Donabate railway station
Donabate railway station (Irish: Stáisiún Dhomhnach Bat) serves Donabate in Fingal. It is the first station from Dublin not served by DART services.
Donabate Domhnach Bat  | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 The historic station building at Donabate, built in 1844 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Beaverstown, Donabate, County Dublin, K36 H973 Republic of Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53.4855°N 6.1512°W | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Iarnród Éireann | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Operated by | Iarnród Éireann | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Belfast–Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Station code | DBATE | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | Suburban 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1844 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Northern Commuter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Description
The station has two platforms, one for each of the two lines which run through the station. Built in the mid-19th century, the station has a traditional appearance. The booking office has a small waiting area and toilet facilities. There are two ticket-issuing machines and one part-time manned window for the purchase of tickets. The station is located in the centre of the town.
When the station was opened there was no footbridge built. When CIÉ closed Midleton station in Cork, the GS&WR iron footbridge was moved to Donabate. This footbridge was subsequently removed in 2011 and replaced by a new bridge with steps and lifts for increased accessibility. In 2013, a new building was built on the platform containing ticket barriers. Whilst Midleton has since been reopened.
Donabate is served by 22000 Class and 29000 Class diesel railcars. However 201 Class locomotives + DeDietrich rolling stock pass through on Enterprise services as do 071 Class locomotives + Tara Mines Wagons with mineral ore trains from Boliden Tara Mines near Navan.
The linespeed in Donabate is 90 mph, the highest on the Dublin - Belfast Mainline and the highest permittable speed of the DeDietrich coaches.
The station has two lifts and a footbridge connecting Platforms 1 and 2.
The platform 2 waiting area
An Enterprise train passing Donabate. This train is going at 90 mph
The signal cabin at Donabate. Like the station house, this is also historical
A close up of the historical train station house depicting the sign "Donabate"
Future and plans to extend the DART
Under Transport 21, there were plans to continue the DART from Malahide railway station, through Donabate railway station and up to Drogheda railway station by 2015. However, this was delayed due to the Great Recession and was shelved in 2015 to make way for the development of the MetroLink[1]. Current long-term expansion plans have ambitions to electrify the station by 2040[2].
