DART Underground

DART Underground (DART Faoi Thalamh), previously known as the Interconnector, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, projected to run under the city centre of Dublin. The tunnel would allow for the expansion of the electrified DART and the Dublin Suburban Rail network, and connect Heuston Station with Pearse Station. In November 2011 the government announced that the project would be deferred until 2016 at the earliest. A month later a Railway Order permitting the construction of the project was granted in December 2011 by An Bord Pleanala.

DART underground would provide an underground link between the existing Northeast DART line between Malahide/Howth and Clontarf Road and the Western Rail line between Heuston and Hazelhatch, with new underground stations at across Dublin's city centre at the Docklands, Pearse Station, St. Stephen's Green, Christchurch, and beneath Heuston Station. Despite this not being a very direct route, the decision by An Bord Pleanala specifically referred to a national policy requirement that the line be built through St. Stephen's Green. The project would also involve the construction of a new overground station at Inchicore.

History
DART Underground was first proposed in 1972 in the "Transportation in Dublin" study conducted by An Foras Forbartha, an anteceding body to Forfás ( sometimes erroneously referred to as the 'Dublin Transportation Study') as an underground rail link to connect the 3 main Dublin Railway Stations.

In 1975 CIE commissioned the Dublin Rapid Rail Transportation Study and which recommended a 4 Phase plan including a prototypical Dart Underground.

Phase 1 Upgrade and Electrify Howth – Bray (completed 1984 as the DART).

Phase 2 An Underground line from Connolly to Heuston. Rapid Transit tracks Heuston to Clondalkin overground. Spur to Tallaght from Clondalkin (a small part was completed in 2010 when Rapid Transit tracks were installed either side of Clondalkin)

Phase 3 A short northerly spur off the Maynooth line to Blanchardstown and a short southerly spur to Broadstone. (The Former was never completed but was partly revived in 2001 as Metro West before that was itself shelved in 2010 and the latter spur will be completed as Luas Cross City in 2018.)

Phase 4 An underground tunnel from Broadstone to Sandymount. (This was later redesigned as Metro North from Drumcondra to St Stephens Green and shelved indefinitely in 2001. )

The DRRTS, if completed as envisaged in 1975, would have resulted in a cross shaped pair of tunnels in the city centre meeting at a central station in Temple Bar.

The plan was next proposed in 2001 as an 'Interconnector' in the Platform For Change strategy report issued by the now defunct Dublin Transportation Office or DTO.

Specifics
Dublin's existing DART line runs in a north-south along the Eastern seaboard from Malahide and Howth to the North of the city to Bray and Greystones to the south of the city in County Wicklow. The line passes through the city centre by means of an elevated loop line across the River Liffey between Connolly and Pearse stations passing the elevated Tara Street Station on the south bank of the river.

If DART Underground was completed, the present single-line DART would be replaced by two DART lines forming a rough X and intersecting at Pearse station. The first line would begin in to the north-east of the city in Howth/Malahide following the existing DART line to Clontarf Road but then diverging eastward into a tunnel and to a new underground station in the Docklands and then westward to a new underground station near Pearse Station, under St Stephen's Green (where it would interconnect with the proposed Metro North), Christchurch, and directly beneath Heuston Station. Emerging from the tunnel the line would then continue to a new overground station at Inchicore after which it would follow the existing Commuter line to Hazelhatch to the west of the city.

A second DART line would follow the existing southern DART line from Bray/Greystones to Connolly Station, from which it would diverge on the existing but un-electrified line from Connolly to Maynooth to the northwest of the city in County Kildare with a branch off the line at Clonsilla to Pace, County Meath.

Status
In May 2010, Iarnród Éireann anticipated that if construction had begun in 2012 the tunnel would have been operational by 2018.

On 30 June 2010, Iarnród Éireann submitted an application to An Bord Pleanála for a Railway Order for the scheme under the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001. Under this Act, the Board charged with considering planning, environmental and property issues regarding proposed developments.

The November 2011, the government deferred funding the project due to capital spending cuts until 2016 at the earliest.

A month later in December 2011, in the Railway Order was granted for the development. The granting of the Railway Order permits both the construction of the scheme and any necessary compulsory acquisition of property. It does not however commit funding to the project.

According the Iarnród Éireann, the government has indicated that funding the project will be reconsidered in the next capital investment programme. Because this will not take place before 2015, the tunnel cannot however be completed by 2018 even if funding is approved in that next budgetary cycle.

Opposition
There is considerable opposition to the project in Dublin's East Wall area where the tunnel will begin and where tunnelling operations are planned to be located. People also complained that while they will have to endure the disturbance created by the tunnelling works, they will not gain anything from the project as they will not have easy access to a DART station since they are roughly halfway between the existing Clontarf Road station and the proposed Docklands station. Iarnrod Eireann responded, claiming that they can use Clontarf Road Station.