Cross-border review of rail network officially launched

goingnowhere · 02-04-2026 04:52PM

Navan Drogheda might work AFTER DART+ North is done as that give you capacity and also the 4th platform which is on the Navan branch and a way to use the battery fleet post electrification and reuse the charging gear. If the Four North was done Connolly Malahide things get interesting. You could scrape a sub 65 minute run via Drogheda with stops.

It would probably be 10% of the cost of the reopening of the D&M route from M3 Parkway and would take 2 years to deliver with minimal planning risk.

Drogheda is pushing for city status and the Dublin Belfast corridor is the key population corridor on the island so there might be a case for Navan Drogheda on its own as a regional link. Nice straight line, blast along at 145kph

Going via Clonsilla has a 1+ billion price tag and ~55 minutes run time.

I'd do both…

LXFlyer · 02-04-2026 05:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124357759#Comment_124357759

Perhaps read my post above again - I replied to a post stating that it could be done now.

There is a big difference between after DART+ North and now.

thosewhoknow · 02-04-2026 09:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358582#Comment_124358582

Except it is mandated by Tara Mines’ planning permission that its output is transported by rail. Unless that is amended, Tara Mines will have to go back to using rail when the port connection is restored (later this year if it goes according to schedule). I also think this is one of the few lines being closed that isn’t at risk of being turned into a greenway, as there are plans already for the roughly-parallel Boyne Greenway.

Glaceon · 02-04-2026 09:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124359460#Comment_124359460

You're absolutely right, it was mandated in the planning permission. But there was even talk of scrapping the wagons as they're "end of life"!

Grassy Knoll · 05-04-2026 07:41AM

Quick question to some of the experts who post here.

4 north - how advanced / much of a priority is this project? Equally how difficult to deliver will it be given the route and proximity (in some places) to existing houses etc?

LXFlyer · 05-04-2026 09:00AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124364561#Comment_124364561

The EU funded feasibility study into four tracking north of Connolly has yet to be published.

That will tell us how difficult etc. it will be - anything else is pure speculation.

goingnowhere · 05-04-2026 09:25AM

Report will say

Connolly Raheny feasible mostly within existing railway lands

North of Raheny, extremely challenging property acquisition required

Grassy Knoll · 05-04-2026 01:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124364684#Comment_124364684

Is the Report still being drafted or is it complete ?

The fact it is challenging should - IMHO - not be a reason to do it. There are probably a few pinch points, but there is a fair bit of open land on the way to Malahide.

Given the amount of development underway to the North of the city and throw in the Dublin - Belfast corridor it would seem to me to be a good idea and indeed, essential.

If there was only a senior politician in that area with a bit of clout in the transport area …

LXFlyer · 05-04-2026 01:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124365164#Comment_124365164

No one outside of Irish Rail can answer your first question.

road_high · 05-04-2026 02:42PM

we need more options other than just Dublin and re opening this allows for inter town regional and local travel as well as Dublin.

goingnowhere · 05-04-2026 02:57PM

Report still in development

The Raheny insight came from a senior Irish Rail engineer who looked at the situation previously

Anything is possible but a lot of property demolition needed beyond Raheny until you clear Howth Junction then it’s fairly easy

Plan is to get 4 tracks to Clongriffin or Portmarnock not Malahide

KrisW1001 · 05-04-2026 07:20PM

Clongriffin is IÉ's preferred jumping off point for a more direct Dublin-Drogheda railway alignment intended to shorten Dublin-Belfast services, so four-tracking beyond that would have limited long term value.

This new line is a very long term plan, but it was included as a recommendation in the All-Ireland Rail Review.

end of the road · 11-04-2026 09:41PM

and none of us will be around to se it built.

your great granchildren should they exist might see it built, maybe.

