{"id":104172,"date":"2025-10-05T16:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T16:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104172\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T16:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T16:04:09","slug":"train-line-closures-to-cause-disruption-of-up-to-21-months-during-dublin-metrolink-construction-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104172\/","title":{"rendered":"Train line closures to cause disruption of up to 21 months during Dublin Metrolink construction \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish Rail<\/a> passengers face disruption of up to 21 months on the busy western commuter lines to Dublin<\/a> during the construction of MetroLink<\/a> which was granted planning permission this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Partial closures are required on the Western Commuter Line and the South Western Commuter Line, from Maynooth and M3 Parkway near Dunboyne, to Connolly and Docklands, to facilitate the construction of the MetroLink at Glasnevin. <\/p>\n

An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la<\/a> inspector Niall Haverty said in a report on the MetroLink that there would be a \u201csignificant negative impact\u201d on the lines, but added this would be outweighed by the long-term public transport benefits.<\/p>\n

MetroLink is expected to begin operation in the mid-2030s and will run mostly underground from Swords in north Dublin to Charlemont, close to Ranelagh, serving the airport and the city centre. Of the 16 stations along its 18.8km (11.6 mile) line, MetroLink will interchange with Irish Rail services at Glasnevin and Tara Street.<\/p>\n

At Glasnevin, the existing tracks will need to be lowered by two metres which will result in the closure of the western line through the area for up to 21 months. Trains coming from the M3 Parkway will be unable to continue to the Docklands and will have to terminate at Broombridge in Cabra. <\/p>\n

The southwestern line will be subject to closures for five months, but with a greater length of the line affected. Trains from Maynooth will be unable to use the Phoenix Park tunnel on this route and will terminate in Heuston instead of Connolly. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0MetroLink’s adverse effects across the capital Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In its submission on the MetroLink application, Irish Rail said the closures would have a \u201csignificant disruptive impact\u201d on passenger, freight and maintenance services. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey contend that this closure period is excessive and that a shorter closure period should be feasible,\u201d Mr Haverty\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

\"Metrolink\"Source: metrolink.ie <\/p>\n

Irish Rail also raised the issue of its Dart+ programme to electrify the lines and upgrade them to Dart standard service frequencies \u201cwhich they state may be completed or under way prior to MetroLink construction commencing,\u201d Mr Haverty said.<\/p>\n

In response Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which is developing MetroLink, acknowledged disruption to services and impacts on customers, but said the planned closures represent a \u201cworst case impact\u201d and it was working to reduce the overall duration and impact of the closures.<\/p>\n

It was \u201csomewhat surprising\u201d the two public transport bodies, \u201chave not reached an agreed position in relation to the proposed Glasnevin Station\u201d prior to making their MetroLink and Dart+ applications Mr Haverty said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is intended to be an interchange station between the MetroLink and the heavy rail network, and it would have been reasonable to expect that matters relating to how the interchange would be built and operated and the amount that the railway tracks would need to be lowered and would have been agreed, at least in principle, in advance of the applications being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish Rail said it had \u201cengaged and continues to engage extensively with TII\/MetroLink to minimise impacts to our customers and services during the construction phase of MetroLink\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the periods of disruption \u201cany alternative transport arrangements required, with options within our own network, and with bus and Luas services\u201d would be \u201cconsidered and determined, in consultation with the NTA\u201d. <\/p>\n

Labour TD Marie Sherlock, who represents the area, said she was concerned about potential \u201cescalating traffic\u201d throughout Glasnevin, Phibsborough and Drumcondra if adequate measures were not put in place during the period of closures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish Rail passengers face disruption of up to 21 months on the busy western commuter lines to Dublin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,13419,11,12,15,16,51348,4852,5,7,8,53919],"class_list":{"0":"post-104172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-irish-rail","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-maynooth","22":"tag-metrolink","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories","26":"tag-transport-infrastructure-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}