Irish Railway Record Society

Journal 164 STATIONS  

STATIONS

Athy   Both platforms have been extended to 174m from 21 May.

Ballinasloe    Work on extending both up and down platforms includes re-locating the down platform to the west of the old goods store as there was inadequate space to extend the existing down platform.

Ballybrophy   To allow access to construct a new wheelchair accessible lift on the island platform the down loop was temporarily taken out of service on 18 June.

Carrick-on-Suir   The Nationalist newspaper reported in July that Carrick-on-Suir Town Council issued a notice under the Derelict Sites Act requiring IÉ to 'remove the station' from its derelict state. The Town Clerk said the Council has taken this step because IÉ failed to respond to its request to carry out a list of works on the site. The list of renovations included replacing the roof, windows and doors, carry out repair works to the station's structure, paint both the building and footbridge and clean the property. She said if the IÉ ignore the notice, the Council will either step in and carry out the renovations instead and bill the rail company or take legal proceedings and seek a court order compelling IÉ to do the work. The main station building was burned by arsonists when the signal cabin was de-manned during the line closure following the Cahir viaduct derailment.

Connolly   Platform 1 remained out of use during the summer. New fuelling and servicing facilities have been installed on the platform.  

Ennis   Car parking is to be increased from 37 to 174 spaces.

Gorey   IÉ is planning to add 150 car parking spaces.

Gormanston   200 additional car parking spaces were added during the summer.

Mayo Line   A programme of platform extensions is underway. All will be the standard length of 174m, except Castlerea down, Ballyhaunis down and Foxford, which will be 90m and Ballina will be unaltered at 101m. The water column structure in Castlebar was taken down ‘brick by brick’ to be re-located when the platform extension is completed. Loading of timber trains at Westport has become easier following completion of CTC, as trains no longer have to be split into two sections. Complete trains are brought forward from the sidings to the loop via the new crossover.

Muine Bheag   Up and down platforms are being extended.

Newbridge   An additional 293 car parking spaces, new fencing, new lighting and a CCTV system are to be provided.

Pearse   The large increase in commuter passenger numbers in recent years has brought pressure on exits from platforms and stations. On many occasions during peak periods, crowds from one train have not cleared the platform by the time the next train arrives. To overcome this problem IÉ opened additional entrances at the south end of Tara St station earlier this year and is doing the same in Pearse. The proposed new Eastern Entrance will also cater for future capacity forecast for the station as well as the proposed interchange with the 'Interconnector'. The new entrance will be via a concourse link in a proposed development by Trinity College to Pearse Street. Down bay platform 3 was taken out of service in May for this work and the overhead wires were subsequently removed.

IÉ sought tenders for:

·    A 10.3m pedestrian underpass to form a link between the proposed new concourse at the TCD Bio-Science building and platforms 1 (up) and 2 (down).

·    Two 4m wide concrete structures to form pits for the escalators.

·    Two 2.8m x 2.6m concrete lift shafts.

·    Two 4.5m wide concrete structures to form staircases.

·    Widening of part of platforms 1 and 2.

The hours of work available to the contractor were limited to avoid disruption to rail services; 01:00-04:00 Tuesday-Saturday and 01:00-06:00 Sunday. Two line closures were offered: 01:00 27 October - 05:00 30 October and 00:01 25 December - 05:00 26 December 2007.

Phoenix Park   A new access roadbridge has been constructed between the station area and the nearby Phoenix Park development on the site of the former racecourse. It spans the N3 dual carriageway. Progress on station construction itself has been relatively slow.

Tullamore   300 additional car park spaces were added during the summer.

  The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 164, published October 2007.

Copyright © 2007 by Irish Railway Record Society Ltd.
Revised: December 16, 2007 .