JohnDoe2025 · 15-05-2026 04:19PM

https://www.irishrail.ie/_kontent/d2e85689-fbf9-010a-a02e-587ed94b5032/83c3573b-0259-4529-9b0d-a9cfa83ec52b/Rail2050_Summary_Final_Version.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawR0FvVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETByNnZDRzhLN3RqT1lRNEtRc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnf6G1Wu6e5LOstq1m5sHfWuNasxR_T4QTFTE75-evAiMlPE8XwlKsDf5Qqe_aem_m-XDsotuhFWt8Zc9lxqJ4A

Is this new? Or am I just seeing it now.

It seems to be up two days on the Irish Rail website but I haven't seen any news storied about it and I was wondering if it is a republication of something?

CatInABox · 15-05-2026 05:32PM

It's new. There was some discussion on one of the other threads about it somewhere, I think the Irish Rail Fleet thread maybe.

Anyway, it's basically IR adopting the rail review recommendation, including having intercity trains go through the new Dart Underground (now called Cross Dublin City Tunnel). Madness when it came up in the rail review, madness now.

KrisW1001 · 15-05-2026 06:27PM

Quad track to Drogheda, plus an Airport spur, rather than a new line that would serve the airport and cut 15 km of Dublin-Drogheda...hmmm

end of the road · 15-05-2026 11:59PM

they likely won't even quad track that far, if any of it at all.

only believe it when you see the works actually taking place for yourself.

cgcsb · 16-05-2026 08:07AM

Quad tracking to Clongriffin sure, spur to the airport sure. I think they might find at that point that the spur to the airport continuing to Droghda closer to the M1 alignment might be better in terms of economics and engineering. The coastal line between Clongriffin and Drogheda includes a lot of bridges, viaducts, coastal protection issues, pinch points through towns and some the most expensive land you can buy. An inland route through agricultural land or along the M1 (which means large parts are already in TII ownership) would be more affordable.

OisinCooke · 16-05-2026 04:18PM

It’s not the worst plan, and it’s definitely more detailed than the previous one.

On the Malahide to Drogheda issue, you’ll note that it also suggests quad tracking to Portarlington, an issue which they previously said they want to build a new alignment for, so maybe in both cases the “quad tracking” more just means adding new tracks between those places, and not necessarily alongside them.

Great to see the Maynooth to Adamstown link back in, which was very much left out of the last plan, and is I think one of the most important new rail links we need to build. I am a fan of the airport DART link too, never a bad thing to have both metro and heavy rail at the airport.

On the New Cross City Tunnel, I’m glad they’re keeping the rough routing and stations of the previous DART Underground. With relation to running intercity trains through it, I’ve heard it said by Irish Rail before that that wouldn’t have been a runner in the previous plans, due to capacity, and crowding at stations. They would hardly go back on this now…?

And if they’re spending so much money to separate slow and fast trains all the way from Portarlington to Drogheda, it would be utterly stupid to send them all back onto the one line for the tunnel. Could they be planning to quad track the tunnel? Stations on the slow line and just a direct tunnel (bar Heuston) for the fast lines? The map (while indicative only of course), does show the same quad-tracked line running straight from Portarlington to Drogheda…

You would like to think that surely the people in IÉ realise it’s not a good idea to send intercity trains into the same tunnels as high frequency DARTs, it’s the whole issue they find themselves in the middle of right now… it might be a case of appeasing certain people by “looking into it” but that they know it’s not a good idea.

I’d like to think that given the document is 20 pages long, it is not much more than an indicative colourful flashy brochure to outline the plan, but that there will be more realistic tweaks to these plans by the time detailed design and planning comes around.

VeryOwl · 16-05-2026 04:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124471072#Comment_124471072

It's a bananas idea. But there's plenty of time for it to be abandoned.

I don't understand their obsession with the idea of a Cork to Belfast through train, as if that's worth crippling the rest of the network for. It completely cuts against the goal of the other capacity upgrades, which is to stop different types of service sharing track. Metro, DART, Intercity / Regional should run on isolated alignments as much as possible. The idea of Intercity services clogging up your new, expensive high capacity tunnel, while terminal platforms sit in the high-level Heuston station unused, is a complete non-starter.

