Irish Rail Advise Passengers In Wicklow Of Disruption To Services Over Festive Season

Iarnród Éireann is to undertake a full track renewal of the country’s busiest section of rail line, the “loop line” between Dublin’s Connolly and Pearse Stations, over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

The works on the line, which sees just under 100,000 train movements annually, will take place from 26th December 2024 to 5th January 2025 inclusive, during the Christmas / New Year holiday season which sees the lowest number of passengers throughout the year. 

The track works will be the first renewal of the line in 20 years, when similar works took place over Christmas 2004 / New Year 2005.

As a result, the line will be closed between Connolly and Grand Canal Dock throughout this time, with limited exceptions between Pearse and Grand Canal Dock. 

The works will result in the following service alterations:

Thursday 26th December

• No services on Iarnród Éireann network on St Stephen’s Day.

Friday 27th December to Sunday 5th January inclusive (with exceptions below):

• Line closed Connolly to Grand Canal Dock
• DART services will operate between Howth/Malahide and Connolly Station, and between Grand Canal Dock and Bray/Greystones.
• Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for southside customers travelling to/from city centre
• Intercity services between Dublin Connolly and Rosslare Europort will involve bus transfers between Connolly and Bray
• All Northern / Maynooth Commuter services will operate to/from Dublin Connolly only.

Exceptions to the above will be:

• New Year’s Eve from 23:00hrs onwards: Line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only, to facilitate those travelling home from city centre to southside locations on late night trains after Dublin’s NYE Festival events. Southside DART services will operate from Pearse to Bray/Greystones, with late night services for Howth/Malahide, Dundalk, Maynooth and Kildare operating to/from Connolly.
• Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd January from 06:00hrs to 18:00hrs inclusive: Line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only, to facilitate those early returning commuters travelling between southside and city centre. Southside DART services will operate between Pearse and Bray/Greystones.

Throughout the works, Connolly Station will be fully operational with the exception of platform 7, and Grand Canal Dock Station will be fully operational.

In addition to service impacts, Iarnród Éireann has established a dedicated community liaison information programme and contact arrangements for residents living in close proximity to the rail line during works.

What will the works entail?

The works will see 4.2 kilometres of track – 2.1 kms on each line – fully relayed from south end of platform 6/7 in Connolly Station through to Pearse Station.

Newer construction methodology, the use of synthetic sleepers, and technical improvements will give a design life of 40 years to this section of line, doubling the life of the previous relaying from 2004/5.

The works will also allow a full inspection of Loop Line Bridge assets.

Why are the works needed now?

The track last relayed over Christmas 2004 and New Year 2005 is now at the end of its expected use, with the track quality index no longer at levels expected of a line which sees this frequency of services.

Were the works to be deferred, or scheduled over a longer timeframe (either weekend impacts or night works over a two-year period), temporary speed restrictions would be required causing service delays or reduced services, as well as significantly higher costs of works.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for any inconvenience caused by these essential works.