I have received a response from Iarnród Éireann to an Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) request. The request sought the following:

• Any analyses of potential operational patterns involving a shuttle service between Howth Junction and Howth, requiring passengers to change at Howth Junction to access Bayside, Sutton and Howth.
• Any analyses of the time delays or reduced capacity of the network at Howth Junction caused by the current arrangement where northbound trains to Howth cross the southbound track from Malahide.
• Any analyses of the time savings or increased capacity of the network should one or more Howthbound trains be replaced by a shuttle service.
• A copy of the terms of reference for “studies which will examine the doubling of track capacity between Dublin’s Connolly and Malahide train stations, where DART and intercity traffic currently share the same tracks”, for which funding was awarded on 22nd June.

My submission to Iarnród Éireann’s consultation on Dart+ North

• welcomes the study just announced of the double-tracking of Malahide to Connolly;
• opposes the proposed infrastructure for a shuttle service to Howth and asks for the analysis of double tracking to happen first;
• welcomes the recognition that Howth Junction station is misdesigned but asks for a more fundamental redesign of the station; and
• asks for coordination between Iarnród Éireann and Fingal County Council who are working on a Sutton to Malahide greenway.

It follows my previous observations.