The New DART Trains for Dublin Are Here!

[@geofftech2]

Hang on. I didn’t do an Elbow test did I? Noooooo!!! 💪

[@Danielkennedy1991]

You'll have to go back to do a follow up

[@EdgyNumber1]

Geoff, I'm surprised you haven't covered Belfast's new central train station, recently opened!

[@scottishtrainspotter7209]

not really.

[@stephenoreilly5696]

Geoff, an honour for all us train enthusiasts in Ireland to have you here reporting on the new dart trains! Thank you ❤️🇮🇪

[@toyotaprius79]

Not one mention of the Drumm Battery EMUs from the 1930s tho

[@Leojw10]

Im from England, i think Ireland is a very beautiful country and these new Dart trains in Dublin look very cool but Ireland need to make trains run from Dublin Airport to city centre

[@stephenoreilly5696]

@@Leojw10 completely agree! We've been planning a metro line to Dublin airport for 30 years and it hasn't gone anywhere. Compare that to how quickly they built the tubes in London 120 years ago. It's infuriating!!

[@pokemonpasta]

For those who are unaware, the DART network currently only runs from Greystones (south of Bray) up to Malahide and Howth in the north - this can be seen on the map shown at 8:55. As you can see it's not amazing coverage currently, only serving the coast and city centre. Aside from the trams, this is the only electrified rail in Dublin, and indeed the country, hence the battery/electric stock that will allow services to Drogheda in the north, Maynooth and Hazelhatch & Celbridge in the west and potentially Wicklow in the south (as someone who regularly commutes from south of dublin, I certainly hope) Ireland is a small country with very old rail lines, and we've not done the best job of keeping the infrastructure up to date. The result now is the DART, Commuter and Intercity services into Dublin all have to share these lines which makes for a very busy network. The DART shown off in this video is going to be in testing for a year due to the limited time in the schedule. Again looking at the map at 8:55, each branch shown has intercity services running through it. The north one has Belfast trains, northwest has Sligo trains, Southwest has Mayo (I think), Galway, Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Waterford services, and the South one has Wexford/Rosslare services. The schedule is tightly packed and additional services on one branch will impact another - this is one of the reasons there's only 6 Wexford trains a day (3 on the weekend). I don't mean to sound too cynical, I am very excited about the new DARTs, I just want to offer some perspective as to why the choice of battery, why these DARTs could be very valuable, and broadly why rail around dublin is a bit behind where it could be.

[@TadeuszCantwell]

Fingers crossed the doubling of Northside tracks to four tracks will ease that congestion under the Dart+ program.

[@paschallehany369]

I don't think it's accurate to say we haven't kept the infrastructure up to date. It's more accurate to say we haven't added much to the old infrastructure. The old infrastructure has been looked after and replaced over time.

[@TadeuszCantwell]

@@paschallehany369 Either the Northside or Southside track is closed for maintenance on bank holiday weekends for maintenance. Isn't a part of that catch up in preparation for the Dart+ upgrades?

[@zoehelkin]

@@paschallehany369 Don't kid ourselves, keeping Irish rail up to date would've meant electrifying the entire network approx. 50 years ago, along with increasing capacity. Keeping something up to date means developing it with the times.

[@johncassels3475]

"Emergency panto down" Oh no it isn't! Oh yes it is! (etc.) 😁 - More seriously, thanks for another great informative video.

[@nicholaskelly1958]

Er Geoff, The new DART units are NOT the first BEMU vehicles to operate in the Dublin area. Between 1932 and 1959 the service to Bray from Dublin was operated by the Drumm Battery Electric Units. They were the brainchild of Dr James J. Drumm Four 2-car articulated units were built by the Great Southern Railway at Inchicore Works. The first pair 'A' and 'B' being built in 1931 the second pair 'C' and 'D' being built in 1938. The Drumm BEMU trains had a maximum speed of 60mph/97kph (a speed of 72mph/116kph was claimed in service). With a range of 40 miles /64 kilometres on a single charge. The maximum power output being 600hp. The units were equipped with pantographs for recharging at the terminal stations. They could seat 140 passengers and had an all up weight of 85 tons. They were withdrawn from service in 1949 due to the deteriorating capacity of their batteries. CIE then converted them into locomotive hauled coaching stock. Following a period of disuse they were scrapped. With 'A' and 'B' being cut between 1956 and 1957. The other two units 'C' and 'D' following in 1964.

[@ewanduffy]

@nicholaskelly1958 The Drumm Battery trains were not dual mode but battery only.

