Dublin DART

Dublin Area Rapid Transit. It is always a good question in a pub quiz but did you know it came into this world 41 years ago in July 1984. Its inaugural journey was on July 23, 1984, connecting Bray and Howth. How many have used the DART since? This writer hasn’t, but am I amongst the minority?

Some days earlier the Evening Herald reported with delight that people were happy with the new system:

THE NEW £113m electric DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) service on the Howth-Bray line, which began operating yesterday, will be adding six extra trains in response to the popularity of the service on its first day. From next Monday the trains will also be running until midnight.

The boost to Dublin's nightlife will come when the full timetable comes into effect. This week, the last electric trains are running only until 7pm.

The six extra trains are to be added during the morning rush hours, between 7 and 9 a.m. CIE could have added extra coaches to scheduled trains, but they decided instead to make the trains more frequent. The extra trains are: (Southbound) — 7 a.m., Connolly to Bray; 8.10 a.m., Howth to Dun Laoghaire; 9 a.m., Howth to Pearse; (Northbound) — 7.32 am., Pearse to Howth; 7.50 a.m., Bray to Howth; 8.56 a.m., Dun Laoghaire to Connolly.

Last night CIE said there was an increase of a least 50 per cent in receipts and tickets issued on the first day of DART operation  and this did not include weekly, monthly or annual commuter tickets.

While there were many sightseers and people who wanted to say they travelled on the first DART trains, most people had a definite purpose for using the service.

"Today the people voted with their seats", was how a CIE spokesman summed up the first day success.

Among the politician’s testing the new system were the Minister for Labour, Mr. Quinn, Fianna Fail leader, Mr. Haughey, Fianna Fail frontbenchers Dr. Michael Woods and John Wilson (himself a former Transport Minister), and Minister for Industry, Mr. Bruton.

Mr. Haughey described his Journey from Howth to Bray as "a. pleasant and exciting experience" and said the technology behind the system was "very sophisticated". He also said the journey was "smooth, quiet and comfortable".

"I hope the travelling public will avail fully of this excellent new service and justify the considerable investment involved," said Mr. Haughey.

The man at the controls of the first electric train, Mr. Charles O'Callaghan, from Dean's Grange, said: "We are all delighted with the new trains and we are all very anxious to see the people coming back to the railway…

For more information search the pages of the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com )