Iarnród Éireann has unveiled a special-livery DART train to mark the 40th anniversary of the Dublin rail service, featuring some of the momentous events in Dublin and Irish life over the past four decades.
Curated by the Little Museum of Dublin, the train has been decorated with words and images designed to engage all DART passengers.
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit made its inaugural journey on 23 July 1984 and since then has carried almost 670 million passengers.
Serving a total of 31 stations, the DART was extended to Greystones and Malahide in 2000, with new stations opening at Grand Canal Dock (2001) and Clongriffin (2010) in the years since.
A 32nd station will open in 2025 at Woodbrook, between Shankill and Bray.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the DART was labelled a "Rolls Royce" solution to Dublin's transport problems when first proposed, "way above the spec we needed for the city".
"It's just as well Iarnród Éireann and all those involved in developing DART didn’t listen to the naysayers back then," he added.
"Generations of Dubliners have grown up with the DART. it’s been the backdrop for so many celebrated books, films, music videos, stories of Dublin life and people, both fictional and real."
Watch: RTÉ News reports on official opening of DART in 1984
Over the past 40 years, the DART has become synonymous with Dublin life.
It has inspired poetry by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney and has been immortalised by Ross O’Carroll Kelly as the 'DORT’.
Irish language crime novel Dúnmharú ar an DART was published in 1989 while documentary The Dart - No Ordinary Day aired on RTÉ in 2022.
Jim Meade, Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann, argued that the DART is Ireland’s "greatest public transport success story".
"In the hugely challenging economic era that was early 1980s Ireland, it won the argument that investment in high-quality, high-frequency public transport will be supported by the communities it serves, and paved the way for further rail, light rail and bus expansion in our capital and around the country," he said.
The 40th anniversary was also marked by the release of an exclusive short film, written by Roddy Doyle, featuring his "Two Pints" characters braving the southside on their day out by DART.
Looking to the future, the DART is set to double its capacity while the size of its network will triple as part of the DART+ Programme.
A Railway Order application was recently lodged for the extension of the DART to Drogheda, while future expansions will also see the DART serving Kildare.
Minister Ryan also said the Government will replace DART carriages in time, as public transport makes cities work.
He said that new carriages will be an investment for the future and will help tackle the housing crisis, as houses will be built beside the stations.
