Development and Redevelopment of The DART
The original DART service ran from Howth north-east of Dublin, through the city centre stations of Connolly, Tara Street, and Pearse, and south to Bray in County Wicklow. This remained the route for some 15 years, until the extension by one stop further south to the town of Greystones, and north from Howth Junction & Donaghmede by two stops further along the Belfast main line to Portmarnock and Malahide.
Through south Dublin, from Pearse Station to Dun Laoghaire, the DART runs over Ireland's oldest railway, dating from 1834. For most of its route south of the city centre, the DART hugs the coast closely, and the scenic views over Dublin bay make it a popular tourist attraction.
In the early 1980s, in preparation for electrification, two new stations were added. Sandymount station at Sandymount Avenue was opened on the site where a station had previously stood, and Salthill was built near the site of the original Kingstown railway terminus, between Seapoint and Dún Laoghaire. At the time of the electrification work from 1981–82, the former branch to Dun Laoghaire pier used by ferry passengers was disconnected as the main track would have had to have been lowered in order to fit the overhead power cables under road bridges in Dun Laoghaire; some ten years later a new passenger ferry terminal was built immediately adjacent to the main Dun Laoghaire station. Its busiest day was July 4, 1996, when 250,000 people went to Dun Laoghaire to visit the US naval carrier, the USS John F Kennedy.
Read more about this topic: Dublin Area Rapid Transit
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