DART+ to Wicklow Town – Will 2030 Finally Be the Year? Or Will It Be More Disappointment?

For close to a decade, the people of County Wicklow have been promised an extension of the DART service to Wicklow Town. While the latest Government commitment pointing to a target date of 2030 (recently shifted from 2029) is welcome, the Wicklow DART project to date has faced repeated delays, while several key planning, funding and infrastructure milestones still need to be achieved. This is in the context of rising public transport demands from a rapidly expanding population in both Wicklow Town and nearby Rathnew which have witnessed new housing developments over the last number of years.

The Wicklow Visually Impaired Group (WVIG) has written this paper for people with disabilities and the wider public in County Wicklow with the aim of providing summary information on:

  • The background and context to the project

  • An overview of progress achieved to date

  • A description of some challenges and risks

  • The key milestones and target dates for project’s delivery

Shifting Timelines - How We Got Here

The target date for DART+ to Wicklow Town has changed several times, revealing a serious gap in high-level political announcements of plans and targets and the capacity of the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Irish Rail to deliver these same plans and targets on time. In turn, this is leading to growing scepticism across communities in Wicklow who live more in hope than expectation that the Wicklow DART will be delivered.

  • 2019: The then Minister of Transport, Shane Ross TD, announced the DART extension to Wicklow Town with a target of 2023, but without an approved design or an allocated budget being put in place.

  • 2021: The project was deferred to 2025 due to COVID Pandemicrelated delays.

  • 2022: Revised projections pushed out the timeline to 2026.

  • 2023: The NTA) published the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy which placed full electrification to Wicklow in a much later phase, between 2037 and 2042, thereby creating uncertainty. However, official parallel discussions continued around the possibility of an earlier battery-electric DART service.

  • 2024: Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) established the East Coast Railway Infrastructure Protection Projects (ECRIPP). These works are intended to protect the Dublin - Rosslare rail line, a critical piece of national transport infrastructure, from coastal erosion, coastal flooding, wave-overtopping and cliff instability, particularly in vulnerable areas such as along the Bray - Greystones vulnerable rockface and along the Murrough which is a 15 kilometre stretch of natural wetlands and shingle beach from north of Wicklow Town to near Greystones. It is estimated that there has been a loss of coast of up to 20 to 30 meters in the last 10 years alone. With an initial €230 million budget, construction on the ECRIPP is expected to begin between 2029 and 2030, subject to planning approval.

  • 2025 / Early 2026: Following discussions between Irish Rail and Wicklow County Council, attention returned to an accelerated hourly battery-electric DART service to Wicklow Town, with a target of 2028/2029.

  • February 2026: The Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien TD, confirmed in the Dáil that Government funding is available under the NDP Transport Sectoral Investment Plan to enable the extension of DART services to Wicklow Town "around 2029", with some of the second order of new Alstom-built DART battery-electric carriages to be deployed to Wicklow. However, at a Public Account Committee meeting in January 2026, the NTA stated that, while the second order would assist the DART extension to Wicklow, the final allocation had yet to be decided and the trains could potentially be deployed elsewhere.

  • 2026: Irish Rail begins procurement and design work on the Wicklow Rail Capacity Enhancement Project. This includes upgrades to Wicklow Station and the installation of the necessary charging infrastructure (now gone out to public tender) required for battery-electric DART operations. 

    Planned works include high-voltage charging facilities, charging bars on both platforms, a new pedestrian and cycle bridge, expanded car parking with EV charging, underground bicycle storage, a cycle ramp, and a three-bay bus facility. With works due to commence in Q4 2026, this project has a target completion date of late 2028 in time for DART+ to Wicklow Town in 2030 (shifted from the 2029 target date). 

  • Despite the commitment given by the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien TD in February 2026 for the delivery of the DART+ to Wicklow Town “around 2029”, he issued a new statement in August 2026 in response to a parliamentary question that this target date has been again pushed out to “around 2030”. No reason was provided for this further delay which is wholly unacceptable. 

Critical Milestones & Target Dates Ahead To 2030 

1. The formal planning application (i.e. the Railway Order) for the DART+ extension to Wicklow Town is expected to be lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála in Q4 2026. Once submitted, the application will enter the statutory planning process, including an opportunity for members of the public to make formal submissions. 

