GDA Strategy (Wicklow)

It is critical that rail is used as the backbone for freight movements across Ireland. No other transport method provides the potential for low-emission, low-polluting, safe transport of heavy and bulk goods as rail; and a well-run and pervasive rail network is the most efficient way to distribute goods in a timely way from point to point. Large areas of the country are criminally underserved or entirely devoid of rail. All parts of the country need to be linked in a mesh network rather than the current inefficient hub-and-spoke, Dublin-centric arrangement.

Extension of DART services to Wicklow town using battery trains needs to happen in the next year, with electricification of the line to Wicklow within 3-4 years. Combined with enhanced local feeder bus services, this will remove a great deal of traffic from the N11/M11 and open the possibility of restoring villages like Kilmacanogue to being pleasant places to live. It will also greatly assist with the development of towns along the route in a way that sacrifices as little land to housing and car-dependent sprawl as possible