DART West to be extended to Kilcock, County Kildare

A Kildare-based TD has said that the DART West will be extended to Kilcock.

The news was 'warmly' welcomed by Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) appeared at the Dail’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, May 2 last, and Mr Hugh Creegan, Deputy CEO of the NTA, in a response to question from Ms Murphy, confirmed the NTA’s intention to extend the DART West project to Kilcock. 

This kove is subject to the Railway Order being confirmed for the larger DART West project later this year.   

Kilcock would then be planned for in 2025.  

At present, the intention is that the extension to Kilcock would run concurrently with the larger project.

Earlier this year, Ms Murphy and her colleague Maynooth / Kilcock Local Election Candidate, Peter Melrose, wrote to households in the Kilcock area, and provided a link to an online petition in support of the extension of the DART to Kilcock.

This was a continuation of the campaign that Cllr Aidan Farrelly had worked on for the past few years.

Comemnting on the news, Mr Melrose said: "Bringing the DART to Kilcock will be a game changer in the public transport offering.

"It will also benefit Maynooth where a lot of traffic is generated due to the service difference between Maynooth and Kilcock."

He concluded: "It will take time to deliver the project in the meantime it is essential that the reliability of the 115 bus service is improved."

Catherine Murphy TD (File photograph).