"This is very welcome news, " says Ken MacDonald of Hooke & MacDonald. "The infrastructure for the whole area is very important, so having their own train station in the docklands will be a real bonus for residents.

And this move is bound to generate further commercial interest in the whole docklands area."

The proposed opening of the Docklands station next year should hopefully coincide with the completion of the long-awaited first 500 apartments at Spencer Dock, which although launched and sold by Treasury Holdings three years ago, won't be built for another year.

Priced between 400,000 and 650,000 when first launched back in 2003, these apartments are very upmarket.

When completed, there will be 3,000 apartments in the Spencer Dock scheme alone. The next launch here is expected this autumn, and it will be interesting to see how the new station will affect prices at Spencer Dock.

The first new citycentre station to be built since Tara Street station back in 1890, the Docklands station will provide a peak rail service every 15 minutes on the Maynooth commuter line.

Further developments planned for this line will link the line to Clonsilla and Dunboyne and connect with the M3 Park and Ride facilities.

The estimated journey time from the Docklands to Maynooth will be 40 minutes, and just 23 minutes to Clonsilla.

The Maynooth-Dublin commuter line is one of the fastest growing population corridors in the country and the new Docklands station aims to allow for integration between transport modes, with the Luas Red Line extension adjacent to the station, connecting commuters to the city centre, Connolly station, Heuston station and onwards to Tallaght.