2. The DART extension to Wicklow cannot be considered in isolation from the condition of the existing railway infrastructure along the east coast. 

The ECRIPP is currently progressing through consultation and design stages, with a planning application for the construction phase expected in Q4 2026. Construction is currently anticipated to begin between 2029 and 2030, subject to planning approval. However, a final completion date for all the required coastal protection works has not yet been specified. Nor has confirmation yet been given regarding the full ring-fenced funding required to complete the programme. 

The timing is significant. If coastal protection works experience delays due to adverse sea and weather events caused by climate change, or by an anticipated large number of planning objections relating to The Murrough, the resilience of the railway itself could become an increasingly important consideration for the future DART service. The lodging of an Emergency Order for funding to the Government by Irish Rail has been a subject of discussion to offset possible planning and programme delays. In any event, in the opinion of many commentators, the timescale for planned protection works needs to be accelerated given the current rate of coastal erosion and storm damage. 

3. As part of the upgrading works for Wicklow Town station under the Wicklow Rail Capacity Enhancement Project, the construction of the new pedestrian and cycle bridge is expected to begin in Q4 2026, with station redevelopment works targeted for completion by late 2028. This deadline is particularly significant because the station improvements are intended to be in place ahead of the planned DART+ extension to Wicklow Town in 2030. 

A New Concern 

A hearing in July 2026 of the Public Accounts Committee raised fresh concerns after the NTA declared a €50 million contractual procurement write-down for Irish Rail’s new Transport Management Signalling & Control System software. This resulted in the NTA stating that parts of the national rail capital investment plan may need to be re-phased and re-prioritised. 

While NTA officials have stated that the current signalling works will protect the wider DART+ Programme, it did not reaffirm the target date for Wicklow DART extension. They also stated that priority would be given to those DART+ projects which have reached their procurement or construction stages (such as the more advanced) northern and western DART+ corridors), which the southern DART+ corridor to Wicklow has not yet achieved. This development presents a serious risk to achieving the target date of 2030 (shifted from 2029) for the DART+ to Wicklow Town, and requires urgent confirmation of this target date by both the Minister of Transport and the NTA. 

Conclusion 

The Wicklow Visually Impaired Group welcomes the Government's commitment to bring the DART+ to Wicklow Town by 2030. However, several critical milestones and target dates remain outstanding, and continued public engagement will be essential to ensure the project stays on schedule and that public confidence in the project will not be further undermined. 

Michael Griffith of the Wicklow Visually Impaired Group (WGIV) said the project remains one of the most closely watched transport developments in the region. “People in Wicklow have heard many different dates over the years, so there is understandable caution about the newly-announced target date of 2030. 7 

It is unacceptable that last February, the Minister confirmed the target date for the Wicklow DART was 2029 and now six months later, he has moved this date to 2030 without giving an explanation as to why". 

Mark Hogan of the WVI Group said: "The history of shifting target dates and delays to the Wicklow DART has been regrettable. Too often there has been a dis-connect between high-level political announcements and the failure of the various transport agencies to deliver progress as promised. This has served to erode public confidence. We need the Minister and the NTA to jointly stand over 2030 as the definitive time for the DART - at last - to be extended to Wicklow Town." 

What WVIG Would Like To See 

The WVIG, in cooperation with Wicklow public representatives and communities in County Wicklow, will continue to seek: 

  • Urgent confirmation from the Minister for Transport and the National Transport Authority that the Irish Rail TMS signalling and control issues will not affect the 2030 timeline for the DART+ to Wicklow Town. 

  • A firm commitment that the necessary number of new battery-electric DART trains will be allocated to Wicklow. 

  • The timely submission of all scheduled planning applications. 

  • Progress being made on the Wicklow Station upgrade-works according to schedule. 

  • Delivery of essential coastal protection works as soon as feasible in light of increasing levels of storm damage and coastal erosion. 

  • The delivery of battery-electric DART services to Wicklow Town in 2030 as committed to by Government. 

The WVIG will continue to provide updates on the delivery of the DART+ to Wicklow Town as new information becomes available. 

Rosemary Kavanaghwicklow town