I'm very curious to see what the 4 North report comes back with. We'll need to bite the bullet on that one eventually, but it's going to be painful.

bk · 16-05-2026 05:10PM

I’ve been really struggling to think how this cross city tunnel would work and how mixing DART and Inrercity trains on the same tracks might work. The whole concept seem mad too me.

One idea I’ve come up with is as follows. Have the intercity trains use the same tracks as the DART, but not actually stop at any of the underground stations. The one exception would be at Spencer Dock, you build a large multi platform station under Spencer Dock, where the intercity trains could stop and other platforms so DARTs could continue to pass through.

Of course such a large station would be much more expensive then a simple DART underground station, but at least you only have to do it at one station, rather then multiple stations.

You could alternatively or in addition do the same at Stephen’s Green, a big multi platform station, so intercity trains could stop there. Of course that might mean having to close and dig up the entire park which is likely to face serious public opposition.

The downside of these ideas, is that firstly it would limited how many DARTs you can send into the tunnel and of course it would greatly increase the cost of the DART Underground tunnel and thus make a tunnel that already has a poor business case even worse!

Really I’m struggling with this whole idea!

spacetweek · 17-05-2026 08:16AM

I was hoping we’d put to bed the idea that we could run intercity trains through the tunnel. Mixed services is a very bad idea. The tunnel needs to be reserved only for Darts. If you arrive at Heuston or Connolly on an intercity service you can use the Dart to continue your onward journey.
A shame that arriving at Connolly would leave you only a single stop away from Metrolink at Tara but nothing can be done about that. If it was me and I needed to make this connection I would of course walk rather than taking the Dart only a single stop.

As for having Spencer Dock containing intercity and local platforms, this isn’t a suitable location to drop passengers arriving in the city as it’s down in the docklands and away from the centre. Stephens Green would definitely be the ideal location for this but is basically unbuildable.

bk · 17-05-2026 11:06AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124475333#Comment_124475333

I agree completely, I’ve just been thinking about it as I’m trying to wrap my head around why Irish Rail keep bringing it up! I’m wondering if I’ve missed some cheap easy solution and maybe I have, but I’m not seeing it and I’d love to hear if anyone has any other ideas.

Even before DU, D+ will connect the two stations. I suspect intercity trains will start stopping at one of the stations West of Heuston and people can opt to switch to DART for Connolly or Spencer Dock. Actually nice as you have multiples destination options, SD or Connolly and on over the loop line.

Interesting point about Metrolink at Tara, I hadn’t thought of that before! The solution that would solve this and other problems would be to extend ML to the Northern line, either Donabate or Rush and Lusk. I know it is a bit further, but I really like the idea of R&L. Build a big interchange hub there with multiple platforms, big car park, etc.

Belfast passengers could change to ML there for Swords, Airport, Stephen’s Green, etc.

PlatformNine · 17-05-2026 02:20PM

I am not really sure where IÉ is going with the Cross Dublin Tunnel. I don't think there is anyway to reasonably get IC services through it without massively adding to the cost of the project. While I am not really a fan of an IC tunnel through dublin, I still believe if they are going to do it, what would make the most sense is as direct of a tunnel to the Northern line (or M1 express line) from Heuston as possible with no stations, not trying to integrate it with DU. My only thought reading through the document, is that they mention TEN-T funding quite a bit, so maybe they are trying to see if they can secure anything from that by proposing IC services?

As others have mentioned, it is not unusual for cities to have multiple terminal stations in a city. I think it would be better to focus on improving the connection between Heuston and Connolly (and SD if possible too). In the short term this will just have to be as improved bus services and/or minor improvements to the red line (new trams, better priority, etc). However, in the long term I think this should be in the form of a proper direct rail connections, either through a redesigned DU (see what I say below) or through another metro line.

However, other than the IC service problem, I did notice they are also still proposing the original alignment with Christchruch, SSG, Pearse, and SD. However, I am still not 100% convinced that is possible with the current SD station. I believe the DU tie-in at SD was designed around an older SD proposal with deeper platforms.

