BIDS TO construct the Dart underground from Dublin’s Docklands to Inchicore have been sought by Iarnród Éireann just one week after the company announced a three-year delay in the project.
The 7.6km underground line, which will link Heuston Station to the Dart line, was due to open in 2015. Iarnród Éireann last week said it did not now expect the project to be completed until 2018.
A spokesman for the company yesterday said the original timeframe had been set in 2007 when the line was due to terminate at Heuston Station. The subsequent decision to extend it to Inchicore meant there would be 40 per cent more tunnelling than had been proposed.
Iarnród Éireann was not delaying the project and was now formally starting the procurement process by seeking tenders to design and build the line, he said.
The company intends to submit an application for a railway order, planning permission for the project, to An Bord Pleanála next month.
The tender documents, which will be published in the EU official journal in the coming days, seek submissions from interested parties by July 20th.
The successful candidate will be required to undertake tunnelling, track-laying, signalling, station construction, car-park construction and other mechanical and electrical works associated with the project.
