Ireland day 0602. Tuesday 23 May 2023- Dart Plus *

Ireland day 0602. Tuesday 23 May 2023- Dart Plus

Today’s summary	Val at work and I went to the gym. In the evening we went to a DART+ consultation event at the Malahide GAA club
Today’s weather	Bright and dry with lots of hazy sunshine. Hardly any wind. Appx 17C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Paddys Hill Circuit again

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Val was, once again, out to work. So once breakfast had been served, packed lunches made, and wives despatched to the museum, I started some Spanish revision and then packed myself off to the gym. Another enjoyable session, though I think I still have some fitness to gain and weight to lose, as both metrics moved in the wrong direction while I was indisposed with my hip.

Afterwards, and back at the flat, I had lunch, read a bit of my book, and then set off on my favourite walk round Paddy’s Hill. Very pleasant out today, with lots of flowers, a quiet beach, and feeling quite mild.

Once Val was home, we had a cup of tea and a snack, then went out to the St Sylvester’s GAA clubhouse in Church Road. Our destination this evening was the exhibition laid on by Iarnród Éireann describing the new DART Plus (North) project – basically a plan to electrify the railway line and run the DART as far north as Drogheda. It’s an interesting plan though unlikely to be operational before 2028.

But perhaps more immediately relevant is that new battery hybrid DART trains have been procured from Alstom. They will be powered from the normal 1500V overhead electricity lines as far as Malahide, but then the same trains will run on north, using battery power to Drogheda, where the batteries will be re-charged. These should be running as soon as 2025, and will replace some of the current diesel services from Drogheda to Connolly. I’d certainly support this, if it helps reduce the number of diesel trains that sit in Connolly station, engines roaring, and churning out clouds of fumes. It will have a massive impact on air quality (and health), if nothing else.

I was disappointed, though, that electrification of the line from Dublin to Belfast is off the table for the foreseeable future. Brexit has complicated an already tricky international rail project, and there doesn’t seem to be any real appetite to take it on at the moment.

After the early evening consultation event, Val cycled off to Pilates at the Rugby Club, and I stayed on a bit longer chatting to one of the DART project managers before returning to the flat to cook tea. A very interesting day, all in all.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Everlasting sweet pea alongside the sports ground in the demesne. On the plus side, they are vigorous and come back year after year. On the negative side, they have no smell	*Sweetly scented Cordyline* on Seamount Road**

Last year I spent some time wondering about what would happen to the wild meadow beds the next year, if they were left unattended. This is the answer – a few bright flowers (mostly marigolds) seem to have reseeded, but mostly it has reverted to scrubland, with a lot of weeds	I love these semi-wild roses at the top of Paddy’s Hill. The shocking pink colour is amazing

Down on the beach, approaching Malahide. A nice afternoon, and not too many people about	A bit further on, the foreshore near Malahide marina was churned up by what looked like heavy machinery. I don’t know what had been happening, but I noticed that the wreck, which has been stranded on the beach a bit further down, had disappeared. I suspect that it had been retrieved and hauled away – would have been interesting to see how it was done, but unfortunately I missed it.

Good to see this red and yellow box reappear. It’s the lifeguards’ hut alongside the Malahide estuary, and its arrival signals the start of summer (well in my eyes it does, at least).