THE RAIL LINE between Connolly station and Grand Canal Dock will be closed for over a week during the Christmas season to facilitate works on the track.

Iarnród Éireann has confirmed that it intends to do a “full track renewal” of the section, which has not been renewed since similar works were done during Christmas 2004.

The line between Connolly and Grand Canal Dock will be closed from Friday 27 December to Sunday 5 January inclusive, aside from a couple of exceptions where the section between Pearse and Grand Canal Dock will stay open.

During that time, Dart services will only 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 or from the city centre.

Intercity services between Dublin Connolly and Rosslare Europort will involve bus transfers between Connolly and Bray.

All Northern/Maynooth Commuter services will only operate to/from Dublin Connolly.

There are a couple of exceptions where the section between Pearse station and Grand Canal Dock will remain open:

• On New Year’s Eve from 11pm onwards, the line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only to facilitate people travelling home from city centre to southside locations on late night trains after Dublin’s NYE Festival events.
• On Thursday 2 and Friday 3 January from 6am to 6pm, the line will be closed from Connolly to Pearse only to facilitate commuters travelling between the southside and city centre.

Iarnród Éireann said it apologises for “any inconvenience caused by these essential works”.

It said in a statement that the works “will see 4.2 kilometres of track – 2.1 kms on each line – fully relaid from south end of platform 6/7 in Connolly Station through to Pearse Station”.

“Newer construction methodology, the use of synthetic sleepers, and technical improvements will give a design life of 40 years to this section of line, doubling the life of the previous relaying from 2004/5,” it said.

“The works will also allow a full inspection of Loop Line Bridge assets.

“The track last relayed over Christmas 2004 and New Year 2005 is now at the end of its expected use, with the track quality index (TQI) no longer at levels expected of a line which sees this frequency of services.

“Were the works to be deferred, or scheduled over a longer timeframe (either weekend impacts or night works over a two-year period), temporary speed restrictions would be required causing service delays or reduced services, as well as significantly higher costs of works.”