The DART Underground Tunnel (previously known as the DART interconnector project) has not received funding from the Connecting Europe Facility 2014-2020 (CEF). Funding has been granted from the CEF for another element of the wider DART Expansion Programme - the City Centre Resignalling Project. The underground tunnel project received €9.4 million from a previous EU funding stream, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) 2007-2013, for planning and design. Two other elements of the wider DART Expansion Programme, the City Centre Resignalling Project and the Centralised Traffic Control Centre, also received funding from this programme.
The National Transport Authority's 'Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016-2035', which was approved and published in 2016, proposes implementation of the DART Expansion Programme involving electrification of the Northern line as far as Drogheda, the Kildare Line to Hazelhatch, the Sligo line to Maynooth in the west and to the M3 Parkway and construction of the DART Underground Tunnel.
The Government decided in September 2015 that the original proposal for the DART Underground Tunnel should be redesigned and work is underway on that at present. Due to constraints on funding, not all elements of the DART Expansion Programme can be progressed during the lifetime of the current Capital Plan. Funding has been allocated for the extension of the DART to Balbriggan and for work on the redesign of the tunnel. Other elements of the programme will be considered in the context of the planned review of the Capital Plan. The potential for CEF funding will be considered in the context of further calls for proposals under the CEF programme.
