Green Party Councillor David Healy today criticised the new Dart timetable introduced on 11 December. Regular Dart passengers in Bayside, Sutton and Howth have found themselves waiting for up to 40 minutes and are furious with the cuts to the train service in their area.

The new timetable has reduced the number of services between Dublin city centre and Howth in the evening (between 7pm and midnight) from 16 trains to 10. The new timetable also has two gaps of 40 minutes between trains (between 2139 and 2219 and between 2239 and 2320). The timetable remains highly irregular and passenger-unfriendly in what is supposed to be a frequent rapid service.

Cllr. Healy said today that, “The Dart service was introduced in 1984
with a regular timetable and a 15 minute gap between trains. At that
frequency, it was a service people could use without having to rely on
a timetable.
With the current timetable, people will be left sitting on windy station platforms for up to 40 minutes.

“It appears that some of this reduction is made up by the diversion of
trains to Malahide.  However, the reduction in services to Howth is
greater than the increase in services to Malahide.  In any event, at a
time when Iarnród Éireann has brought dozens of new carriages into
operation, there is no reason why both spurs of the Dart line cannot
have frequent services.
How is it we have more carriages but fewer trains?

“This timetable was introduced by the Minister for Transport who
claimed it was an improvement in services. But he completely ignored
the off-peak reduction in services to Bayside, Sutton and Howth which
has been implemented.  It is appalling that in 2005 we are being
offered a rail service which is a poor shadow of that introduced 20
years ago,” concluded Cllr. Healy.

Information
Cllr David Healy              087 617 8852
Elaine Walsh Press Office     01- 618 3852 / 087 914 8175