the real process, then you run the risk of taking the pressure off the project and it takes even longer !

The planning cycle for something like this is way too long and needs to be changed but the project is a victim of it at present. The planning cycle also takes longer than a government cycle so this is a big negative from a political point of view.

The only thing that can be done now is to try and keep pressure on as much as possible because objectors will use the void before anything is built to try and cast doubt on the viability. Which is what we see the likes of the Irish Times are doing.

We need to get a shovel in the ground as quick as possible.

Everyone always says that the government isn’t directly responsible for delivering these projects, because so many review processes hold them up. Is there a reason the government can’t employ a team to directly interact with ABP and others to ensure progress is always being made and government pressure is there to speed things along? As of now, it seems like nothing gets done in reasonable time. The Dart+ expansions should be throwing up overhead power lines by now even if the depot hasn’t been sorted yet.

What would it take to get the government to alter the legal system to be in line with other EU countries who seem to build public infrastructure exponentially faster?