Work begins on new City Centre 'Docklands' Rail Station

Date: 09 March 2006

New Station to remove 10,000 cars a day from Dublin's streets

20,000 new rail passengers a day, 10,000 cars a day removed from the streets, a train to Maynooth every 15 minutes, integration with Luas to Tallaght/Citywest and the enabling new rail services to Dunboyne. These are among the benefits of the new Docklands Rail Station, a key part of the Government's Transport 21 plan.

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen today (9th March 2006) announced the commencement of work on the new City Centre rail station. The Docklands Station, which will be built without causing any disruption to existing services, will be open from next year, 2007.

Speaking at the announcement, Minister Cullen said the start of work on the Docklands Station offered both immediate and medium term benefits to commuters.

He said: "Docklands is an immediate, practical, value-for-money transport solution. Connolly Station cannot cater for any additional peak-time trains. While the DART resignalling project, when completed, will allow for some additional services, we need a quicker solution. Docklands Station is that solution. With Docklands in place, we have a new Station alongside Connolly and thereby get more people on more trains into the heart of the City."

Minister Cullen said the integration of Docklands with Luas, Bus, road and other rail transport, reflected what the Government is working to achieve.

He said: "With Docklands integrating with Luas, it means we can connect commuters to the heart of the city centre, Connolly Station, Heuston Station and onwards to Tallaght and ultimately to Citywest.

"Dublin Bus plans to extend its services to the Docklands and the Financial Services centre area. The new road bridge planned at Mayor Street will also facilitate easy access to the South city area. This represents real integration, offering people convenience and choice."

In addition to Maynooth, Minister Cullen also mentioned the benefits of a new Docklands Station to people in Dunboyne and ultimately Navan.

He said: "The Docklands Station essentially marks the commencement of the first phase of the Navan Rail line development, a key component of Transport 21. When the work to re-open the old railway line between Clonsilla and Dunboyne is completed in 2009, all the services on that line will operate into this new city-centre station. This will go some way towards alleviating the hardship of long-distance commuters who are not currently served by a viable public transport alternative to the private car. And by extending this service to Navan, it means the benefits will be further again", he concluded.

ENDS

Further info: Dan Pender 01 6041090 / 087 2313415

Veronica Scanlan 01 6041087 / 087 6430622

KEY STATISTICS OF THE DOCKLANDS STATION

Deliver a peak rail service every 15 minutes on the Maynooth commuter line from 2007
Allow for further expansion of Maynooth line services, and allow the development of the new rail line from Clonsilla to
Dunboyne/M3 park and ride
Deliver 5,000 additional passengers a day on opening, growing to 20,000 passengers a day as services expand
Remove over 2,500 cars a day from roads daily on opening, building to 10,000 a day
Allow up to 5 million extra journeys by rail per annum
Bring a strong public transport service to the growing Docklands/IFSC area
Connect with the LUAS red line (serving Tallaght and ultimately Citywest) extension to the Docklands.
Maynooth to Docklands in 40 minutes
Clonsilla to Docklands in 23 minutes
Will be built without causing any disruption to existing services
Ensures Interconnector can be built without disruption to Docklands services
Together with city centre resignalling project (completion 2009), increase city centre train capacity from 12 trains per hour per direction to 20 trains per hour per direction