  A new nine-dimensional (9D), \textit{ab initio} electric dipole moment
surface (DMS) of methane in its ground electronic state is presented. The DMS
is computed using an explicitly correlated coupled cluster CCSD(T)-F12 method
in conjunction with an F12-optimized correlation consistent basis set of the
TZ-family. A symmetrized molecular bond representation is used to parameterise
the 9D DMS in terms of sixth-order polynomials. Vibrational transition moments
as well as band intensities for a large number of IR-active vibrational bands
of $^{12}$CH$_4$ are computed by vibrationally averaging the \textit{ab initio}
dipole moment components. The vibrational wavefunctions required for these
averages are computed variationally using the program TROVE and a new
`spectroscopic' $^{12}$CH$_4$ potential energy surface. The new DMS will be
used to produce a hot line list for $^{12}$CH$_4$.
