History of rail transport in Ireland facts for kids

Ireland's extensive rail network was largely dismantled during the 20th century. 1906 Viceregal Commission rail map of Ireland. Map of Irish rail network between 1925 and 1930.

The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area around the border area between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.

Railways on the island of Ireland are run by Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) within Ireland and Northern Ireland Railways within Northern Ireland. The two companies jointly operate the island's only cross-border service, the Enterprise, between Dublin and Belfast. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland based in Whitehead, County Antrim runs preserved steam trains on the main line, with the Irish Traction Group preserving diesel locomotives, and operating on the main line. The Downpatrick & County Down Railway is the only self-contained full-size heritage railway in the island of Ireland.

Transport before railways

Transport on a country-wide scale began in 1710 with the introduction by the General Post Office of mail coaches on the main routes between towns. Private operators added to the routes, and an established "turnpike" road system started in the 1730s. In 1715 the Irish Parliament took steps to encourage inland navigation, but it was not until 1779 that the first 19 km (12 mi) section of the Grand Canal was opened. The addition of the Royal Canal and river navigation (particularly on the River Shannon) meant that freight could be transported more easily. Charles Bianconi established his horse-car services in the south in 1815, the first of many such passenger-carrying operations. Despite these improvements huge areas of Ireland still relied on a basic road system; turnpikes were still slow and canals were expensive.

Ireland's first railway

The Dublin and Kingstown line in 1837.

Dublin and Kingstown Railway, by John Harris.

Although a railway between Limerick and Waterford had been authorised as early as 1826 (the same year as Britain's first locomotive-drawn line, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway) it wasn't until 1834 that the first railway was built, the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR) between Westland Row in Dublin and Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), a distance of 10 km (6 mi). Due to local opposition the first terminus, Kingstown Harbour, was adjacent to the West Pier. It took a further three years before the line reached the site of the present station. The contractor was William Dargan, called "the founder of railways in Ireland", due to his participation in many of the main routes. The D&KR was notable in being the earliest dedicated commuter railway in the world. The planning undertaken was also noteworthy: a full survey of the existing road traffic was made, in addition to careful land surveys.

As well as the traffic survey showing existing volumes to be healthy, there was the potential from the ever-expanding port at Kingstown. On 9 October 1834 the locomotive Hibernia brought a train the full route from the Westland Row terminus (now Dublin Pearse) to Kingstown. The railway was built to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge.

The entire route forms part of the present day Dublin Area Rapid Transit electrified commuter rail system.

Railway gauges

The track gauge adopted by the mainline railways is 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). This unusual gauge is otherwise found only in the Australian states of Victoria, southern New South Wales (as part of the Victorian rail network) and South Australia (where it was introduced by the Irish railway engineer F. W. Sheilds), and in Brazil.

The first three railways all had different gauges: the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm); the Ulster Railway, 6 ft 2 in (1,880 mm); and the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm). Following complaints from the UR, the Board of Trade investigated the matter, and in 1843 recommended the use of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) and that compensation be paid to the UR for the costs incurred in changing to the new gauge.

