History of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland as a whole had 3,400 route miles of railway. 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. Today Ireland's railways are run by Iarnród ÃÂireann in the Republic and Northern Ireland Railways. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland based in Whitehead, County Antrim is the main preservation group, with the Irish Traction Group preserving diesel locomotives. See rail transport in Ireland for the current situation.
Ireland as a whole was still part of the United Kingdom, with direct rule from Westminster as a result of the Act of Union. Under the British administration a system of canals had been built for freight movement, but the ordinary people were, by and large, mostly sedentary. The coach services of Charles Bianconi were the main form of transport between population centres.
The main delay in bringing railways to Ireland was legislation. The first proposal for rail in Ireland was made shortly after the opening of England's Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. The first route obtaining parliamentary approval was that between Waterford and Limerick, although it would be a further twenty years until its construction.
The first railway to be built in Ireland was that between Dublin and Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), a seaside town 6 miles outside the city. The contractor was one William Dargan, now known as 'the founder of railways in Ireland' due to his participation in many of the main routes built on the island. The D&KR was notable in being one of the earliest dedicated commuter railways in the world. The planning undertaken is also noteworthy, a full traffic 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 traffic potential from the ever expanding port at Kingstown. On 17 December 1834 the locomotive Hibernia brought a train the full route from the terminus at Westland Row (now Pearse Street Station) near Trinity College Dublin all the way to Kingstown. The railway was built to a gauge of 4' 8½". Most of the route is still part of the modern day Dublin Area Rapid Transit electrified commuter rail system.
Through various projects, the route which exists today from Dublin to Belfast slowly emerged. The Ulster Railway (UR) scheme was the second railway project to start in Ireland. It began with the aim of connecting Belfast to Armagh. By the time trains were running between Belfast and Portadown in 1842, another route from Dublin had begun – the Dublin & Drogheda Railway (D&DR).
The was some disagreement between those in the North and those in the South. To begin with, the promoters of the UR were in favour of an inland Belfast-Dublin route (maximising the amount of their route used). Meanwhile the D&DR board intended to have a coastal route. Another serious problem was a lack of agreement on gauge. The section outside Belfast was initially built to a gauge of 6 ft 2 ins, while the D&DR was built to 5 ft 2 inches (the D&KR had meanwhile been built to 4 ft 8½ ins). A commission finally set a new standard for all railways in Ireland. A compromise between upper and lower limits of 5 ft and 5 ft 6 inches, produced the Irish standard gauge of 5 ft 3 inches (exactly 1600mm). This decision was remarkable in that this new gauge was not in use by any existing railway (only Brazil and Australia have used this gauge in the past).
A final player was the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway (B&DJR), who would construct the section of the route from Drogheda to Dundalk, and onwards to the UR at Portadown. The two stations in Drogheda, going north and south, would not be connected until later, with the construction of the Boyne viaduct (completed 1855).
The various companies would later be amalgamated to form the Great Northern Railway (GNR). This company remained intact until 1958, when it was split between the transport authorities north and south of the border.
Known still today as the 'premier line', this was perhaps the largest rail project attempted in Ireland as a whole. It was to connect Dublin to the city of Cork in Southwest Ireland.
This route was to connect Dublin to the Midlands (Athlone) and onwards to Galway and County Mayo.
Numerous narrow gauge systems were built around Ireland, usually to a gauge of 3 feet. In County Donegal an extensive network existed, with two companies operating – the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) and County Donegal Railways (CDR). Well known was the West Clare Railway – in County Clare, which saw diesel locomotion before closure. The Cavan & Leitrim Railway (C&LR) operated in what is now the border area of County Cavan and County Leitrim. Some smaller narrow gauge routes also existed in County Antrim and also County Cork – notably the Cork Blackrock & Passage Railway.
Apart from small heritage railways, the Irish narrow gauge today only survives in the bogs of the Midlands as part of Bord na Móna's peat transport network.
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. One of the most spectacular attacks on the infrastructure was the bombing of the Mallow viaduct.
Partition however, would eventually exact a heavy toll on the cross-border routes (intrinsic to the County Donegal rail network).
World War II proved costly also for the rail system in the Republic. With the war effort, Britain could not spare coal for the 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, who were diminishing too due to steadily increasing emigration.
Railways in the Republic were converted to diesel locomotives early, and swiftly, due to the run down nature of many steam engines, lack of coal, and desire for modernisation. In 1951 CIEss first diesel railcars arrived, followed by an order for 100 diesel locomotives in 1953.
In the 1950s and 1960s large swathes of route were closed in the Republic. 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 & South Eastern Harcourt Street railway line in Dublin. As an important commuter artery, it should never have been closed. In 2004, the route reopened as part of the new LUAS tram system.
