This weekend will be a busy one for the capital as the Six Nations reaches its (hopefully) triumphant conclusion for the Irish rugby team and St Patrick's Day's centre piece parade takes place in the city centre.

Irish Rail has put in place additional train services to cater for perhaps the busiest day in the calendar in 2024 as Scotland come to the sold out 52,000-seater Aviva Stadium on Saturday hoping to scupper festivities by denying Ireland their second successive Six Nations title.

The national railway operator announced its altered services it is laying on for Saturday and Sunday for both key events this weekend.

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For the big game on Saturday, Irish Rail is running additional services across all of its routes. The following updated plans will apply to customers travelling into and around Dublin to get to the stadium:

  • Extra DARTs operating before and after the match. Please note Grand Canal Dock Station will be closed at full time (18:20hrs to 20:00hrs) to facilitate Garda crowd management arrangements for the match.
  • Extra Longford Commuter service 12:55hrs Longford to Dublin Connolly
  • Extra 20:50hrs Dublin Heuston to Cork (with connection to Limerick), which must be booked in advance at irishrail.ie or the Iarnród Éireann app
  • 19:15hrs Dublin Connolly to Sligo is deferred to 20:10hrs, and 19:00hrs Dublin Connolly to Belfast is deferred to 19:40hrs

St Patrick's Day Sunday will also see special services laid on to cope with the influx of people into Dublin city centre as extra DART and Commuter services (from Howth, Malahide, Bray, Greystones, Maynooth, Longford and Dundalk) will be operating before and after the parade which begins at 12pm.

Tara Street Station will be closed until 4pm to facilitate Garda crowd management arrangements for the parade, so customers are advised to use Connolly or Pearse Stations.

  • Late night trains: The following trains will operate after midnight on DART and Commuter routes, serving all stations unless otherwise stated:
    • 00:20hrs Pearse to Maynooth
    • 00:30hrs Pearse to Howth
    • 00:30hrs Connolly to Greystones
    • 00:40hrs Pearse to Dundalk (serving Tara St, Connolly, Howth Junction and then all stations to Dundalk)
    • 00:50hrs Pearse to Kildare (serving Tara St, Connolly, Drumcondra, and all stations ParkWest to Kildare)
  • Intercity routes: A Sunday service with minor changes is in operation.
  • Cork Commuter: A Sunday service will operate.

For Bank Holiday Monday, a Sunday service will operate on DART and Commuter routes. A revised timetable will operate on Intercity routes.

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