FUTURES MAP

Key to map

Light Blue: Metro planned

Pink : DART planned

Light Purple : Luas planned

Orange: New commuter heavy rail

DART LINES

The town of Kilcock has been growing rapidly in recent years, with nearly 10,000 people as of the early 2020s. It is the last large town heading west of Dublin as Enfield and Kinnegad are on a far smaller scale. The DART depot for electric services is due to be provided between Maynooth and Kilcock, so the electrification may as well be extended that little bit further to serve the latter town.

The commuter belt heading out of Dublin towards Limerick and Cork has been relentlessly expanding over the decades, with Naas and Newbridge now well over the 20,000 population mark. It was previously policy to expand the DART as far as Naas, but the current DART+ Southwest programme only covers as far as Hazelhatch outside Celbridge. The distance out to Newbridge is considerable but serves a large population.

The growth of the Wicklow commuter belt continues apace, despite environmental concerns in this scenic and mountainous landscape. Although much of this is happening in Greystones, already served by DART, previous DART expansion plans foresaw this being extended south to Wicklow. The single track alignment south of Bray is a major contraint and passing loops would be needed at a minimum. Rathnew is big enough and close enough to the line to warrant its own station, and Newcastle could do with being served as well as Kilcoole.

METRO LINES

This extension of the Swords-Charlemont metro line would be created by fulfilling the long standing ambition that Luas Green Line from Charlemont-Sandyford be converted from its current high quality light rail alignment to a fully driverless metro, running seamlessly into the northern half of the line. Services would then run all the way from Swords-Sandyford, hopefully with a journey time of only around 50 minutes. This project is actually planned for the 2030s or 2040s, so watch this space.

LUAS LINES