If DU does need to be redesigned because of SD, I think a alignment would look something like Inchicore-Heuston-Christchruch-Tara-Connolly-Clontarf, as I am not sure if there is anywhere else for the portal until Clontarf Rd or Clontarf Gold Club. So instead of direct Cork-Belfast IC services, it would instead allow for a quick transfer (I would think 5-10min DART journey) and a much higher capacity connection between the two stations. In my mind the direct Heuston/Connolly-Airport connection is the real value of the airport link. I think like BK says, if it is just about connecting to the northern services there are better ways.

PlatformNine · 17-05-2026 02:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124475630#Comment_124475630

Interesting point about Metrolink at Tara, I hadn’t thought of that before! The solution that would solve this and other problems would be to extend ML to the Northern line, either Donabate or Rush and Lusk. I know it is a bit further, but I really like the idea of R&L. Build a big interchange hub there with multiple platforms, big car park, etc.

One problem I do see with this for specifically the Enterprise/IC interchanges, is that by this point in time the express alignment would hopefully be built. So this stop would mean slowing down IC servics that could otherwise fly into Dublin and/or adding additional stations west of R&L/Donabate for the express line and ML.

That said I do think it makes sense to extend ML to the Northern line, if for nothing else than to serve as a connection to Northern line DART services well before Tara St.

BestWestern · 17-05-2026 04:04PM

With the aircoach taking forever to get to the airport from south Dublin, I'm surprised that TFI don't even run an airport shuttle from Malahide to the airport to link with dart services. Getting this right could remove a lot of cross city traffic.

bk · 17-05-2026 04:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124476580#Comment_124476580

There is no capacity in the Northern line for such a service. The Northern line is at max capacity as is.

Metrolink is the correct solution for this issue.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124476281#Comment_124476281

Well first thing to keep in mind is that the new trains will have a faster top speed and much better acceleration.

But also there is now talk (in the Rail2050 vision) of services to Belfast going to every 30 minutes. This would allow you to alternate stops.

You could have something like every Belfast train stops at R&L and then alternate between stopping at Dundalk and Drogheda, so each keeps an hourly service. Or whatever combination of stopping pattern makes most sense. This way you add no extra delay, but more options.

There is another element to this, but I think it deserves its own post. I’ll post that below.

bk · 17-05-2026 04:22PM

So earlier today I came across a very interesting video on YouTube where the NTA gave a presentation three years ago. I hadn’t seen it before, but it had some interesting bits of info.

Apparently they are considering running either a shuttle between Dundalk and Drogheda to increase service or alternatively run DARTs to Dundalk under battery power.

I think that would be a great expansion of service (and would help if you started stopping intercity train at R&L).

CatInABox · 17-05-2026 06:33PM

I see a few people talking about the CDCT as having the same alignment as DU, but we don't actually know where it's going to go yet, they've just put in the existing alignment for illustration purposes only.

My guess is that CDCT will have a significant reduction in stations, and a whole new route. Not ideal on the station front, but each one of them will be significantly more expensive than Metrolink stations, and that's before considering that some of them will probably be mined out.

bk · 17-05-2026 08:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124477030#Comment_124477030

Well there aren’t really all that many options. The DART+ Tunnel Options Report basically spelt them out.

The cheapest option would be the one that follows the Liffey with a stop at Tara St. This option has the shortest tunnel and reduces the stations by one. Tara St. replaces both Stephen’s Green and Pearse Station stop. I’d also drop Christchurch, so now you have 3 underground stations instead of 5, below Heuston Station, Tara St and Spencer Dock.

I don’t think you could make it any cheaper then that.

But then the question would be, what do you want to do with Intercity trains? Where would the intercity station go. Could you fit a large multi platform intercity station under Tara St.? How much buildings would you need to CPO and knock above it to create the construction site for such a big station?

I don’t know, I’m open to ideas where such a station should go, but it isn’t really obvious.

Cross-border review of rail network officially launched

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