Dublin Suburban Rail
The Dublin Suburban Rail system (also known as the Dublin Commuter Rail system) is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland though many towns outside the actual urban area are also served for commuters. The system is made up of five lines -
- Northern Commuter - Dublin Pearse Station to Dundalk.
- South Eastern Commuter - Dublin Connolly Station to Wicklow.
- South Western Commuter - Dublin Heuston Station to Kildare.
- Western Commuter - Dublin Pearse Station to Longford.
- Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) - Greystones to Howth/Malahide
The lines are owned and operated by Iarnród Éireann, however the Luas (light rail) system is not officially part of this network, and is not operated by Iarnród Éireann.
Northern Commuter
- Stations served - Dublin Pearse, Tara Street, Dublin Connolly, Howth Junction, Portmarnock, Malahide, Donabate, Rush & Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan, Gormanston, Laytown, Drogheda, Dundalk.
Dunleer and/or Drogheda North have been mooted as additional stations. The track is shared with Dublin-Belfast Enterprise services, and shared with DART services as far as Malahide. The bridge at Drogheda is single track which may hinder high frequency services in the long term. The halt at Mosney is no longer used due to the ending of the holiday camp there.
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Balbriggan by 2015.
South Eastern Commuter
- Stations served: Dublin Connolly, Tara Street, Dublin Pearse, Lansdowne Road, Sydney Parade, Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones, Kilcoole, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey.
The services share track with mainline service to Rosslare and DART service as far as Greystones. The line is single track from Bray onwards.
South Western Commuter
- Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch and Celbridge, Sallins and Naas, Newbridge, Kildare.
A station used only occasionally for "special" trains also exists at the Curragh. Other services continuing on past Portlaoise or Carlow also serve some of these stations. Plans currently exist to relocate the stations at Cherry Orchard (moving to Park West) and Clondalkin (moving to Fonthill Road). This work is part of the Kildare project, which includes quadruple-tracking the line between Park West and just beyond Hazelhatch. The line between Inchicore and Park West will become triple-tracked.
A special development zone (SDZ) called Adamstown is currently under construction. This borders an area from west Lucan to the Kildare rail line and is approx 16km from Dublin. It is expected to have 20,000 inhabitants by the time it is completed. The developers at the site will be building a new station on the line as part of the early phase of the development.
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Hazelhatch by 2015.
Western Commuter
- Stations served - Dublin Pearse, Tara St, Dublin Connolly, Drumcondra, Broombridge, Ashtown, Castleknock, Coolmine, Clonsilla, Leixlip Confey, Leixlip Louisa Bridge, Maynooth. Some trains on this service continue to Kilcock, Enfield, Mullingar, Edgeworthstown, and Longford.
Transport 21 envisages electrification as far as Maynooth by 2015.
Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART)
See separate Dublin Area Rapid Transit article.