Capacity to increase on Maynooth line

The new Phoenix Park railway station was officially opened yesterday. The station, located between Ashtown and Castleknock, will link commuters to Dublin city centre as well as Maynooth, Leixlip and Drumcondra.

There will be an extra four peak-time services daily on the line, served by 88 trains a day. Opening the station, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey promised to increase the line's capacity by 1,200 by transferring carriages from the Sligo line.

There will also be more services on Sunday evening to benefit the students of NUI Maynooth.

However, local Labour TD Joan Burton said she was concerned about overcrowding on the line which she said local people have dubbed the Calcutta Express. She said the more capacity there was on this line the more people were lining up to use it. Welcoming the service, Fingal's Labour deputy mayor Peggy Hamill also called for more trains, saying the existing services are "chock-a-block".

Mr Dempsey acknowledged the pressures on the line and said he was trying to meet the challenges. He said there were plans in Transport 21 for electrification of the line as well as an interconnector service.

The €7 million station is funded by Flaherty and O'Flynn, developers of the €1.5 billion Phoenix Park Racecourse of 2,300 homes. Five hundred of these homes have opened so far and there are plans for retail and recreational facilities.

Mr Dempsey said he was keen to encourage such development of houses along with facilities. One of the developers, Noel Flynn, said it was a proud day and an outstanding example of how public-private partnership could work very efficiently. Adamstown station on the Kildare line, which opened last year, was the first station built by such a partnership.

The station, located just off the Navan Road, has 100 privately operated car parking spaces and a feeder bus for commuters who want to make the 10- to 20- minute journey into the city centre. Designed by Iarnród Éireann architects, the station has an elevated glass concourse overlooking the platforms and retail space.

Other stations expected to open later this year are on the Kildare-Dublin line at ParkWest and Clondalkin Fonthill as well as a new Dart station at Clongriffin, north Dublin.