Today saw the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, turning the first sod on a new train station for Dublin City Centre, down at Spencer Dock. This is the first new main-line station to be built in the City Centre since Tara Street station was constructed in 1890 apparently. There have been plenty of DART stations built over the years alright, but, none serving main-line commuter trains, such as Navan and Maynooth in this case.

The station will also serve LUAS trams when the LUAS network is extended over the coming years. For anyone who has not been in Dublin for a while, and even for those of us who are in the city every day, Spencer Dock really is an amazing development, of land that three years ago was pretty much consigned to waste-land, it is now the fastest developing and most vibrant part of the city.

Counting the number of cranes over the south-docks skyline is a task I try to undertake on the DART into work most days, I’ve never been able to make it past about 30 without loosing count, it really is amazing!!