Other railways

Independent railways

• Ballycastle Railway 26 km (16.25 mi) (914 mm or 3 ft gauge); incorporated 1878, opened 1880; four locomotives, 74 other vehicles
• Bessbrook and Newry Tramway (electric) 3 miles (5 km) (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1884; one locomotive, 24 other vehicles
• Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway 12 km (7.25 mi); (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1883, opened 1884; three locomotives, 34 other vehicles; closed 1933
• Cavan and Leitrim Light Railway 78 km (48.5 mi); (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1883, opened 1888; nine locomotives, 167 other vehicles
• Cavehill and Whitewell Tramway 6 km (3.75 mi)
• Clogher Valley Railway 59 km (37 mi)(914 mm gauge); incorporated 1884, opened 1887; seven locomotives, 127 other vehicles; closed 1942
• Clonakilty Extension Light Railway 14 km (8.75 mi); (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1881, opened 1886
• Cork and Macroom Direct Railway 38 km (24.5 mi); incorporated 1861, opened 1866; four locomotives, 132 other vehicles
• Cork and Muskerry Light Railway (C&MLR) 29 km (18 mi); (914 mm or 3 ft gauge); incorporated 1883, opened 1887; six locomotives, 87 other vehicles
  • Donoughmore Extension Railway 14 km (9 mi) (worked by C&MLR) incorporated 1900
• Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway 26 km (16 mi); (originally Irish gauge, 1,600 mm or 5 ft 3 in gauge; converted to 914 mm or 3 ft gauge in 1900); incorporated 1846, opened 1850; four locomotives, 57 other vehicles
• Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway 25 km (15.5 mi); (1,600 mm gauge); incorporated 1887, opened 1888; four locomotives, 46 other vehicles
• Dublin and Lucan Electric Railway 1900–1925, 11 km (7 mi); (3 ft 6 in or 1,067 mm gauge), 37 vehicles. Opened in 1880 as the Dublin and Lucan Steam Tramway (914 mm gauge). Operated by the DUTC 1928–1940 as part of the Dublin tram system ; (5 ft 3 in or 1,600 mm gauge)
• Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway 42 km (26.5 mi); incorporated 1863; six locomotives, 230 other vehicles
• Giant's Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Railway & Tramway 13 km (8 mi); (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1880; two locomotives, 23 other vehicles
• Listowel and Ballybunion Railway 16 km (10 mi); (Monorail) (Lartigue system); incorporated 1886, opened 1888; three locomotives, 39 other vehicles
• Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) 133 km (83 mi); (914 mm gauge); opened 1863/1904 extension; 18 locomotives, 311 other vehicles
  • Letterkenny Railway 26 km (16 mi); worked by L&LSR; opened 1883
• Schull and Skibbereen Railway 22 km (14 mi); four locomotives, 61 other vehicles
• Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway 78 km (49 mi); 1,600 mm or 5 ft 3 in gauge; incorporated 1875, opened 1882; 11 locomotives, 228 other vehicles; closed 1957
• South Clare Railway 42 km (26 mi); three locomotives, 27 other vehicles
• Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Railway (T&CR) 14 km (9 mi); (914 mm or 3 ft gauge); incorporated 1888, opened 1891; two locomotives, 119 other vehicles
  • Ballinascarthy Railway; worked by T&CR; (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1888, opened 1890
• Tralee and Dingle Light Railway 60 km (37.5 mi); (914 mm gauge); incorporated 1884, opened 1891; eight locomotives, 108 other vehicles
• Waterford and Tramore Railway 12 km (7.25 mi); incorporated 1851, opened 1853; four locomotives, 32 other vehicles; unique in being the only line to remain unconnected to the rest of the Irish railway. The line closed, under CIÉ, in 1960
• West Clare Railway 43 km (27 mi); (914 mm gauge); opened 1887; eight locomotives, 146 other vehicles

The information contained in this section obtained from Railway Year Book 1912 (Railway Publishing Company)

Monorail

Ballybunion, c. 1902

The Listowel and Ballybunion Railway was opened in 1888. It was the world's first commercial monorail, named the Lartigue system after Charles Lartigue. It operated between Listowel and Ballybunion in County Kerry until 1924.

A modern-day re-creation of this system operates in Listowel. Photographs of this can be found here: Lartigue Railway Photographs 2004

The system in the early 20th century

The rail system, both North and South, survived independence unscathed. The Irish Civil War was to take a much heavier toll on the railways in the newly born Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann), as the Anti-Treaty IRA systematically targeted them and the Free State had to build a network of fortified blockhouses to protect the railways. One of the most spectacular attacks on the infrastructure was the bombing of the Mallow viaduct. (See The Civil War and the Railways)

In 1925, the railway companies within Saorstát Éireann were merged to form the Great Southern Railways. This company was amalgamated on 1 January 1945 with the Dublin United Transport Company to form Córas Iompair Éireann.

Partition however, would eventually exact a heavy toll on the cross–border routes (intrinsic to the County Donegal rail network).

World War II also proved costly for the rail system in the Republic. With the war effort, Britain could not spare coal for neutral Ireland. Thus, Irish steam engines often ran on poor quality Irish coal, wood, or not at all. Unsuccessful attempts were even made to burn peat. The deteriorating quality and frequency of service discouraged rail travellers, whose numbers were also diminishing due to steadily increasing emigration.

Dieselisation

Railways in the Republic were converted to diesel locomotive traction early, and swiftly, due to the run down nature of many of the steam engines, lack of coal, and a desire for modernisation. In 1951 CIÉ's first diesel railcars arrived, followed in 1953 by an order for 100 diesel locomotives. A full list of CIÉ diesel locomotives can be found here.

