Eiresol Style

Nice wee video with trains from England, Italy, Holland and Belgium…

Iarnród Éireann to order 430 new Dart carriages

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has shortlisted suppliers for a new order of more than 430 Dart carriages. The tender will be the largest carriage order ever placed by the company. Announcing the move at the weekend, it said its multi-annual funding for Transport 21 projects “had continued apace” in the recent Budget.

A spokesperson said the new carriages would begin to arrive from 2011. The Dart fleet which was deployed in 1984 initially numbered 80 carriages. Between 2000 and 2004 this increased to 154. With the electrified rail network set to grow under Transport 21, and with planned frequency improvements, fleet numbers now need to rise to 586, some 432 carriages more than current levels.

A range of projects is proposed which will create a need for more Dart carriages. These include extensions of the electric network to Maynooth, the northern commuter line, and Hazelhatch on the Kildare line, as well as the Dart Underground from Docklands to Heuston. In addition, the extension of the Dart to other lines will free up commuter carriages to meet expanding demand on commuter routes in the Dublin area, as well as services such as the growing Cork commuter network. The projects will see Dart and diesel-train passenger numbers increase from over 33 million in 2006 to over 100 million by 2015 under Transport 21.

Nicked off the dozen…

Stolen from Flickr