St Johnston railway station

St Johnston railway station is a former railway station that served St Johnston, County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway opened the station on 19 April 1847. It was taken over by the Great Northern Railway in 1883.[1] It closed on 15 February 1965.[2]

St Johnston
St Johnston railway station
LocationCounty Donegal
Republic of Ireland
Coordinates 54°56′00″N 07°27′22″W
History
Original companyLondonderry and Enniskillen Railway
Post-groupingGreat Northern Railway (Ireland)
Key dates
19 April 1847Station opens
15 February 1965Station closes

History

St Johnston station was opened as a part of the setup of the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway in 1847.[3] The opening of the station brought prosperity to the village of St Johnston as the Irish Revenue Commissioners selected St Johnston as the location for the customs post for the link between County Donegal and County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, despite the customs officers being considered ineffective for the route, as smugglers tended not to use the railway when heading for Londonderry station.[4] It was operated by Great Northern Railway and was known locally as the "Derry Road", for people passing through to connect at Londonderry to change trains to connect onwards to Belfast.[4]

In 1959, the majority of railways and railway stations in County Donegal were closed down in December.[5] However St Johnston remained open serving the route between Londonderry and Strabane until 1965 when the Ulster Transport Authority closed St Johnston down.[6] The closure of St Johnston hit the village economically as they had relied on the income from customs officers based there, as the customs house closed along with the railway.[4] The closure was also debated in the Senate of Northern Ireland, where Northern Irish senators objected to the closure citing economic viability, and one member stated that he had previously used St Johnston to deliver six combine harvesters to County Donegal.[7]

Routes
The closed alignment double track railway.
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Carrigans   Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway
Londonderry to Enniskillen		   Carrickmore
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References
  1. House of Commons of the United Kingdom (1908). Papers by Command. 47. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 48.
  2. "Irish railways" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
  3. "Railway Snippets". St Johnston and Carrigans. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  4. Nash, Catherine (2016). Partitioned Lives: The Irish Borderlands. Routledge. pp. 47, 52. ISBN 1317083687.
  5. "When Donegal Had A Railway". RTE. 2 March 1977. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  6. "Today marks 60 years since the end of railways in Donegal". Highland Radio. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  7. Northern Ireland Senate (1964). The Parliamentary Debates: The Senate Official Report. 48. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 359.
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