Irish Rail confirms goal to close five south Dublin level crossings
Irish Rail has confirmed it wants to permanently close all five level crossings along the south County Dublin train line, as recommended by consultants for the DART+ improvement project. The crossings affected are at Lansdowne Road, Serpentine Avenue, Sandymount Avenue, Sydney Parade and Merrion Gates.
The proposal is contained in a report prepared by Arup for Irish Rail, which describes the closures as the "emerging preferred option" for the DART+ Coastal South section. The report recommends building an underpass for vehicular traffic north of the existing Merrion Gates, which link Merrion Road with Strand Road and are regarded as one of Dublin's worst traffic bottlenecks, according to The Irish Times. Pedestrian and cycle crossings would replace the other four gated crossings.
Purpose of the DART+ project
The closures are intended to facilitate the DART+ Coastal South project, which would allow for an increased frequency of train services along the route. Iarnród Éireann spokesperson Barry Kenny said that increasing the frequency of DART services would mean the crossing gates would otherwise have to remain closed to road traffic for significantly longer periods.
"We need to increase the frequency of our DART services, which is our ambition," he said. "Having a much higher frequency would see level crossing gates close to permanently being closed, which would have a huge impact on road traffic."
Kenny said separating road and rail under DART+ would allow more trains to operate while providing alternative infrastructure for motorists. The wider DART+ programme aims to extend the network by around 100 kilometres, with services reaching Drogheda in Co. Louth, Maynooth in Co. Kildare and the M3 Parkway near Dunboyne in Co. Meath. The overall project would increase electrified rail lines from 50km – between Greystones and Malahide – to 150km, according to the report.
Report details and traffic impact
The report, which runs to 681 pages, was delivered to Irish Rail in May 2022. It acknowledges that closure of the level crossings "in the absence of suitable mitigation may have an impact on traffic in terms of connectivity, additional delays or queuing in the wider area". The report notes that level crossings are closed to vehicular traffic between 41% and 83% of the time from 8am to 9am, and that there were 28,000 vehicle movements across the five crossings in a single day, with 11,400 through Merrion Gates.
Timeline and criticism
The proposed closures are not imminent, with Kenny saying the project is unlikely to move forward until 2030 at the earliest. The four-year delay in progressing the report's recommendations was criticised by the Rail Users Ireland campaign group, which obtained a copy under Freedom of Information rules.
Mark Gleeson, the group's spokesman, said the closure of the Merrion Gates crossing "was first discussed in the late 1970s". He added: "Dart passengers have suffered for 42 years from a compromise which prioritises private cars over the train."