Capacity issues on the Republic’s railway lines will not ease before the arrival of the first order of 55 new battery-electric trains go into service towards the end of 2027, Minister for State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney has said.
The new order of battery-electric trains is due to go into service on the Dublin–Drogheda route, freeing up existing intercity and commuter trains for redeployment to Dublin and services elsewhere.
The move is aimed at easing overcrowding on rail services at a time of record demand for public transport.
Almost 22 million rail journeys, excluding the Luas, were taken between January 1st and May 24th, 2026, which was up 13 per cent on the same period in 2025, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The first order of battery-electric trains, made up of 11 five-carriage trains, is due to be deployed by the end of next year. These five-carriage units can be coupled together so they can operate as 10-carriage trains. Each new 10-carriage battery-electric train is equivalent in length to an existing eight-carriage Dart or commuter train.
The new arrivals will allow up to 55 intercity and commuter carriages to be available for redeployment across the network, lengthening existing trains or, in some cases, adding services to the timetable.
Speaking in a recent Dáil debate on rail services into Galway city, Canney said carriages to improve that service would “be available” from the redeployed Drogheda route trains in 2027.
However, difficulties have already emerged on some routes, notably the Dublin to Rosslare line where a number of station platforms are not long enough for more than three carriages. In addition, the single-track railway makes adding additional services problematic.
Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne, who has campaigned for many years for better rail transport, said conditions were so bad on the line that from the beginning of the year to mid-August, Irish Rail had spent more than €700 on a stock of water for distribution to customers in circumstances that “include times of emergency, lengthy delays or extreme weather conditions”.
Byrne said he had received a commitment that while the first new battery-electric trains will serve Drogheda from 2027, trains from a second order will allow commencement of Dart services to Wicklow around 2029.
A spokesman for Irish Rail said the routes that will benefit from the deployed Drogheda route services is yet to be determined in conjunction with the National Transport Authority.
The timetable for the new trains entering service has been delayed a number of times due to technical issues. Last October it was put at the second quarter of 2027. Irish Rail said this week the time frame was now “by end 2027″.
Spokesman Barry Kenny said overall, 285 carriages have been ordered from French builder Alstom.
Some 100 of these will replace the original 1984 Dart fleet, leaving 185 carriages offering new capacity.
“All trains in 2027 and early 2028 represent new capacity, and then it will be a mix of new capacity and replacement of the original Dart fleet through the remainder of 2028 and 2029,” he said.
“We plan further orders of these trains within the framework contract with Alstom, as the Dart+ programme continues, and in turn continuing the cascade of intercity and commuter trains currently in use in the Greater Dublin Area for other routes” he said.