— New trains would be “better for accessibility, safety and reliability”, says passenger group.
Potential “chaos” has been averted as Irish Rail has confirmed that the Commission for Railway Regulation has approved a plan to extend the life of 40-year-old Dart trains.
Irish Rail’s chief mechanical engineer, Peter Smyth, recommended in 2019 that the original 76 carriages be replaced, and the certification for their use was due to run out this month.
According to documents released under Freedom of Information legislation, Smyth wrote: “From a reliability perspective, the 8100 fleet is likely to deteriorate further from its current low-reliability status, where the fleet is 4 x times less reliable than equivalent more modern Class 8500 EMUs [electric multiple units].”
The decision, however, was taken by Irish Rail’s board to extend the life of the trains which came into use in 1984.
Yesterday, Barry Kenny, a spokesperson for Irish Rail, said: “Following engagement with the Commission for Railway Regulation, Iarnród Éireann submitted an independent Extended Life Review / Justification Report to the CRR in February 2024 detailing the measures to date and proposed maintenance regime supporting the continued operation of the Dart 8100 fleet.”
He said: “The CRR has confirmed that this, together with a detailed IÉ action plan submitted to the CRR addressing the recommendations in the review, addresses requirements for the continued operation of the 8100 DART fleet.”H
Mark Gleeson, a spokesperson for Rail Users Ireland, said the group was “happy to note that Irish Rail has presented a life extension plan to the CRR to allow the continued use of the 40-year-old original Dart fleet beyond the 40-year limit set originally by the CRR.”
He said that Irish Rail had intended to scrap these trains but that the company “did an about-face despite the recommendations of its chief mechanical engineer”.
Gleeson said: “New trains would offer better accessibility, safety and reliability, which is what passengers want. Despite the Government’s commitment to public transport, Irish Rail has been left with no choice but to retain these trains in service for up to 50 years.”
He added: “The consequences had the CRR not approved the extension would have been dire with only 68 carriages instead of 144 available, leading to chaos.”
Gleeson added that the most significant constraint on expanding Dart is the lack of a new depot in Maynooth, so no more orders to expand the fleet beyond what’s already ordered for the northern line can take place until the depot is given permission as part of the Dart+ West Railway Order which is still awaiting An Bord Pleanála approval. But he said that the 1984 fleet could be replaced without a new depot.
The new trains don’t come with decent windows big enough to look through or open at all. Great pity that extending the life of Ireland’s rail rolling stock was not given a chance when all the black-orange intercity coaches and locos were scrapped due to the knee jerk from 2008 crash.
Likewise all of the previous generations going back to the steam age and Ireland’s once extensive rail networks that have been shortsightedly cut up for the motorways.