The first new train station in Dublin city centre in 116 years is to be opened later today at Spencer Dock.
The station, which was built in less than nine months, will act as a terminus for new commuter train services between the city centre and west Dublin.
The last new railway station to be opened in the city centre was Tara Street in 1891, although a number of new stations have opened elsewhere in the city since then.
These include stations opened along the Dart line at Grand Canal Dock and Drumcondra in the last 10 years.
The new Spencer Dock Station will allow for an additional 15 services to and from Clonsilla Station from this week, catering for up to 2,500 extra commuters a day.
It will also act as a terminus for the proposed new Dunboyne line, which is now scheduled to open in 2010.
The station is linked through a new 1km stretch of track to the main Maynooth commuter rail line, which normally brings services to Connolly Station.
Prior to the opening of the station, Irish Rail has been unable to provide extra services along this line because Connolly Station is operating at capacity.
This congestion at Connolly Station will not be alleviated until a major upgrade of signalling in the city centre takes place, alongside the construction of a new rail tunnel between Spencer Dock, through St Stephen's Green, on to Heuston Station.
Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said Spencer Dock Station will allow for further additional services that could not have been provided for under the existing station layout system.
"You could not provide the extra capacity needed for west Dublin, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the country," he said.
"The trains passing through Clonsilla are always full, so there are people getting on who haven't seen a seat in more than a decade."
He rejected criticism that the station, which is effectively surrounded at present by a building site, is too remote. The station is at the centre of the docklands regeneration area on the northside of the Liffey.
The station is a three-minute walk from the Irish Financial Services Centre, Mr Kenny said, while it is served by two bus routes which connect to the city centre and other rail services.
An extension of the Tallaght Luas line to the Point Depot, which will have a stop beside the station, is also to be completed by 2009.
The new station, which will be opened this afternoon by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, was completed under budget for €20 million, and within nine months of having received planning approval.
It is located beside the site of a proposed larger station for the underground rail tunnel or interconnector, on which Irish Rail hopes to begin construction in 2011.
Mr Kenny said services at the new station would be unaffected by the interconnector work.
Other new Dublin stations this year will include Adamstown and the Phoenix Park.