The Ulster Transport Authority is particularly reviled in railway circles. In a few short years, a large network across Ulster was shut down, leaving only Belfast to Derry, Dublin and branches to Larne and Bangor. CIE, the transport company in the Republic, had no option but to their end of cross-border routes. Today a gaping hole remains in the island's rail network, with a distance of 130 miles from Derry to Mullingar untouched by railways, and no rail service to large towns such as Letterkenny and Monaghan.
The 1970s and 1980s saw a long period without investment in the rail system - with the notable exception of the DART. Most rail and rolling stock had enough of a working lifespan remaining to get by. However, upkeep and maintenance also suffered, leading to a deteriorating quality of service and reliability. Safety conditions also suffered, to the point where decisive action was required after a nasty rail accident on the route to Sligo - which could have been worse.
The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) was a bright light in an otherwise bleak rail era for Ireland. The north-south commuter route in and out of Dublin was electrified, and new frequent services run from 1984 onwards. It was intended to expand the service, with routes to the west of the city, but economic conditions mitigated against this. In fact, the number of trains available on the DART remained unaltered until the mid-1990s.
The only investment during those two decades was in some carriages, some of which were second-hand, to the extent that British Rail had intended to scrap them! Cutbacks were also experienced - the closure of the line to Youghal in County Cork and the removal of the North Kerry line. Unused sections of track were allowed to sit and rot.
Fortunately, in the 1990s the Republic experienced an economic boom (known colloquially as the Celtic tiger). This allowed substantial investment to be made. 32 new locomotives were purchased from General Motors, 4 for NIR and the balance for Iarnród ÃÂireann. New De-dietrich carriages were also purchased for the cross-border 'Enterprise' service. Meanwhile the route network was also being upgraded to continuous welded rail (CWR) (see: rail tracks) - old mechanical signalling was also replaced by electronic signalling.
In the mid-1990s, the greater Dublin area continued to experience a population boom. Such commuter trains as existed were aging 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 to Maynooth was upgraded, in addition to further diesel railcars being ordered. Again, the North-South Dublin route saw new railcars provide services to Drogheda (County Louth) and Arklow (County Wicklow). A number of orders were made for new DART carriages, the first in over a decade.
The suburban stations were also upgraded, allowing disabled access with new elevators at footbridges. Extra roads were provided out of Dublin, while the main terminals Connolly Station and Heuston Station were upgraded (the latter completed in 2004 with over double the previous capacity). A new railcar servicing depot was built at Drogheda (Inchicore continues to be used for locomotives and carriages).
Northern Ireland too has experienced investment in rail in recent years. The Central Station has been redesigned, while a more direct route out of Belfast was reopened for trains to Derry. The line to Bangor was relaid. Railcars have also been ordered for NIR. 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 on 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.
Iarnród ÃÂireann placed an order for 67 intercity carriages in 2003. In 2004 an order was also placed for 100 "regional railcars" (DMUs). These will mostly go towards meeting demand on the railways, although some older carriages are due for retirement, and at peak times, capacity is below that needed. It is suspected that Iarnród ÃÂireann wish to phase out locomotive hauled services - apart from the 67 new Intercity carriages, the existing 100 newest carriages (only from the 1980s) may also be phased out (capacity being taken up by regional railcars). More orders of suburban railcars and DARTs are likely, but the Dublin suburban routes are almost at capacity. Quadrupling of the route north of Dublin and west to Kildare is planned.
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, which has earned the railway network in Ireland the colloquial title of "Paleways" or "Palerail" (derived from The Pale). 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.
Northern Ireland Railways look to continue to be in a precarious position. The new railcars, it is hoped, will boost the survival chances of the 'non-core network' (Coleraine-Derry and Whitehead-Larne). A so-called consultation process is ongoing as part of a suspected closure timetable by the Department of Regional Development (the direct-rule replacement for Northern Ireland's transport minister). The collaborative Enterprise service is also in some trouble. Infrastructure works to upgrade Dublin's rail network will result in bus transfers for part of the journey until early 2005. At the same time, the fare is now a significant incentive to travel by bus or car, utilising the new Motorways between the two cities. As a final blow, reliability is at an all-time low, due to unresolved operational difficulties in locomotives supplying power to carriages. Bad design has meant that locomotives are frequently burning out (so far three incidents of actual fire have also occured).
Ireland in the early 19th century
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway
The Great Northern Railway
The Great Southern and Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway
The Narrow Gauge Railways
Struggling in the early 20th century
Diesel Dawn
Rationalisation
Steady as she goes
Rail revival
The future
See also
External link