Transport

Dublin rail line works to close Connolly-Pearse section over Christmas and new year

Works on the country’s busiest rail line will start on St Stephen’s Day and run until January 5th, with some night works in later months

Works on the rail line between Connolly and Pearse stations will start on St Stephen’s Day
Works on the rail line between Connolly and Pearse stations will start on St Stephen’s Day
Sarah Slater
Tue Dec 03 2024 - 08:18

A section of the country’s busiest rail line is undergoing a complete track refurbishment over the Christmas and new year holidays.

Iarnród Éireann said work on the “loop line” will be carried out between Dublin’s Connolly and Pearse stations.

Works on the line, which sees just under 100,000 train movements annually, will start on St Stephen’s Day, Thursday December 26th, at 10am and will run until Sunday, January 5th, at 5am, during a period that sees the lowest number of passengers throughout the year.

Some night works will also be carried out on January 7th and 8th, February 28th and March 1st.

READ SOME MORE

The track works will be the first renewal of the line in 20 years, when similar works took place over Christmas 2004/new year 2005.

As a result, the line will be closed between Connolly and Grand Canal Dock throughout this time, with limited exceptions between Pearse and Grand Canal Dock.

The works will result in no services on the section of the line on St Stephen’s Day, December 27th, through to Sunday, January 5th. The line will be closed from Connolly to Grand Canal Dock while Dart services will operate between Howth/Malahide and Connolly Station, and between Grand Canal Dock and Bray/Greystones.

Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for southside customers travelling to/from the city centre, Intercity services between Dublin Connolly and Rosslare Europort will involve bus transfers between Connolly and Bray while all Northern/Maynooth Commuter services will operate to/from Dublin Connolly only.

However, there are two exceptions: on New Year’s Eve from 11pm onwards the line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only, to facilitate those travelling home from city centre to southside locations on late night trains after Dublin’s New Year’s Eve Festival events. Southside Dart services will operate from Pearse to Bray/Greystones, with late night services for Howth/Malahide, Dundalk, Maynooth and Kildare operating to/from Connolly.

On Thursday and Friday, January 2nd and 3rd from 6am to 6pm, the line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only, to facilitate early returning commuters travelling between the southside and city centre. Southside Dart services will operate between Pearse and Bray/Greystones.

Throughout the works, Connolly Station will be fully operational with the exception of platform 7, and Grand Canal Dock Station will be fully operational.