Harcourt Street railway line
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The Harcourt Street railway line ran from Harcourt Street in Dublin through the southern suburbs to Bray.
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[edit] History
The line was built by William Dargan for the Dublin and Wicklow Railway (D&WR) and opened in 1854. The D&WR was renamed as the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) in 1860. It was renamed again in 1907 as the Dublin and South Eastern Railway (D&SER) before finally being absorbed by the Great Southern Railways (GSR) in 1925. The route was closed at the end of 1958 by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ).
[edit] Route
After crossing the Grand Canal it served Ranelagh, Milltown, Dundrum, Stillorgan, Foxrock, Carrickmines and Shankill stations. It joined the Westland Row line at Shanganagh Junction continuing to Woodbrook Halt and Bray. One of the major engineering feats on the line was the Milltown viaduct[1], or Nine Arches, which still stands today over the River Dodder.
The 12½ mile (20 km) route ran south, initially from a temporary terminus in Harcourt Rd., serving the intermediate stations of Dundrum, Stillorgan, Carrickmines and Shankill. The new Harcourt Street station, still extant, opened in 1859, along with a temporary platform at Foxrock. Further new stations followed; Milltown (1860), Foxrock (1861), Rathmines & Ranelagh (1896, the Rathmines prefix was dropped in 1921) and finally Woodbrook Halt (1910) serving the cricket ground on Sir Stanley Cochrane's estate. The Woodbrook Golf Club later used this halt between 1920 and 1960.
[edit] Legacy
The route was preserved after closure, allowing for a potential future reopening. The route corridor remained mostly in-situ until the 2000s. The section between the Grand Canal crossing and the old Stillorgan station was chosen for use by the Luas light rail system whose Green Line opened in 2004. The line crosses Dundrum on the new William Dargan cable-stayed bridge.
An extension of the Luas to Cherrywood and Bray is planned, although it is likely that only some of the old railway alignment will be used as it is partly built on beyond Carrickmines.[2]
[edit] Visible remains
Several bridges, stations and much of the alignment have survived. These include Harcourt St., Dundrum, Stillorgan, Carrickmines and Shankill stations, Woodbrook Halt, the Nine Arches and Bride's Glen bridges. No trace of Foxrock station appears to remain, other than the original passenger entrance to Leopardstown Racecourse beside the golf club main gates.
 Bride's glen viaduct |
 Carrickmines station, now a private residence |
 Stillorgan station, now a private residence |
 The Nine Arches viaduct |
 Dundrum Luas halt, with original station house in background |
 The new Sandyford Luas depot on the left & the old Stillorgan station house, now a private residence, on the right. The line ran through the centre of the picture |
 Shankill station, to rear of modern office addition |
[edit] Trivia
- Mile posts on the Dublin - Wexford railway line, south of the old Shanganagh Junction, are still measured from Harcourt Street.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Johnson, Stephen (1997). Johnson's Atlas and Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland. Midland Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85780-044-3.
- Mac Aongusa, Brian (2003). The Harcourt Street Line - Back on Track. Curragh Press. ISBN 1-85607-907-4.[1]
