Ceisteanna Coitianta a bhaineann go sonrach le Tionscadail

Ar cheann de phríomhchuspóirí leagan amach an Fhlít DART+ tá sé i gceist rochtain níos fearr a chur ar fáil d’úsáideoirí traenach. 

Fágfaidh póirsí fairsinge go mbeidh paisinéirí ábalta gluaiseacht go héasca ar fud na traenach agus cuideoidh neart greamanna a bheidh suiteáilte go straitéiseach ar fud na traenach le paisinéirí a gcothrom a choinneáil agus a bheith sábháilte agus iad ag fanacht go stopfaidh an traein. 

Laghdóidh urláir agus doirse isteach agus amach a beidh ar leibhéal íseal airde na céime do phaisinéirí agus feabhsóidh sin rochtain do dhaoine a bhfuil a soghluaisteacht laghdaithe.  Cuirfear céim in-aistarraingthe i bhfeidhm go huathoibríoch ag gach doras sula n-osclóidh an doras, gluaisfidh an chéim amach chun an bearna chothrománach idir an traein agus an t-ardán a laghdú. Feabhsóidh sé sin go mór an rochtain a bheidh ag daoine a bhfuil a soghluaisteacht laghdaithe agus laghdóidh sé an baol atá ann go dtitfeadh daoine. 

Suiteálfar closlúba ionduchtúcháin go straitéiseach ar fud 4 scáileán taispeána PIS na traenach i ngach carráiste a chuirfidh faisnéis chlaochlaithe do chustaiméirí ar fáil ar bord, ar a mbeidh nuashonraithe fíor-ama agus faisnéis ó chórais iompair phoiblí eile atá i ngréasán Transport for Ireland. Beidh siad sin leagtha amach ar bhealach a bheidh ar mhaithe le custaiméirí a bhfuil laguithe céadfacha orthu.

Táimid ag déanamh infheistíochta i dtraenacha arna gcumhachtú go leictreach/ceallra-leictreach a chuirfidh ar ár gcumas úsáid iomlán a bhaint as an mbonneagar atá ann fad a dtugtar leictriúchán chun cinn.
Beidh 13 x 5 carr BEMUnna (Traenacha Ceallra-Leictreacha Ilaonad) agus 6 x 5 carr EMUnna (Traenacha Leictreacha Ilaonad) sa chéad ordú faoin gcreat. Cuirfidh sin 95 feithicil ar fáil as an teorainn 750 feithicil faoin gcreat. 
Tá súil ag Iarnród Éireann glacadh leis an gcéad ordú seo ó lár 2024 agus tá súil tús a chur leis an tseirbhís sa bhliain 2025.
 

Ar mhaithe le hacmhainn bhreise agus rochtain níos fearr traenach a chur ar fáil ní chuirfear na haonaid nua ar fáil le leithris ar bord.

The majority of proposed works and interventions are expected to be carried out within the existing railway corridor boundary. Some works relating to the provision of new electrical substations, bridge modifications, and construction compounds have been identified as being required outside of the existing boundary. 

Details of locations where works are required outside of the existing railway corridor, such as at substations or construction compound locations, can be found in the Public Consultation No.2 published supporting documentation available through the project website www.dartplus.ie. Relevant documents include:

DART+ Coastal North Brochure
Annex 1 Schematic Layout Drawings

If your property is likely to be directly affected by the works you should already have heard from us. Our Community Liaison Officer will be available throughout the process to ensure you are regularly updated on the current proposals and your views are taken into consideration as we progress the design. 

A detailed construction strategy has been prepared, which includes programming, phasing and construction methodologies for the proposed DART+ Coastal North project works and information in respect of the proposed construction strategy is provided in the Public Consultation No.2 supporting documentation, available on the project website at www.dartplus.ie. This strategy has been developed in close consultation with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) team, to ensure that construction impacts are clearly identified and avoided or minimised where possible. A Construction Environmental Management Plan and Traffic Impact Assessment is being prepared to accompany the RO application, setting out the measures to be taken during construction to ensure against significant effects on the environment.  The construction impacts will be comprehensively analysed and assessed in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and in the Appropriate Assessment documentation, to provide sufficient information for the competent authority to reach its reasoned conclusions on the potential effects of the project on the environment, and on European sites. 

The proposed changes to the Howth Branch will facilitate an increase in both DART service frequency and capacity, along with improvements to the reliability of timetabling and service operation. Operational benefits linked to the infrastructural upgrades will allow for greater operational flexibility and optimisation of services on the Howth Branch. 

The current level crossing barrier opening and closing timings have been used to inform a traffic model assessing the effects on vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. Detailed assessment of the four existing level crossings along the Howth Branch Line has concluded that these level crossings can continue to operate and provide an appropriate level of cross connectivity and accessibility whilst still meeting the increased DART service frequency requirement. The increased frequency of level crossing closures will result in a greater likelihood of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists being required to queue at the crossings, however, the traffic modelling and sensitivity analysis has shown that queue lengths are likely to remain within the available queueing road space in all cases. Based on the assessments carried out to date, additional infrastructural interventions at the four level crossings are not considered necessary. 

The impacts on traffic surrounding the Howth Branch level crossings have been assessed using LinSig modelling software. LinSig is an industry standard software tool which allows traffic engineers to model traffic signals and their effect on traffic capacities and queuing. This was used to investigate the impacts of the barrier closures on the surrounding road network and further details are included in Annex 3.7 Appendix B of the published material which is available through the project website https://www.dartplus.ie/en-ie/projects/dart-north.

The traffic data used in the level crossing assessments was based on surveys carried out in May 2022. These included classified vehicle junction turning count surveys over a 14-hour time period between 0600 and 2000 at the junctions within the study area and also at the level crossings within the study area. The data also included queue length surveys and pedestrian count surveys. The AM peak hour was determined to occur between 0800 and 0900 and the PM peak hour between 1730 and 1830 (refer to Annex A). These are the busiest periods on the road network and the impact of the proposed level crossing closures was therefore assessed for these time periods. Historical traffic data (2018/2019) was available at some of the junctions adjacent to the Kilbarrack and Sutton level crossings and a comparison of the most recent traffic data (2022) and the historic traffic data (2018/2019) has shown that traffic levels observed in the recent surveys have, to a large extent, returned to pre-Covid levels in the study area. The most recent 2022 traffic count data were therefore considered a suitable data source for the assessment.

The effects of any changes to traffic patterns will be fully assessed as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) and Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) and it should also be noted that the EIAR accompanying the Railway Order application will include a comprehensive assessment of potential air quality and climate impacts resulting from the proposed DART+ Coastal North development.