[@ciaran_ohaolain]

Awesome to see this being covered by you Geoff, thanks for taking the trip across the sea! We're moving house soon and expect to be taking these trains near-daily on the to-be DART+ Coastal North line. So nice to see what's going to become a part of our everyday lives in the next while, and the people behind some of it all.

[@PartrickLane]

Thanks, Geoff, for coming to Dublin to cover these superb trains and giving them a thorough review. Great pointers on what to look out for on these trains.

[@rikufryderyk]

I found it really impressive how you managed to record so much despite all the noise of the other press members. I’m looking forward to hearing more about these trains in the future…

[@kevindennehy7105]

Thanks Geoff. FWIW the priority seats were supposed to get very different colours to differentiate them, and to make them more visible for those with poor eyesight, a pity they went with just a logo on the headrest. Opportunity missed. The light/dark blue colours on the moquette represents the colours of the Dublin GAA (football & hurling) teams. Wavy lines represent the coast, river and canals along which the train lines run.

[@xoneqraft]

I can predict how every geoff video opens: camera fades into a cinematic shot of the area he's in he starts saying where he is halfway through that, the camera cuts to him talking he then says what he's going to do. its the same format every time, and i love it.

[@thomasreilly6362]

Hopefully they will build a rail link from Dublin Airport to the city centre and out as far as Navan and Kells. So we are no longer the only country in Europe without a rail link to its airport. Build it and we will use it!!! Excellent work Geoff

[@toyotaprius79]

Maybe by 2070 if this current century-old duolopoly clings to power after next week. Maybe...

[@fiverZ]

MetroLink is planned for the airport.

[@thomasreilly6362]

@fiverZ A rail link has been"planned" for years but every government has been addiction to fossil fuel taxes and road construction. The MetroLink will be too little too late. It needs to go further out than currently planned.

[@TalesOfWar]

It wouldn't be a Geoff video without him being on the floor at least once lol.

[@robertaries2974]

Love the accessibility of this new rolling stock

[@caw25sha]

2:32 After several years has Geoff finally cracked the notorious Elizabeth Line no-luggage-rack problem?

[@michaeljohndennis2231]

Geoff - Cead Mile Failte go mBaile Atha Cliath Éireann - it’s lovely to see you come back to Ireland - I hope you have a wonderful time with us in Ireland 🇮🇪☘️🇮🇪❤️😍🙏

[@geofftech2]

My visit was all too short, genuinely wanted to stay longer! Love Ireland 😊 🇮🇪

[@geoffreyhansen8543]

They are the same gauge as the Xtrapolis trains in Melbourne Australia.

[@caw25sha]

I think Ireland and Australia are the only countries which use it.

[@nigelpluck3342]

@@caw25shathere’s a part of the rail network in Brazil has the same gauge and in both Australia and Brazil it’s referred to as Irish gauge

[@tkdbrother1977]

I remember riding on the entire Dart Network except for Greystones. Lots of memories from back in 2010.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

OOOOOOOH nice to see a video on Ireland! Such fun! 👏🏽

[@BrianCondron]

Thanks for that, I look forward to seeing these trains come into service. Got a bit distracted playing the “who do I know in the background” game so I’m going to have to watch again.

[@ChappersTravels]

Thats a great position for the USB chargers actually. Works so much better at head height

[@larsmathiesen8999]

But Geoff do not ask my biggest question about the Dart :( There is a train station under Terminal 1 in Dublin airport, and between T1 and Snugborough there is only 6.50 km (4.04 mi) off open fields. So WHY is Dublin airport not connected to the Dart ? . (But I am happy about Dart+ West because my favorite place to have a pint a sunny day in DUB is at the 12th Lock and it would be nice not to have the noisy diesel units running close by. So nice to see my old home town getting a public transport improvement :) )

[@michaeljohndennis2231]

The features for heavy luggage is a godsend - I just wish they would extend the DART to the Irish Ferries & Stena Terminals at Dublin Port, if not the LUAS and/or have some passenger only ferries docking at Dun Laoire from either Holyhead or Liverpool old port (not Birkenhead) possibly starting the smaller vessels like the Irish Ferries Dublin Swift from Salford Quays to connect with the Manchester Metrolink trams, if not further along the Liffey to the Custom House - all we need now is the high speed rail tunnel from Holyhead to Dublin to connect into the main Dublin Belfast line

[@Peter_S_]

Excellent video! I'm looking forward to some more footage of riding these in service. I quite like the marquette as well and the sliding stair is brilliant!

[@HenrysAdventures]

Looking forward to riding these trains. Love the large windows!

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh wow, it looks like the corridor between the seats might even be wide enough for my wheelchair to fit… barely, but still!

[@caw25sha]

I was wondering how much wider Irish gauge trains are than standard gauge ones.

