Electric and battery power DARTs will be serving passengers on the Dublin to Drogheda route by the end of next year. 

Construction of 185 green carriages began at the Alstom factory in Poland in 2021 and - despite COVID delays - will be completed in 2025.

Speaking to Josh Crosbie for The Hard Shoulder, Iarnród Éireann Chief Mechanical Engineer Peter Smyth said the maximum range will be 100 km.

“It’s subject to certain things like climatic conditions and things like that but the worst case [scenario] it’s 80 km,” he said.

“The idea with this fleet is it starts service in Drogheda and it will run into Dublin City and then back to Drogheda to be recharged at the end of its journey.

“Charging time is approximately 20 minutes for that journey time.”

🚈 All aboard! @JoshCrosbie3 reports from Poland, where he got a sneak preview of the new trains set to make their debut with Irish Rail next year. pic.twitter.com/DPwPse5R10

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) May 2, 2024

Upon their return to Drogheda, the battery is unlikely to be flat and will average around 30 to 40% charge.

Going forward, it is expected the range will increase as the technology improves.

“If new battery technology comes along in the next eight to 10 years, which I’m sure it will, we can further battery capacity onto the train for the same weight and energy density,” Mr Smyth said.

An electric DART. 02/05/2024. Image: Newstalk

The transport sector is responsible for 18% of Ireland’s carbon emissions and in its Climate Action Plan 2023, the Government committed itself to reducing that figure by 50% by the year 2030.

In 2022, 85% of Iarnród Éireann’s emissions came from the use of diesel fuel for its road and rail operations.

The company is committed to reducing its 51% by the end of the decade and Chief Executive Jim Meade promised they would do so by pursuing “innovative solutions to green energy generation, the use of alternative fuels and improvements to our buildings and existing fleets to reduce energy consumption.”

The Government hopes Ireland can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Main image: A Dart under construction in Poland. Image by: Josh Crosbie.