Fear that Dart+ delay will affect South Kildare commuters

NEWS broke recently of the government’s delays in delivering DART+ South West, the project which will aim to address train shortages linking North Kildare to Dublin. But many worry that the delay will also have a negative knock-on effect for towns in South Kildare.

A very well-known fact for Kildare-based commuters is that there are simply not enough trains for those travelling to and from Dublin, with many train users reporting packed carriages where only the lucky few manage to grab a seat.

The DART+ South West project aims to combat problems like this by Increasing train capacity to adequately accommodate the large number of passengers each day, reduce carbon emissions through the deployment of new electric trains, and aim to provide high-quality public transport services in line with Government policy including the National Planning Framework and Climate Action Plan.

However, the latest update has pushed the project’s construction back to 2030 at the earliest.

Kildare South and Labour Party TD Mark Wall spoke out about the delays to DART+ South West, and urged that it must not negatively impact the expansion of train services in commuter towns across Kildare.

Deputy Wall raised the potential knock-on impact of the delay to the project on towns like Athy, Kildare Town and Monasterevin in the Dáil with Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Deputy Wall said: “Public transport and traffic congestion across Kildare South has become a massive issue, it is having a huge impact on people’s daily lives for those that must travel to Dublin for work or to attend hospital appointments.” 

“DART+ South West is now facing delays up to at least 2030, while the DART+ fleet is also facing delays due to an issue with batteries. There is now a growing concern that commuter towns across Kildare South who are relying on carriages being freed up from the new DART+ fleet will also face delays for enhanced train services.” 

Deputy Wall continued: “Towns like Athy, where I have been fighting for an hourly train service on the Waterford to Heuston line, and Monasterevin and Kildare Town are in desperate need of increased train services and additional carriages.” 

 “Such delays will only worsen the traffic congestion along the car park that the M7/N7 and M50 has become, with government forcing people into their cars due to the lack of available, affordable and accessible public transport in Kildare South.” 

The Taoiseach responded that there should be no delay to in providing additional carriages for South Kildare. With this response, Deputy Wall has undertaken to engage with the Minister for Transport on the issue to ensure that commuters in Kildare South “get the public transport they need.”