Irish Railway Record Society

STATIONS

HEUSTON RE-DEVELOPMENT  

Following commissioning of platforms 6, 7 and 8 on 1 September, no time was wasted in removing track and points in the former main station area. A section of island platform 3/4 was removed to allow access for excavating equipment between tracks 3 and 4.

The main concourse area has been extended towards Cork, but the glass enclosure had not been moved to incorporate it. This extension was achieved by re-locating the buffers of platforms 2, 3, 4 and 5 and filling in the space behind them. Concrete sub bases were laid on platforms 2 and 3. New platform faces have been installed on platform 4. Installation of new track and crossovers proceeded without interruption from train movements during autumn and winter. Excavation of the trackbed and installation of drains and new sub-ballast preceded track laying. The former GSR signal cabin has been demolished and removed. The frame and other equipment had been removed for safe keeping before the demolition.

  DASH

The first stage of upgrading capacity in the Dublin suburban area, known as the DASH project, was approved in October. It includes lengthening of remaining platforms to take 8-car DART trains, upgrading of power supplies and minor adjustments to signalling associated with the lengthening of platforms. The investment is of the order of €143 million, with work scheduled to be completed by late 2005. When completed, the capacity of the DART system will be increased by 30%.

Due to lack of funding, this phase does not include track and signalling work required to commission the bay platform at Grand Canal Dock or re-signalling of the centre city area. These will follow the platform extensions, with one newspaper quoting 2008 as the earliest completion date.

  BRIDGES AND TUNNELS

East Wall Road Bridge   The new east deck spans were installed during the last weekend of September, with the line closed completely from 01.10 on Saturday 28 to 04.45 on Monday 30 September. Further closures took place from 01.10 Saturday 12 October to 04.45 Monday 14 October (up line track re-instated over east deck) and over the October Public Holiday weekend (down line track re-instated over west deck and facing crossover 112 from up to down main re-instated). The latter is normally the busiest weekend of the year and many passengers were discommoded. Passenger trains operated to the standard pattern as noted in JOURNAL 149.

The final closure was over the weekend of 10/11 November and a new turnout, no. 113, was installed from the down main to wash road at the south end of Fairview depot. It is located at the Connolly end of the new bridge. This closure resulted in the disruption of travel plans of many thousands of rugby fans intent on attending the Ireland v Australia match at Lansdowne Road. Enterprise services ran to Drogheda, with passengers travelling onwards to Dublin by bus. NIR obtained ‘special permission’ to operate two specials to Portmarnock at 07.20 and 09.00 from Belfast Central, with bus connections onwards. However, NIR was forced to advise passengers: ‘Roads in the Republic are likely to be heavily congested over the weekend, therefore we cannot guarantee that any rugby fans who travel on an Enterprise service will arrive in Dublin in time for the match’. The empty trains ran to Howth Junction to turn back and return to Dundalk for storage.

One consequence of the revised track layout as a result of the new bridge is that it is no longer possible for a DART to leave Fairview Depot at the south end and directly access the up main. The 17.34 and 17.44 Connolly-Bray DART now start from Pearse at 17.43 and 17.51 respectively and skip the city's busiest station at Tara Street. These sets are stabled in the down Running Loop at Pearse during the day. Several other trains now run empty from Fairview to Howth Junction and then to Connolly before taking up their regular links.

Other Bridges   New overbridge OB167A is under construction at 67 miles 1450 yards between Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford. During a full closure between Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December, new overbridge OB94C was installed at Ballyhale (43 miles 990 yards) between Thomastown and Waterford to replace accommodation-crossing XW129. Also in the same section, a new underpass has been installed at Jerpoint, MP40. In addition to track re-laying, work at UB241 at (MP4¹/₈) in the Wexford-Rosslare Strand section saw the line closed completely from mid-morning on Monday 16 December to mid-morning on Friday 20 December.

The programme of renewing footbridges in the Lansdowne Road-Dun Laoghaire section continues. Typically this was done during possessions from 22.00 Saturday to 08.30 Sunday. Bridges renewed were OB80 at 4 miles 1365 yards on 15 September, OB76 at 4 miles 945 yards on 20 October, OB77 at 4 miles 1210 yards on 17 October and OB83A at 5 miles 1000 yards on 8 December. The new Rathnew Bypass, OB168A, is under construction at 30 miles 150 yards in the Wicklow-Rathdrum section.

On the Westport line, UB775 at 146 miles 1056 yards was renewed on 13 November. The line was closed between Castlerea and Claremorris after the passage of the 07.15 Westport-Dublin on Tuesday 3 December until the 18.00 Dublin-Westport on Wednesday 4 December to facilitate the renewal of OB753 at 134 miles 1410 yards and a new underpass at 132 miles 1000 yards in the Ballyhaunis-Claremorris section. A new underpass was installed in the Dublin-Cork line at MP132¹/₄ on 9 September. UB58 at 19 miles 1340 yards on the Limerick-Ennis line was renewed in December. OB388, a footbridge north of Mullingar station at 50 miles 814 yards, was renewed in December. The Mullingar-Moate-Athlone line now sees only occasional Infrastructure Department movements as the re-laying programme on the Dublin-Sligo line is effectively completed. It was closed completely between Mullingar and Moate for a period in October to allow renewal of OB61 at 52 miles 1730 yards.

Copyright © 2003 by Irish Railway Record Society Ltd.
Revised: January 07, 2004 .