[@watty9297]

@@caw25sha Standard gauge is 4' 8.5" (1435 mm) and they said the gauge for the trains here is 5' 3" (1600mm) ... Edit .... oh, I don't think that is what you were asking!

[@rjs_698]

@@caw25sha- what matters is the loading gauge (the clearance round platforms and tunnels), not the track gauge. For historical reasons most Irish trains were based on British designs so my guess would be that the loading gauge would be similar to the one(s) in the UK. I suspect the video is telling us that Dublin is currently involved in the tedious process of altering the platform clearance and height of the DART stations so the new wider trains will fit (as well as checking the width and height of the tunnels and bridges).

[@caw25sha]

@@watty9297 No, I meant the overall width of the carriages.

[@caw25sha]

@@rjs_698 I understand loading gauges but I assumed they would be significantly more generous in Ireland to take advantage of the wider track gauge.

[@HGamer4877_]

lovely trains those are

[@toyotaprius79]

No opening windows too...

[@zoehelkin]

@@toyotaprius79 Which is a plus (working AC, no littering out of the carriage, better noise and heat insulation, all in all safer).

[@jgodfrey546]

Good of you to dart over there to cover this, Geoff

[@philipbrailey]

Wow! That was interesting. Thanks Geoff.

[@jasongnrfan7374]

Nice looking units

[@DuffffMan00]

Really enjoyed that video of dart+. Can't wait to take a few trips on them.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Geoff on his travels fantastic 👍🏻

[@michaellittlejohns7968]

Great video Geoff

[@GuyChapman]

It's hilarious listening to American tourists trying to pronounce Dún Laoghaire.

[@markerichannelly]

Won't lie, surprised our new DART is getting such attention, it's nice ☺️

[@lawrencejob]

So excited to see a country take accessibility seriously finally 🇮🇪

[@trainspotting9831]

Amazing Video Geoff keep up the great content bro 👊😎

[@teebo4041]

I'm spending this Christmas in Ireland 🇮🇪 ❤ Good video

[@Jimyjames73]

Looks Very Modern & futuristic!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[@chanchan523]

The name of the ramp that comes out under the door is called a bridge plate because it bridges the gap between the train and the platform or sidewalk on low floor light rail trains

[@Leojw10]

Wow these new Dart trains in Dublin look very cool🔥

[@Leojw10]

But Ireland need to make trains run from Dublin Airport to city centre.

[@SibleFood]

Thanks for covering something in Ireland!

[@athavanainkaran2499]

It’s going to enter service in Early 2026.

[@nhartin540]

1:37 I think that there are actually four different types currently, but they're all very similar.

[@anoniaino]

There's the original (German built) ones from 1984, then there's the other ones (from Japan), which were delivered in three batches throughout the early 2000s, and are all much the same, except the newest batch has air conditioning.

[@thomasburke2683]

@@anoniaino You have forgotten the 8200/8400 class two car sets built by Alstom. They were so unreliable you probably never got a chance to ride one.

[@Eternionel]

7:30 all I can think of with emergency panto is a bunch of performers coming out of cupboards and preforming a pantomime

[@RS-pb2se]

These actually look impressive

[@scottishtrainspotter7209]

I did not see that coming, seeing USB at the top of the seats. This will be fun of how passengers are, to plug their phones near their heads instead of near their legs.

[@ivaned1ts]

I wonder if further electrification will be with the current 1500v DC system or the standard 25kv AC system

[@arunagarwal6427]

Glad

[@showsiff]

5:15 How dare he ask an Irishman for imperial measurements!

[@joermnyc]

All trains need that automatic ramp at every door. Not just for accessibility but also for safety as far too many people step into the gap and fall between the train and the platform edge.

[@johnmurray8428]

Thank you Geoff. Is Dublin aware of the boggie issues on the LRT in Ottawa?

[@toyotaprius79]

Dublin or most Dubliners are too worried of getting evicted from their +€1800 pm black mold flat tbh

[@johnmurray8428]

@ I share your concerns regarding housing standards and the costs involved. Nobody should have to face those. My point was simply a significant issue that Ottawa has with the Alston trains that are on its light rail. The drive boggies are being replaced every 6-8 weeks. It is down for significant periods.

[@daniel_dsouza_]

Awesome! B

[@WolfmanWoody]

I've always said they should have a Rapid Transit system running around the Fylde Area of Blackpool and Fleetwood.

[@pratikgheewalla337]

Hi all, A stupid Question but how do they charge the batteries? I assume when they are running in the electrified section the overhead voltage gets rectified and step-down to top up the batteries as well?

