To celebrate 40 years since the introduction of Dublin‘s DART trains, Irish voluntary heritage group Táilte Tours CLG has commissioned a special enamel badge.

DART trains started operations on 23rd July 1984, but it was not until 22nd October 1984 that they were officially launched by Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Dr Garrett FitzGerald.

The commemorative badge depicts one of the DART’s 8100 class electric multiple unit (EMU) sets in the original livery and short-lived CIÉ roundel.

Táilte Tours will launch the badge at the biggest exhibition in Ireland, this weekend’s Model Railway Society of Ireland Exhibition in the Dublin suburb of Clontarf.

From next week the badges can be obtained from the Táilte Tours website next week.

They will also be available on the Great Southern Railway Centennial rail tour from Dublin to Killarney on 16th November which is being run to mark the centenary of the formation of Ireland‘s Great Southern Railway.

Earlier this month, Táilte Tours CLG released another enamel badge to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the last service by a Drumm battery train from Dublin to Bray, and in July, it donated €1,600 worth of enamel badges to Donegal Railway Heritage Centre to raise funds for the centre.

“We won’t lie; we’re really proud of this one. We put a lot of work into this project but given DART’s iconic status to the city we felt as that we had to to do it justice.
“It’s a fitting tribute to those who built the system in the early days and those who made sure it works; it’s a legacy of their efforts.
“I should also thank the Irish Railway Record Society for their support and assistance; their archive photos really made the difference here.”

David Walsh, a Director of Táilte ToursCLG,