Rationalisation

Disused railway viaduct at Lispole, County Kerry on the Dingle-Tralee line

In the 1950s and 1960s large swathes of route were closed in the Republic [a maximum of 2,668 miles (4,294 km) in Éire and 754 miles (1,213 km) in Ulster was reached in 1920, declining to 2,440 miles (3,930 km) and 542 miles (872 km) respectively in 1950 and 2,221 miles (3,574 km) and 336 miles (541 km) by 1957] but evidence is still visible in the landscape, as are more significant features like bridges and viaducts. Notable was the loss of the entire West Cork Railway network. Most branch lines in the Republic were also closed. By and large the main route network survived intact, with a relatively even distribution of cutbacks. The main routes from Dublin to Belfast, Sligo, Galway and the West of Ireland, Limerick, Cork and Kerry, Waterford and Wexford survived. The cross country route from Waterford to Limerick and onwards to Sligo survived for a time, although services would later cease on almost all the route. The North Kerry line from Limerick to Tralee survived until the 1970s. One notable closure was that of the Dublin and South Eastern Railway Harcourt Street railway line in Dublin, despite being regarded as an important commuter artery. On 30 June 2004, the majority of the route reopened as part of the new Luas tram system. South of the Sandyford depot, decisions taken by CIÉ and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, to sell the trackbed through Foxrock and allow houses to be built on it near Shankill respectively have made integrating this route into the Luas system difficult. After Sandyford the line detours over the Leopardstown roundabout so as to run west around the Leopardstown Racecourse before rejoining the original alignment just north of Carrickmines. The Harcourt Street line had run around the eastern edge of the racecourse, via Silverpark. Remnants of the old Foxrock Station are visible at the back of The Hedgerows in Foxrock. After this detour around Leopardstown Racecourse, the current line runs roughly along the original alignment with some minor detours, particularly prevalent at Laughanstown.

The Luas Green Line currently terminates at Bride's Glen, just North of the viaduct of the same name. It has been proposed to restore the viaduct should it carry the proposed Luas extension to Bray.

In a few years, the Ulster Transport Authority shut down a large network across Ulster, leaving only Belfast to Derry, Dublin and branches to Larne and Bangor. CIÉ, the transport company in the Republic, had no option but to close their end of cross-border routes. Today a large hole remains in the island's rail network, with a distance of 210 km (130 mi) from Derry to Mullingar untouched by railways, and no rail service to large towns such as Letterkenny and Monaghan.

The 1970s and 1980s

In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a long period without substantial investment in the rail system, with the notable exception of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART), in which the North-South commuter route in and out of Dublin was electrified, and new frequent services have run from July 1984 to the present day. It was intended to expand the service, with routes to the West of the city, but economic conditions militated against this. In fact, the size of the DART fleet remained unaltered until the year 2000.

Also, 1976 saw the introduction of a small fleet of 18 high-speed diesel-electric locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel at La Grange, Illinois. These 2,475 hp (1,846 kW) units, 071 Class, were capable of speeds of 145 km/h (90 mph) and immediately began operating express services such as the Cork-Dublin line.

1 August 1980 saw the worst Irish transportation disaster in recent times, when 18 people were killed and 62 injured in a rail accident in Buttevant on the main Cork-Dublin line. A train carrying 230 passengers was derailed when it crashed into a siding at 110 km/h (70 mph). The passengers who were most severely injured or killed were seated in coaches with wooden frames. This structure was incapable of surviving a high speed crash and did not come near to the safety standards provided by modern (post 1950s) metal bodied coaches. This accident led to a major review of the national rail safety policy and resulted in the rapid elimination of the wooden-bodied coaches that had formed part of the train.

The decision to purchase a new fleet of modern InterCity carriages based on the British Rail Mark 3 design was quickly made. These coaches, an already well proven design, were built by BREL in Derby, England and, under licence, at CIÉ's own workshops at Inchicore in Dublin between 1980 and 1989. Other carriages to join the fleet in the 1980s were second-hand ex British Rail Mark 2s.

Cutbacks continued in this period: in 1975 the last rural branch line between Attymon Junction and Loughrea was closed, the line between Limerick and Claremorris and a number of local stations on main lines (such as Buttevant) lost their passenger services. Freight closures at the end of the 1980s included the closure of the line to Youghal in County Cork and the removal of the North Kerry line.

1990s rail revival

In the 1990s, the Republic experienced an economic boom (known colloquially as the Celtic Tiger). This allowed substantial investment to be made. 34 new locomotives (designated 201 Class) were purchased from General Motors, including two for Northern Ireland Railways (NIR). New De Dietrich carriages were also purchased for the cross-border 'Enterprise' service. Meanwhile, the route network was upgraded to continuous welded rail (CWR) and old mechanical signalling was replaced by electronic signalling.

