IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has shortlisted suppliers for a new order of more than 430 Dart carriages.
The tender will be the largest carriage order ever placed by the company. Announcing the move at the weekend, it said its multi-annual funding for Transport 21 projects "had continued apace" in the recent Budget.
A spokesperson said the new carriages would begin to arrive from 2011. The Dart fleet which was deployed in 1984 initially numbered 80 carriages. Between 2000 and 2004 this increased to 154.
With the electrified rail network set to grow under Transport 21, and with planned frequency improvements, fleet numbers now need to rise to 586, some 432 carriages more than current levels.
A range of projects is proposed which will create a need for more Dart carriages. These include extensions of the electric network to Maynooth, the northern commuter line, and Hazelhatch on the Kildare line, as well as the Dart Underground from Docklands to Heuston.
In addition, the extension of the Dart to other lines will free up commuter carriages to meet expanding demand on commuter routes in the Dublin area, as well as services such as the growing Cork commuter network.
The projects will see Dart and diesel-train passenger numbers increase from over 33 million in 2006 to over 100 million by 2015 under Transport 21.
In the Dublin area alone improvements in planning or under way include:
• The four-track Kildare Route Project;
• Resignalling of the Dublin city centre, northern and Maynooth lines for service expansion;
• The phased reopening of the Clonsilla-Navan line, beginning with Clonsilla-Dunboyne by 2010;
• The opening of a range of new stations.
The company plans to select a supplier in 2009, and it is envisaged that the 432-carriage order will be placed in two phases - with the first phase to be delivered to the company in 2011-12.
The spokesperson said: "One of the major benefits of a funding framework like Transport 21 is that we can align fleet orders to the development of the network. We can deliver capacity improvements to commuters, and optimise value for money for taxpayers in our investment programme.
"In addition, the extension of electrification across a wider Greater Dublin network will lead to considerable environmental benefits, as well as the economic gain from developing a high frequency, integrated network."
