Election promises on Kildare's DART+ Southwest have been broken - Cllr

Independent Ireland Cllr Bill Clear has issued a strong statement condemning the Government’s failure to deliver on its election commitments regarding the DART+ Southwest project, confirming that it has now been significantly delayed, with no realistic delivery date before 2035.

“The residents of the largest and fastest-growing area in Kildare are being seriously discommoded,” Cllr Clear said.

“Despite promises made during the last general election, the electrified, high-capacity DART+ Southwest line has been pushed so far down the schedule that we will not see it for well over a decade.”

The Naas Municipal District which includes Naas, Sallins, Kill, Johnstown and Clane, will see no rail capacity improvements for many years to come. Commuters will continue to face infrequent trains at peak times and insufficient carriages for one of the fastest-growing commuter belts in the country.

Between 2016 and 2022, County Kildare grew by 11.36%, consistently ranking among Ireland’s fastest-growing counties due to its proximity to Dublin and reliance on overstretched transport links.

READ NEXT: Gardaí issue safety advice after driver stopped on Kildare's N7

“We are building thousands of new houses in this area, yet no transport upgrades are being delivered,” Cllr Clear warned.

“All of these new families will be added to an already packed M7 and an overburdened rail line. This is utterly serious bad planning and a complete failure to plan for growth.

“This will have a serious impact on people’s lives, their wellbeing, and their work life balance,” he added.

“Lengthening commutes, unreliable services and daily gridlock directly affect families, health and quality of life.

“This once again proves that Sallins and the surrounding towns have been badly let down by our national representatives.”

Under the current sequencing of the DART+ programme, Drogheda, Wicklow, Maynooth, Hazelhatch and the Metro, only then Sallins/Naas—local commuters remain at the back of the queue.

The construction of the Dublin Metro is expected to further delay progress.

“We will not see DART+ reach Sallins until 2035 at the earliest, and realistically even later,” Cllr Clear said.

“This is shameful. It shows that proper planning has not been followed, and it will push even more cars onto an already severely congested M7.”

“As a local Independent Ireland representative, I see every day how urgently this improvement is needed. This delay is a major issue for thousands of commuters who deserve far better.”