Dublin–Sligo railway line

The Dublin to Sligo main line is a railway route operated by Iarnród Éireann in Ireland. It starts in Dublin Connolly station, terminating at Sligo Mac Diarmada railway station in Sligo. The route is a double-track railway as far as Maynooth, being a single-track railway with passing loops between there and Sligo.

Dublin–Sligo Main Line
22000 Class DMU (22020) at Dublin Connolly forming a service to Sligo.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Inter-city rail Heavy rail
System	Iarnród Éireann
Status	Operational
Locale	Ireland
Termini	Dublin Connolly Sligo Mac Diarmada
Stations	13
Operation
Opened	1847
Owner	Iarnród Éireann
Operator(s)	Iarnród Éireann Commuter InterCity
Character	Secondary
Depot(s)	Dublin Connolly
Rolling stock	29000 Class (Commuter) 22000 Class (InterCity and Commuter)
Technical
Line length	207 km
Number of tracks	Double track (Dublin Connolly–Maynooth) and Single track (Maynooth–Sligo) with Passing Loops
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Irish gauge
Electrification	Not electrified
Route map Year closed Sligo Mac Diarmada Sligo Quay freight terminal 2000 Ballysodare 1963 Ballisodare River Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Rly to Enniskillen 1957 proposed Western Railway Corridor to Limerick 1963 Collooney Ballymote Kilfree Junction 1963 to Ballaghaderreen 1963 Boyle Carrick-on-Shannon Drumsna 1963 River Shannon Cavan and Leitrim Railway Dromod Newtown Forbes 1963 Longford Edgeworthstown Street & Rathowen 1963 to Cavan 1959 Inny Junction 1931 Multyfarnham 1963 Clonhugh 1963 The Royal Canal to Athlone 1964 Mullingar Killucan 1963 Hill of Down 1963 River Boyne Moyvalley 1963 to Edenderry 1931 Enfield Ferns Lock 1963 Kilcock Maynooth Blakestown Leixlip Louisa Bridge Leixlip Confey Lucan North 1941 Barberstown Docklands branch to M3 Parkway Clonsilla Porterstown DM (future) Coolmine Coolmine Castleknock Blanchardstown 1937 Navan Road Parkway Ashtown Ashtown Pelletstown (future) Reilly's Bridge 1847 Broombridge Liffey Junction Passengers 1937 Goods 1977 Dublin Broadstone Passengers 1937 Goods 1961 Glasnevin 1910 The Royal Canal Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Heuston Drumcondra Belfast–Dublin railway line Docklands ( Spencer Dock) The Royal Canal Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Saggart and Tallaght Dublin-Rosslare railway line to Rosslare Europort = Western Commuter

Between Dublin and Longford, the route is operated as part of Dublin Suburban Rail, specifically the Western Commuter service. In 2018, 1.4 million passengers were carried on the line.[1]

History

The extension from Longford to Sligo opened on 3 September 1862.[2]

Route

From Dublin the route mostly bends alongside the Royal Canal to Mullingar along a fairly level gradient. Thereafter there are a number of gradients, with the sustained 1 in 80 between mileposts 75¼ and 70⅜ towards Dublin noted as challenging.[3]

Services

Commuter operates the suburban services between Dublin and Maynooth. These run from Pearse Station, which connects with the line to Rosslare Europort. Some trains run from Bray through to Maynooth.

Two trains per day (Monday to Friday) operate Longford to Pearse in the morning and return from Connolly to Longford in the evening.

InterCity

• Monday-Friday

8 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo

• Saturday

7 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo

• Sunday

6 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo

Former services in dieselisation era

There was a basic service pattern of 3 services a day, sometimes supplemented by an additional service from Dublin on Fridays and a very early morning service from Sligo on Monday mornings. The closure of many stations in 1963 enabled the service to be speeded up with over an hour reduction in journey time.

Freight trains from Sligo stopped when the final trains carrying logs from Sligo ceased in December 2008.

Dublin stations

InterCity services now commence and terminate at Dublin Connolly. Originally Broadstone railway station was the terminus. In the intervening years Pearse Street (Westland Row) was the starting point.

Connections at Dublin Connolly

The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to Dún Laoghaire or Bray for example or travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish Ferries or Stena Line to Holyhead and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.

Dublin Port can be reached by walking beside the tram lines around the corner from Amiens Street into Store Street or by Luas one stop to Busáras where Dublin Bus operates route 53 to the Ferry Terminal[4] or to take a taxi.

Passengers can change at Dublin Connolly for the Belfast–Dublin railway line for the Enterprise to Northern Ireland.

Rolling stock

Current operations

InterCity services have been operated by 22000 Class DMUs since December 2007, the Dublin-Sligo route being the first in the whole of Ireland to get the new trains.[5] They replaced the interim use of 29000 Class Commuter DMUs, which had been introduced to these services in 2005, having in turn replaced locomotive-hauled stock.[6]

Previous dieselisation era operations

InterCity services saw haulage by CIÉ classes 001, 121, 141 and latterly 071 after they were displaced from mainline duties. 121 and 141 Classes would often work in multiple on the heavy midday trains and latterly to achieve faster timetables. The CIE 201 Class was rarer on passenger duties. Coaching stock could reach to about 13 coaches requiring multiple stops at some stations. Laminate and Park Royal coaching stock including 6-wheel luggage/generator vans were replaced in time by Cravens and eventually Mark 2 coaches with Mark 1 generator vans cascaded from mainline services.[7]

CIÉ 2600 Class AEC DMUs were sometimes used on the morning and evening services up until 1969/70.

See also

• Midland Great Western Railway
• Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway

References

1. "Highest ever passenger numbers recorded on Sligo-Dublin rail line". Ocean FM. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
2. "THE BALLAGHADERREEN BRANCH". Irish Failfan News. 7 (3): 14–16. July 1961. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
3. "Network Statement 2015" (PDF). Irish Rail. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
4. "53 - Dublin Bus". dublinbus.ie.
5. Moran, Michael (18 July 2007). "New trains for Sligo line are on the way". The Sligo Champion. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
6. Moran, Michael (29 June 2005). "New-look Sligo train unveiled". The Sligo Champion. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
7. "124". Irish Traction Group. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.

External links

Media related to Dublin–Sligo railway line at Wikimedia Commons

• Iarnród Éireann: Line information