South Eastern Commuter
Rail · diesel commuter · 12 stations · Dublin Connolly – Rathdrum
About the South Eastern Commuter
The South Eastern Commuter is an Iarnód Éireann commuter line: diesel trains on the national railway, not a metro and not a tram. It is one of the seven routes on the operator’s own Dublin City and Commuter Zone map.
Its full name is South Eastern Commuter line.
The South Eastern Commuter is by far the thinnest service on this network. It runs from Dublin Connolly down the Wicklow coast to Rathdrum, 12 stations and 76 minutes end to end, with 13 trips on a weekday where the DART alongside it manages 201. As far as Greystones it shares its route with the DART, and most people making those journeys use the DART instead. Beyond Greystones it is the only passenger service there is. The same trains carry on past Rathdrum to Rosslare Europort as InterCity services; Rathdrum is simply the last station inside the Dublin City and Commuter Zone.
Stations on the South Eastern Commuter
12 stations in running order, 9 of them an interchange.
Dublin Connolly to Rathdrum
Main route, 12 stations
A ring on the dot marks a station where you can change line, either on the spot or by a short walk to a separate station. The small name under each one is its official Irish name.
Timetable and frequency
| Day | First – last | Trains a day | Timetable date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon–Thu | 06:17 – 00:00 | 13 | 2026-11-18 |
| Friday | 06:17 – 00:00 | 13 | 2026-11-20 |
| Saturday | 07:18 – 21:02 | 7 | 2026-11-21 |
| Sunday | 10:25 – 21:02 | 6 | 2026-11-22 |
| Bank holiday | 11:17 – 20:28 | 6 | 2026-10-26 |
| Whole route | Scheduled time |
|---|---|
| Dublin Connolly – Rathdrum | 76 min |
First and last departure anywhere on the line, from the NTA’s published timetable for a representative week. Nothing on this line runs through the night.
How often trains run
| Time of day | Departures | Typical gap | Longest gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 07:00 | 0 | — | — |
| Morning peak 07:00–10:00 | 4 | every 58 min | 62 min |
| Midday 10:00–16:00 | 1 | — | — |
| Evening peak 16:00–19:00 | 0 | — | — |
| Evening 19:00–22:00 | 1 | — | — |
| After 22:00 | 1 | — | — |
Departures in one direction at Bray (Daly), the busiest stop on the line, on a Monday to Thursday. Other stops are quieter; the branches are served by part of the service only.
Things to know before you travel
- The same trains continue beyond Rathdrum to Rosslare Europort as InterCity services. Rathdrum is the last stop inside the Dublin City and Commuter Zone.
Where you can change
In Dublin a change between tram and train is a walk along the street: the Luas stop and the railway station are different places with different names.
| Stop | Other lines here | On foot to |
|---|---|---|
| Dublin Connolly | DART Northern South Western Western | Connolly (2 min walk); Busáras (4 min walk) |
| Tara Street | DART Northern South Western | Abbey Street (4 min walk); Marlborough (5 min walk); Trinity (6 min walk) |
| Dublin Pearse | DART Northern South Western | Dawson (7 min walk); St. Stephen's Green (11 min walk) |
| Grand Canal Dock | DART South Western | — |
| Lansdowne Road | DART | — |
| Blackrock | DART | — |
| Dun Laoghaire (Mallin) | DART | — |
| Bray (Daly) | DART | — |
| Greystones | DART | — |
History
Like the other commuter lines, this one is a pattern of trains rather than a railway of its own. It runs on the Dublin to Rosslare main line, electrified and doubled as far as Greystones, where it becomes the southern end of the DART, and single track from Bray (Daly) onwards. That single line, shared with the InterCity trains for Rosslare, is the reason the commuter service is so sparse: there are very few paths to be had.
The signalling tells the same story of a line left behind and then caught up with. From Wicklow southwards the railway was worked with semaphore signals and electric train staff until April 2008, when the whole route was converted to the mini-CTC system and brought under control from Dublin Connolly. The connection to the Limerick line outside Rosslare Strand lasted until 2010. Our own count of stations differs slightly from Iarnród Éireann’s published route description, which lists nine: its timetable data shows Rosslare-line trains also calling at Grand Canal Dock, Lansdowne Road and Blackrock, so we count 12. Of those, only Kilcoole, Wicklow and Rathdrum have no DART of their own; the other nine are shared, which makes the line look busier on a map than it is in a timetable.
The service
The weekday timetable has 13 trips, the first at 06:17 and the last at 00:00. Saturday has 7, from 07:18 to 21:02, and Sunday 6, with nothing before 10:25. Gaps of several hours in the middle of the day are normal, so this is a line to plan around rather than turn up for. The three stations we count beyond the operator’s own list are a case in point: only three trips in the entire timetable call at Blackrock or Lansdowne Road, and none of them falls in the representative week, so no South Eastern departures are shown there. For anywhere as far as Greystones, take the DART.
The trams and trains
The service is worked by 29000 Class diesel railcars. South of Bray the railway is single track with passing loops, so trains have to be timed around each other, and the same units continue beyond the commuter zone to Rosslare Europort under an InterCity heading. Trains pass each other at loops on that section, and the stations are correspondingly simple — one platform at Kilcoole, two with a passing loop at Wicklow and at Rathdrum. Nothing beyond Greystones is electrified: the overhead wires finish there, where the DART ends.
Frequently asked questions
South of Bray the line is single track and shared with the InterCity service to Rosslare, so there are very few paths available. The result is 13 trips on a weekday, 7 on a Saturday and 6 on a Sunday, with long gaps in between.
It is the end of this one. Rathdrum is the last station inside the Dublin City and Commuter Zone, which is where this site stops, but the trains themselves continue south to Rosslare Europort as InterCity services.
For anything as far as Greystones, almost certainly. The DART covers the same stations every ten minutes or so on a weekday, against a handful of South Eastern trains. The commuter service is worth waiting for only if you are going beyond Greystones to Kilcoole, Wicklow or Rathdrum.