[Colm Moore]

http://irishrail.ie/news_centre/travel_alerts.asp?action=view&news_id=1226

Southside DART & Rosslare disruption: No trains operating Grand Canal Dock to Sydney Parade by Corporate Communications


Friday 28th October

Iarnród Éireann advises customers that there is serious disruption to southside DART services and Rosslare / Gorey rail services.

The line is closed between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade due to flood damage in the vicinity of a bridge pier at the Dodder Bridge, to the south end of Lansdowne Road Station.

Services affected are:

DART: DART services will operate Howth/Malahide to Grand Canal Dock, and from Sydney Parade to Bray/Greystones (note Southside service will be reduced in frequency, approx every 30 minutes - full information will be updated as soon as possible). There will be no DART service between Grand Canal Dock and Sydney Parade. Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers affected.

Rosslare/Gorey: Rosslare and Gorey services will operate Rosslare/Gorey to Bray, with bus transfers between Bray and Dublin Connolly.

Other commuter: Other commuter services which operate from Drogheda or Maynooth to Dun Laoghaire and Bray will now only operate from Drogheda/Maynooth to Pearse. Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for customers travelling south of Pearse.

The length of time this disruption will continue for is currently being assessed. However, it will be for a number of days at least.

More detailed service information will be provided as soon as possible.

Iarnród Éireann apologises for the inconvenience caused.


Bridge and damage

The line has been closed due to damage to the ground in the vicinity of a pier on the Dodder Bridge at the south end of Lansdowne Road Station.

This area was flooded on Monday of this week, during the torrential rainfall in the Dublin area.

At least two large trees which fell were swept downstream by the River Dodder and were lodged under the bridge, causing debris to build up at and under the bridge.

The bridge is a single span structure, and as part of new safety protocols adopted following the investigations into the Malahide Viaduct accident in 2009, a detailed inspection is automatically carried out of structures affected by a major flood event as soon as possible.

This inspection carried out by divers, has shown this evening damage to the ground in the vicinity of a support pier of the bridge, as a result of this week's flood. No such damage was present at its previous underwater inspection in October 2010.

When this was reported this evening, Iarnród Éireann closed the structure as a precautionary measure, to allow repair works to be carried out.

A remedial works programme to repair the flood damage is now being devised, and this will confirm timescales for this disruption.