 | Rail transport in Ireland: Encyclopedia II - Rail transport in Ireland - Main routes
Rail transport in Ireland - Main routes
Some services below usually, but not necessarily always, involve a change of trains. Changing points are shown in bold type. Usually services at different times of day will serve a different subset of the stations shown below. The "stations served" lists all possible stops for any train on a given route. As an example, some services to Limerick do not involve a change at Limerick Junction, and some services to Cork may stop at Limerick Junction, Charleville and Mallow only.
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Belfast
Stations served - Dublin Connolly, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Portadown, Belfast Central
This service, named 'Enterprise', is jointly run by Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann. Despite having some of the most modern intercity rolling stock on the island, it has been dogged by numerous problems. An historical problem on this route has been disruption to services caused by security alerts (devices on the line, hoax devices, threats and warnings). These continue to the present day.
The punctuality on this service remains poor for other reasons also. The intercity route, despite being mostly high quality continuous welded rail, is shared with suburban services outside both Belfast and Dublin. Unfortunately these are the busiest suburban routes on the island while only double-track is provided, hence very little mishap is required to disrupt the Enterprise service. In theory the trip should take 2 hours – there have been occasions where this has become almost 5 hours!
A further problem is due to the locomotive and rolling stock arrangements. Unlike most other locomotive-hauled rolling stock in Ireland, generator vans are not part of the train – even the DVTs do not supply power. Thus the General Motors-built locomotives must supply head-end power for lighting and heating throughout the train. Although many types of locomotive are well-designed for this purpose, these particular locomotives have struggled under the extra strain. The wear on the locos and time out of service are unusually high. In fact, on at least two occasions locomotives have burst into flames while shuttling along the route.
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Cork
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevin, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Charleville, Mallow, Cork Kent
This was known as the 'Premier Line' of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR), being one of the longest routes in the country, built to a high standard and connecting to Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Kerry as well as to Cork. These other destinations all have their own services, although connections are offered to/from the Cork service at Limerick Junction (for Limerick) and Mallow (for Kerry).
Most services to Cork stop at four or five stations at most, usually at least Limerick Junction, Charleville and Mallow. Other stops are not as frequently served, as services from other destinations mentioned above also serve those stops. Journey time varies, but mostly trains take 3 hours to complete the journey (express trains with few or no stops take just over 2.5 hours).
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Limerick
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Limerick Colbert
This service follows the Cork route as far as Limerick Junction. Limerick services leave the main line via a direct curve onto the Limerick-Waterford railway. However, many Dublin-Limerick services involve a change at 'the Junction' onto a local train for the remaining half-hour of the journey. The Limerick to Limerick Junction section was built as part of the Waterford & Limerick Railway (W&LR).
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Galway
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Attymon, Athenry, Galway Céannt Stn.
The route to Galway now runs partly along the Cork main line. Originally the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) to Galway was built starting on Dublin's northside, continuing on through Mullingar to Athlone. The section to Mullingar is now part of the Dublin-Sligo route.
The present route, built by the GS&WR in competition with the MGWR, leaves the Cork main line just after Portarlington. The River Shannon is crossed at Athlone. Athenry, the last station before Galway, used to boast connections north and south along the west coast (to Sligo and Ennis/Limerick respectively).
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Tralee
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Limerick Junction, Charleville, Mallow, Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore, Tralee Casement
This relatively indirect route runs along what is in essence a branch line connected to the Cork–Dublin mainline at Mallow. Trains run to/from the south of Tralee, services also once ran north to Limerick via North Kerry. The route became part of the extensive GS&WR network. As of 2004 the route boasts some of the oldest rolling stock and locomotives on Irish railways. In the new December 2005 railcars replaced the majority of locomotive hauled trains. There are now a record eight trains in each direction a day between Mallow and Tralee, including a early morning commuter service between Killarney and Tralee.
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Waterford
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Athy, Carlow, Muine Bheag (Bagenalstown), Kilkenny, Thomastown, Waterford Plunkett.