In the mid-1990s, the Greater Dublin area continued to experience a population boom. Such commuter trains as existed were ageing slam-door stock on unreliable old locomotives (the better stock was for InterCity use). The DART was limited in terms of capacity and route. New diesel railcars were ordered, and added first to the Kildare suburban route. The route from Clonsilla to Maynooth was double-tracked and further diesel railcars ordered, and the reopening of stations such as Drumcondra. Again, the North-South Dublin route saw new railcars provide services to Dundalk and Arklow. A number of orders were made for new DART carriages, the first for over a decade.

2000s

The line was electrified and DART services extended in the South East to Greystones in 2000 and on to Malahide on the Northern line.

DART and Commuter stations were also upgraded, allowing access for people with disabilities with new lifts at footbridges and lengthened platforms to accommodate 8-car sets. Extra roads were provided out of Dublin, while the main terminals of Dublin Connolly and Dublin Heuston were upgraded (the latter completed in 2004, doubling its previous capacity). A new railcar servicing depot was built at Drogheda in 2004 (Inchicore continues to be used for locomotives and carriages).

Iarnród Éireann placed orders for 67 InterCity carriages in 2003 and for 150 "regional railcars" (diesel multiple unit) in 2004. These were used to meet the demand on the railways, and all older carriages were retired from revenue service by September 2009. At peak times, capacity was below requirements. It has been seen in recent years that Iarnród Éireann have phased out all locomotive hauled services, other than those using the 67 Mark 4 carriages on the Dublin-Cork Main Line and the Enterprise on the Dublin-Belfast Main Line, with 22000 Class railcars.

Northern Ireland too has experienced recent rail investment. Central Station has been redesigned, and the Bleach Green-Antrim line, a more direct route for trains to Derry, was reopened in 2001 (although this led to the suspension of the Lisburn – Antrim line and the closure of three rural stations). The line to Bangor was relaid. A new railcar fleet has entered service. The single-track line to Derry, north of Coleraine continues to be of a poor standard. A derailment in 2003, caused by cliff-side boulders falling onto the line, closed the route for some time. In the face of long journey times and a frequent (and generally faster) bus service, the route's future remains in some doubt.

In March 2007, as part of the Transport 21 initiative, Docklands railway station opened, the first new station in Dublin city centre since 1891's Tara Street.

In July 2009, commuter trains began to run from Mallow to Cork, and on part of the reopened Cork to Youghal line to Midleton and to Cobh, a number of stations were opened, and there are plans for more stations on the lines.

All 100 Mark 3 carriages (dating back from 1980-1989) were phased out in September 2009 with capacity being taken up by 22000 Class railcars. The entire Mark 3 fleet was scrapped between 2013 and 2014.

2010s

In September 2010 services began from Dunboyne to Dublin Docklands after the redevelopment of 7.5 km section of the old Navan railway line which had been closed in 1963 from Dunboyne to Clonsilla on the Maynooth line. There are proposals for further development of this line to Navan as part of Iarnród Éireann's plans by 2030.

More deliveries of Commuter and InterCity 22000 Class railcars took place from March 2007 until April 2012, when the final deliveries took place. The route west to Kildare was quadrupled between 2007 and 2010.

NI Railways underwent a major investment programme over the past few years, with track upgrades to the line between Belfast and Derry and 20 new trains which replaced the remaining Class 80 and Class 450 rolling stock. The new trains were a development of the existing Class 3000 units, the Class 4000, which entered service in 2011 and 2012.

Until 2013 Ireland was the only European Union state that had not implemented EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having derogated its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses; a similar situation exists in Northern Ireland. A consultation on the restructuring of IÉ took place in 2012. The derogation ended on 14 March 2013, when Iarnród Éireann was split in two sectors: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager. Former Irish Transport Minister Leo Varadkar indicated that any open access private operators would not receive any subsidy to operate.

Future projects

In relation to fleet expansion, orders of DARTs were suspended indefinitely in October 2009, but Dublin suburban routes are almost at capacity.

Some call for the expansion of the rail network in the Republic. The route from Limerick to Waterford is due to have a realistic service for the first time in decades. Nevertheless, this is the only non-Dublin InterCity route in existence. A railway right of way exists from Limerick, up through the west, to Sligo. This has been titled the Western Railway Corridor (WRC) and some see it as a possible counterbalance to investment in Dublin. Phase 1 is complete with the line from Ennis to Athenry open since March 2010. Phases 2 and 3, from Athenry to Tuam, with an extension from Tuam to Claremorris to link up with the Westport/Ballina line to Dublin, are deferred indefinitely. Future proposals would see the line extended to Sligo, where it would also link with Ireland West Airport Knock.

Images for kids

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  The coat of arms of the GNR.