Dart services will not operate between Grand Canal Dock and Bray across the May bank holiday weekend from Saturday, May 4 to Monday, May 6.
There will be a capacity crowd of 82,300 descending on GAA HQ for Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final after tickets sold out within hours of going on sale at 10am on Friday, April 19 with many travelling to the match by train.
Due to engineering works scheduled for that weekend, Dart services will only operate between Howth/Malahide and Grand Canal Dock.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – April 22nd
Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland will accept valid rail tickets on services between stations closed for train service.
“We choose selected bank holiday weekends to undertake projects of significant scale – the extra weekend day allows us to achieve more progress more efficiently, while avoiding impacting those crucial weekday customers,” a statement on the Irish Rail website reads.
“We don’t schedule works at St Patrick’s weekend, which is particularly important for tourism. However, the new February (St Brigid’s bank holiday), Easter, and the May, June and October bank holidays, and occasionally the August bank holiday, are often used for works.”
13 stations will be closed for train services due to the works, including:
The same service alterations on the Dart will be in place for further works on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, June 9.
Leinster play most of their home games at the RDS but would typically host games at the Aviva Stadium to facilitate larger crowds. However, the Aviva Stadium is closed while preparations are made for the final of the UEFA Europa League on May 22.
Last week, Leinster announced they will play the majority of their home fixtures at the Aviva Stadium next year while a €50m reconstruction project gets underway at the RDS.
Further Leinster home matches will also take place at Croke Park next season.