PBP councillor raises concerns about DART Plus terminating at Heuston

People Before Profit councillor Madeleine Johansson has voiced her concerns over the proposed Dart Plus project that it is scheduled to terminate at Heuston Station.

Johansson says that if the service terminates at the station, the DART red line will feel “additional strain,” a service that Johansson says is “already operating at full capacity.”

The proposed line from Celbridge to Heuston will provide an additional 23 trains per hour with a passenger capacity of 20,000.

“The proposal for a Dart service on the Kildare rail line is very positive for the area.

“Providing people with a high quality public transport option will help to reduce traffic in the area and to reduce carbon emissions.

“It will also serve the new communities in Adamstown and Clonburris,” says Johansson.

Dublin Mid-West TD Gino Kenny said while the “DART Plus programme is great, I have some concerns about the lack of connectivity to Dublin City Centre.

“The proposal includes some services that will go through the Phoenix Park tunnel and provide connections to the city centre.

“But it seems that most services will terminate at Heuston which would leave people a good distance away from the city centre.

“Commuters would have to change to the red Luas or a bus, but the Luas is already at full capacity and everyone who travels on it knows that by the time it gets to Heuston it’s always full.

“I’m concerned that this might cause people to continue using their car because it’s more convenient than having to change transport mode.

“I would urge the government to commit to funding to increase capacity at the city centre stations to allow more services to take passengers to the city centre.”