Destructix - IE have a bit more scope to decide what voltage they want. Over here where commuter lines run on freight owned lines partially or completely, the word appears to be that the freight companies said "25kV AC catenary or not at all" - the problem being that the higher you push the voltage the lower the power draw which helps with substation spacing but it has the downside of needing heavier on-train transformers and also needs larger clearances from neighbouring structures.
In theory I suppose you could run intercity on 1.5kV DC but I'd say it's more likely that the train would be dual voltage with the ability to switch to 3kV DC or even 25kV AC outside the areas currently or likely to be served by DART.
Of course, the ideal would have been if IE had bought a bunch of SNCF B81500 or 82500s for outer suburban work rather than doubling down on the 22000s and trusting Rotem to keep making them the same way - then you could have had a Rosslare service coming into Greystones and raising its pantograph for an electric mode ride through to Malahide and back to diesel mode for a run out to Dundalk, with the same train kept on route even if the electric network expanded or contracted (for example a gradual electrification towards Maynooth). But what can one expect when the clowns can't even factory fit selective door opening and thus forced to keep six car 22K trains off the Wicklow line?
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