O'Rourke asked to investigate Greystones DART line delay

Irish Rail has deferred the planned opening of the DART extension to Greystones, Co Wicklow, at least until August and possibly later.

The move has resulted in the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, being asked to investigate what is now a series of delays in introducing the service.

The call was made by the chairman of Wicklow County Council, Mr George Jones, who said the extensions of the DART to Greystones and Malahide had been beset by problems since they were announced by the minister for transport, Mr Michael Lowry, during the 1996 Wicklow by-election.

The original target date was the autumn of 1998, and it was decided to build the Malahide and Greystones sections simultaneously.

While construction work has been going on for over two years on the five-mile Bray-Greystones extension, it became apparent late last year that the carriages required for the route would not be ready on time.

As Irish Rail announced that the service would not be opening in spring this year as planned, it then became apparent that a mixture of rainwater seeping into the tunnel under Bray Head, and salt and sulphur from the diesel train fumes, had corroded cable fittings, which would have to be coated with sealant or replaced. The revised start-up date of March was deferred until July.

At one stage the Dublin Transport Office refused to help fund a car-park adjacent to the railway station, claiming that it would add to traffic congestion in the area.

However, this decision was reversed.

Wicklow County Council has undertaken a traffic study and is to introduce a time-based parking plan for the town in anticipation of the service. Increased car-parking facilities have been provided around the station.

Commenting on the delays in the Dail earlier this year Ms O'Rourke said the decision to construct both the Greystones and Malahide sections simultaneously was a key factor in delaying the Greystones section.

While the new deadline of this month was being set, a spokesman for Irish Rail told The Irish Times that the Malahide section would not open until the middle of 2000.

Now the company has announced that the Greystones extension will not be ready for the July deadline either.

A spokesman said yesterday that the delay was due to "infrastructural problems" about which he could not elaborate and negotiations with the unions representing the railway workers.

The spokesman initially said the opening had been deferred until September and later amended this to August.

Yesterday Mr Jones said that this latest delay was a major disappointment.

"March became July and even at that it was to have been only a partial service at rush hours until it got under way fully. At this stage we must ask questions of the management of Irish Rail in getting their project under way," he said.

"Work appears to have been on a week-on, week-off basis, which does not show a commitment to the service at all.

"It is time the Minister, Ms O'Rourke, set up an investigation into what exactly is happening," he added.