{"id":338643,"date":"2026-03-10T11:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/338643\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:11:12","slug":"dart-extension-to-wicklow-hits-major-planning-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/338643\/","title":{"rendered":"Dart extension to Wicklow hits major planning milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The project will see a 5.5-metre-wide pedestrian and cycle bridge span the Dublin-Rosslare line. The bridge is designed to connect the Port Access Road in Wicklow town directly to the station platforms, effectively bypassing town centre congestion.<\/p>\n

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has bolstered the project with a \u20ac500,000 allocation for 2026 to move into the final construction phase.<\/p>\n

This infrastructure is specifically designed to accommodate the arrival of the Dart, which Irish Rail has now slated for a 2029 commencement.<\/p>\n

The design includes an underground bike parking facility and a dedicated cycle ramp to encourage active travel.<\/p>\n

A northern car park will provide 27 parking spaces (including EV bays) and three bus parking spaces to facilitate multi-modal travel.<\/p>\n

The project specifically retains the historic 19th-century signal cabin and existing footbridge, ensuring modern upgrades respect the station’s status as a protected structure.<\/p>\n

The active travel bridge is being progressed by Wicklow County Council, while the rail side of the Dart project is managed by Irish Rail; both are designed to integrate seamlessly.<\/p>\n

Construction on the new station car park and set-down area is expected to run concurrently with bridge works, with a target completion date of late 2028.<\/p>\n

\"Wicklow<\/p>\n

Wicklow Railway Station.<\/p>\n

News in 90 seconds – March 10 <\/p>\n

While people in Wicklow wait for the 2029 Dart rollout, the first of the 185 new Alstom battery-electric carriages have already arrived in Ireland. Currently undergoing safety testing, these trains are expected to begin passenger service on the Northern Commuter line in 2027 before expanding south.<\/p>\n

These carriages will replace the current diesel-powered commuter trains, providing a greener, quieter service.<\/p>\n

For Wicklow commuters, these new five-carriage sets can be joined into 10-carriage trains capable of carrying 1,100 passengers\u2014a major increase for peak-time travel.<\/p>\n

They will allow for unassisted level boarding at Wicklow Train Station once platform enhancements are completed, which is a significant upgrade from the current older fleet.<\/p>\n

The formal planning application (known as a Railway Order) for the broader Dart extension to Wicklow has not yet been lodged. Irish Rail is expected to lodge the application with An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la in Q4 2026.<\/p>\n

Following this there will be a statutory public consultation period where the public can make formal submissions directly to the planning board.<\/p>\n

The NTA is expected to visit the Wicklow council chamber again at some stage this year to give further updates on the plan.<\/p>\n

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The project will see a 5.5-metre-wide pedestrian and cycle bridge span the Dublin-Rosslare line. The bridge is designed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,4478,55175,10969,61,60],"class_list":["post-338643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dart","tag-hugh-ofarrell-walsh","tag-iarnrod-eireann-irish-rail","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}