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Wexford/Rosslare Europort
Stations served - Dublin Connolly, Dublin Pearse, Dún Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey, Enniscorthy, Wexford O'Hanrahan, Rosslare Strand, Rosslare Europort.
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Sligo
Stations served - Dublin Connolly, Maynooth, Enfield, Mullingar, Edgeworthstown, Longford, Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Ballymote, Collooney, Sligo McDiarmada
Rail transport in Ireland - Dublin to Westport/Ballina
Stations served - Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris, Manulla Junction, (Foxford, Ballina) or (Castlebar, Westport).
Other related archives1 November, 1848, 1854, 1950s, 1955, 1960s, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990s, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2015, Adare, Alstom, April 25, April 4, Ardsollus & Quin, Arklow, As of 2004, Askeaton, Athenry, Athlone, Athy, Balbriggan, Ballina, Ballinasloe, Ballybrophy, Ballycar & Newmarket, Ballyhaunis, Ballymote, Bangor, Belfast, Belfast City Airport, Belfast International (Aldergrove), Blackrock, Blarney, Boyle, Bray, Bridgetown, CAF, CIÉ, Cahir, Carlow, Carrick-on-Shannon, Carrick-on-Suir, Carrickfergus, Carrigtwohill, Castlebar, Castleconnell, Charleville, Clara, Clarecastle, Claremorris, Clonmel, Cloughjordan, Coaching Stock of Ireland, Coleraine, Collooney, Cork, Cork Kent, Cratloe, Cóbh, Córas Iompair Éireann, DART, DMU, Derry, Derry/Londonderry city airport, Diesel Locomotives of Ireland, Donabate, Drogheda, Dromod, Dublin, Dublin Connolly, Dublin Heuston, Dublin Pearse, Dunboyne, Dundalk, Dunleer, Dún Laoghaire, Edgeworthstown, Enfield, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Enterprise, Farranfore, Fota Island, Foxford, Foynes, GEC, Galway, Gatwick Express, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, Glounthaune, Gorey, Gormanston, Great Britain, Great Southern and Western Railway, Greystones, Heritage railways in Northern Ireland, Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland, High Court, History of rail transport in Ireland, Holywood, Iarnród Éireann, Inchicore, Interconnector, Ireland, Irish Minister for Transport, Irish Rail, June 26, Kerry, Kilcoole, Kildare, Kilkenny, Killarney, Lansdowne Road, Larne, Laytown, Limerick, Limerick Junction, Lisburn, Listowel, Little Island, Londonderry, Longford, Lurgan, Malahide, Mallow, Mark II, Mark IIIs, Mark IIs, Maynooth, Meelick, Midland Great Western Railway, Midleton, Millstreet, Moira, Monasterevin, Mosney, Muine Bheag, Mullingar, Multiple Units of Ireland, Navan, Nenagh, Newbridge, Newcastle West, Newry, Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Railways, October 30, Oranmore, Patrickswell, Phoenix Park, Platform 11, Portadown, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Portmarnock, Portrush, RMS Lusitania, RMS Titanic, Raheen, Rathkeale, Rathmore, Republic of Ireland, River Shannon, Roscommon, Roscrea, Rosslare Europort, Rosslare Strand, Scotland, Shannon Airport, Sixmilebridge, Skerries, Sligo, Templemore, Thomastown, Thurles, Tipperary, Tokyu, Tralee, Transport 21, Tuam, Tullamore, Ulster Transport Authority, Waterford, Waterford Plunkett, Western Railway Corridor, Westport, Whitehead, Wicklow, Woodlawn, Youghal, bay platform, continuous welded rail, driving van trailer, freight, gauge, head-end power, heavy rail, horse-power, infrastructure, light rail, metro, park and ride, push-pull, rail terminology, rail transport in Great Britain, railway station, rolling stock, seaports, sprawl, toll, viaduct
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Main routes", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