[@hearingthesmells2500]

Is it bad that I didn’t know they had a different gauge in Ireland??

[@paschallehany369]

It's funny that we have a different gauge to Britain as Ireland was under British rule at the time Irish gauge was applied to Ireland and standard gauge was applied to Britain.

[@gloin10]

The British Board of Trade are the guys you can thank for that weird decision. Why they thought it a good idea to have two different incompatible gauges in two parts of what was the 1800s UK is anyone’s guess!

[@hearingthesmells2500]

Blimey didn’t know it was going to get political 😂

[@peterdowden7694]

Excellent accessibility ♿️

[@caw25sha]

Emergency panto down. Oh no it isn't 😂

[@geofftech2]

Oh yes it is ... !

@@geofftech2 interesting fact : it is specified as a blue panic pushbutton in the European Unified Drivers Desk specification (mainly applied to locos), and up to now every time I've seen an Emergency Panto Down button on a drivers desk it was a blue panic push button. This absence of misplaced creativity needs to be pointed out ;-)

[@EdgyNumber1]

There's a big opportunity to improve the rail network in the whole of Ireland by doubling up track, especially now that freight need to head to the likes if Rosslare now. Potential for EU funding too.

[@ADAMEDWARDS17]

As someone who cycles, are there straps to hold your bike safe? My top marks go to the class 720s for cycle parking excellence. How good are these?

[@Redacted9341]

Ah yes the Long awaited Dart+ 9000Class

[@supertrains156.66]

Do these trains have same couplers as the other darts for emergency

[@anoniaino]

They would, yes. Scharfenberg couplers are the standard really. The current issues with IÉ’s locomotives being unable to pull DARTs is because they’re all old, and don’t have Sharfenberg couplers. The ICRs and commuter trains do though.

[@NirateGoel]

​@@anoniainoThe 201s all can be fitted with a drop down Scharfenberg, it's required for the enterprise. Equally there are coupling hook adapters, to both Scharfenberg and to the intermediate couplings on the ICRs.

[@anoniaino]

@@NirateGoel I thought it was only buckeye couplers that were used when hauling passenger stock. I know some sort of adapter can be fitted, but it seems it is easier to just pull them with a 29000 or something.

[@nataliaromanchuk4740]

Pretty good

[@kerryschofield7744]

The previous Dart trains didn’t allow dogs, many years ago we were in Dublin, is this still the case?

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

Serious, general question: Do people actually use the USB power supply offered for devices on buses and trains?

[@andrewhotston983]

On Geoff's video about the new electric buses in London, most of the BTL comments were about USB sockets!

[@gloin10]

Yes, they do. I do every time I take the Rosslare service

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

@@andrewhotston983 I just skimmed the comments on the video about Route 358 (without reading any replies). I think I found 11 comments that mentioned the USB outlets, most of which mentioned the existence of the USB-A+C outlets on other routes. I didn't find a single comment about actual usage.

[@kapage74]

Aren't the Xtraps a sister to the Melbourne trains of the same name, or have I been misunderstanding Taitset videos?

[@ianstevenson9844]

Hope you had a Guinness to celebrate being in Dublin.

[@robbiemorrison7085]

Will the ports be good above you? Cause that would be odd having that in the way of your neck

[@morkmork5531]

great video, are the viewing of these trains available to the public?

[@elwisuntemp7199]

They aren’t right now, no news whether they will be

[@sjokomelk]

Is the Irish loading gauge as narrow as the British one? 2.6 meters is the width of a normal inner city tram (2.65m). A normal "heavy" train should be somewhere around 3.4-3.5m wide.

[@nigelmurphy6761]

The Irish railway gauge is 5ft 3inc so slightly wider that the UK

[@sjokomelk]

@@nigelmurphy6761 I was wondering about the loading gauge. Not the track gauge.

Loading gauges are always a legacy from the past. However it should be no less than 2,80 m as this is the width of the Class 8100 which are bogie cars without narrowed car ends.

[@wpfuller]

It’s wider. The old Park Royal coaches on the Irish rail network were 3.10m wide. Height is an issue though so UK loading gauge trains have often been purchased rather than getting something custom designed.

[@anoniaino]

The maximum loading gauge Irish Rail specify is 3110mm wide. (and 4064 high)

[@ablestmage]

Will you explain to me the "emergency panto down" for this American =) What comes to mind is some kind of volume-down button for a panto being played on displays that people cheer or boo about

[@Peter_S_]

The pantograph is the name given to the electrical contact device on the top which pulls the current from the overhead wire.

[@tamara3984]

You shld have gone on the Ulysses. She is much more fun than the Stena Adventure

[@amxgaming9153]

They don’t have CAWS on the Dart?

[@nigelmurphy6761]

Yes they do around Dublin Connolly station there's a number of signs for CAWS.

[@anoniaino]

They do. And the driver has to remember to switch from the normal frequency to the DART specific one on when travelling into an electrified section as the electric wires mess with the 50hz transmitter frequency

[@andrewhotston983]

Geoff, you need to do a feature about the railway from Limerick to Foynes that's being rebuilt for freight, costing millions of Euros, even though there's no freight traffic that will use it!

[@rockerjim8045]

Dublin Airport needs to be linked to the Irish Rail Network

[@yoironfistbro8128]

At 0:36 you mispronounced "modest" ;)

[@paschallehany369]

It's pretty massive for us given that the DART is currently just one line with a branch.

[@Meteor-IE]

Prefer if they kept the moket design for the DART

[@TransportGeekery]

Hang on, Gareth Dennis is gonna have to try harder in his new alias. "Juan" born every minute.

[@thejack-o-bonnieshow303]

will you coseider doing all staisons agin geff

[@MaxProduction16]

X'Trapolis? 1600mm gauge? Are they trying to copy Melbourne 1:1 lol

[@sepocon]

Considering the DART runs on the oldest commuter railway line in the world that is unlikely.

[@holdingpointaviation]

Meanwhile, in Newcastle

[@shutup2751]

the more modern trains get the less comfortable they get, amazing

[@cocazade7703]

Have you sat on this train yet?

[@shutup2751]

@@cocazade7703 I have a thing called eyes, maybe you have heard of them? they allow people to see

[@MisterTea74]

260cm ah yes 9’7” 😂😂

[@ludwigtails]

So… is Geoff not going to mention that the seats are the horrible iron board seats? So, cool zero comfort for passengers :/

[@NirateGoel]

It's also a rapid transit system, you don't exactly need comfort on a 20 minute ride.

[@ludwigtails]

@ even so a short hop should deserve some sort of comfort. Like what does people that commute not deserve any sort of comfort at all?

[@Oakley2097]

Great review Thumbs down from me for the trains

[@200milesaway6]

Last time i got a train in Ireland the last train was at 9pm. I'm driving next time.

[@anoniaino]

This is slowly getting better at least. And in the case of the DART, it runs well into the night.

[@ewanduffy]

I don't envy you having to talk to Barry Kenny :(

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Why is every train in the UK and now Ireland of these unconventional layouts now instead of the conventional box on wheels that worked so well for the past 200 years?

[@gloin10]

Because “…the conventional box on wheels…” wasn’t actually that good at all. Modern DART EMUs are FAR more comfortable than the bloody awful, loco hauled, carriages we had before.

[@jakezyx]

These are desperately needed, the existing DART trains are so old they feel a bit like going on some sort of post soviet historical museum train. Shame they can't also introduce a new Irish Rail logo, or just bring back the pre-2013 rebrand one, because that green-white-orange double ended arrow thing is awful, perhaps even the worst transport logo ever.

[@JimBrennan-q2c]

dont charge u phone it will be nicked

[@joethebrowser2743]

👍🏻🇬🇧👀...

[@sullivan912]

No toilets or tables as there are currently on commuter stock. No mention of what battery chemistry is going to be used and what plans there are for when one of these units inevitably self-combusts. DART- for many of us.

All traction batteries used on trains have a BMS whose design is SIL2 certified, ensuring the likelihood of a battery parameter going out of range without being detected as such, leading to a thermal overrun and possibly a fire, is lowered to an extremely low level. What I see as an additional safety measure is that the packs are on the roof, which looks a better location in case they go in trouble than under the carbody.

[@taloire43]

…..inevitably…?

[@Beansontoast93911]

Show your mate, the Mayor of london to watch this video so he knows how to do transport because he is clueless

[@tamara3984]

Tell that to the people who had issues with the timetables on the DART last Summer.

[@TalesOfWar]

He seems to know better than anywhere else in the UK, given London actually has a transport network worth a damn.

[@dancrooksycamore]

​@@TalesOfWarTBF that's something he's entirely inherited rather than responsible for!😂

[@TalesOfWar]

@@dancrooksycamore He also had a Tory government who refused to fund TfL properly because he's Labour, up to the point of removing funding for not meeting fare targets... during COVID.

[@gerard5705]

Not actually the first battery power trains in Ireland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumm_Battery_Train

[@harrynewman9922]

Train lines run on one line medieval times Ireland is

[@harrynewman9922]

Worst public transport in Europe is in Ireland, don’t even have a train station at airport is so so backwards here