Dún Laoghaire railway station

Dún Laoghaire (Mallin) railway station (Irish: Stáisiún Dhún Laoghaire/Í Mhealláin) is a station in Dún Laoghaire, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland.

Dún Laoghaire Mallin

Stáisiún Dhún Laoghaire/Í Mhealláin
Dún Laoghaire Mallin with Royal Irish Yacht Club building to rear in 2014
LocationCrofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, A96 N7C6
Ireland
Coordinates53.2949°N 6.1345°W / 53.2949; -6.1345
Owned byIarnród Éireann
Operated byIarnród Éireann
Platforms3
Tracks2
Bus routes45A, 45B, 46A. 59, 63, 75, 75A, 111.
Bus operatorsDublin Bus
Go-Ahead Ireland
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
ArchitectJohn Skipton Mulvany
Other information
Station codeDLERY
Fare zoneSuburban 2
History
Original companyDublin and Kingstown Railway
Pre-groupingDublin and South Eastern Railway
Post-groupingGreat Southern Railways
Key dates
1837Station opens as Kingstown Harbour
1861Station renamed Kingstown
1921Station renamed Dún Laoghaire
1966Station renamed Dún Laoghaire Mallin
1971Original station entrance closed
1983Station upgraded
1997Current station entrance built
Services
Preceding station   Iarnród Éireann   Following station
Blackrock
or
Dublin Pearse		   InterCity
Dublin-Rosslare		   Bray Daly
Blackrock   Commuter
Northern Commuter
Peak times only		   Bray Daly
  Commuter
Western Commuter
Peak times only		  
  Commuter
South Eastern Commuter		  
Salthill & Monkstown   DART
Trans-Dublin		   Sandycove & Glasthule
or
Terminus
  Historical railways  
Salthill   Dublin and Kingstown Railway   Terminus
Terminus   Dalkey Atmospheric Railway   Dalkey

Services

Dún Laoghaire has two through platforms and one terminal platform. Unusually, the station building is on a bridge above the platforms, in a setup similar to Leixlip Louisa Bridge railway station. The station has a ticket office, automatic ticket machines and a small coffee shop. The ticket office is open between 05:45-00:06 AM, Monday to Sunday.

DART

From the inception of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) service in 1984, all DART services stop at Dún Laoghaire.

Other services

Dún Laoghaire is on the intercity Dublin-Rosslare and commuter Dundalk-Dublin-Arklow-Gorey routes, and all trains on these routes stop here. They often run non-stop between Dun Laoghaire and Dublin Pearse, and freight and maintenance trains pass through Dún Laoghaire without stopping.

History

The original station for Dún Laoghaire, then known as Kingstown, was situated some 0.5 miles (0.80 km) closer to Dublin at the West Pier near to or at the present-day Salthill and Monkstown railway station. That station was the southern terminus of the first railway in Ireland, the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), which opened in 1834.[1][2] For the first public timetable the station was named Kingstown but in contract documents it was at least sometimes referred to as Dunleary.[3]

Before the D&KR had even begun to be built it became apparent that the Packet boats were to use either the East Pier or the new wharf being built. Therefore, in 1833 the D&KR raised a parliamentary bill so its railway could be extended beyond the East Pier with a new station at Kingstown then on to Dalkey.[lower-alpha 1] Mobilised opposition from a rival canal group and local opposition caused the Bill to fail in June 1833.[4]

The D&KR regrouped and with lobbying presented a less ambitious Bill to the site of the current station only in 1834. Thomas M. Gresham, a D&KR shareholder and main spokesperson for the opposition, being awarded a silver plate in August 1833 for the same at a personal cost of £1,200, was persuaded not to oppose the 1834 bill. Other obstacles including an agreement to cross the old part of Dunleary harbour and demolition of a Martello fortification needed an agreement with the Admiralty and Ordnance. The Bill was passed in May 1834 but logistics meant Dargan began work in May 1836 finishing about a year later. The new terminus opened on 13 May 1837, the first train being a special with D&KR directors and friends.[5][lower-alpha 2]

The original station building was an apparently insufficient Station House and Parcel Office and in 1840 the D&KR resolved to replace it.[6][lower-alpha 3] The platforms were finally covered in 1845 by a temporary structure costing £122 which was later extended for £300.[7]

On 29 March 1844, the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway officially opened. The line was a branch of the existing D&KR which diverged to the south when approaching from the west with an interchange platform[lower-alpha 4] before the atmospheric ran as a single track eastbound into the tunnel. While through running was possible it was not used.[8]

Grierson notes that the station build was completed in 1853 to a design by John Skipton Mulvany by Mr. Roberts doing the "masonry, carpentry, ironmongery, &c," for £1,665. This included the station walls,[lower-alpha 5] while ironwork, roof, and plumbing cost £1,031 by I. & R. Mallet.[9] The roof has since been removed.[10] The station house above the platforms was completed in 1854.[11] a structure in a neo-classical style, designed also by Mulvany.[6] This was the station building until 1971 when the current arrangement was introduced. Mulvany's building became reused as a restaurant.[lower-alpha 6]

The Dalkey Atmospheric ceased operation in 1854. The Dublin and Wexford Railway exercised their rights and rebuilt the Dalkey to Kingstown section as a conventional railway at 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) removing height restrictions. When they ran their first train into Kingstown on 10 October 1855, the D&KR directors refused them the use of the station and the passengers were forced to return towards Dalkey, this also happening for some days afterwards.[12] On 30 March 1856, both the D&KR and D&WR concurred with the D&KR's engineer D. B. Gibbons assessment that the rebuild under Brunel was not to the parliamentary approved specification in terms and had safety issues and it was closed for rework by William Dargan as an accident would be disastrous for both companies.[13] Dargan converted the down line between Kingstown and Old Dun Leary harbour to dual gauge so the spoil could be dumped there.[lower-alpha 7] and was able to complete the re-work quickly.[14] When the Dalkey-Bray section re-opened on 1 July 1856 the D&KR handed all its operations to the D&WR.[14] The D&WR converted their newly acquired line to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) in the next year or so enabling through running.

Carlisle Pier with its branch on the single track section just to the east of the station was created in 1859.

Although it lay on a double-track railway for over ninety years, Dún Laoghaire station had only one through the platform with a bay platform facing Dublin, both on the seaward side of the station. The station lay on a short section of a single line that ran from just north of the station, to just past the junction for the branch to Carlisle Pier, which was controlled by a signal box known as the 'Hole in the Wall Box.' This arrangement created a bottleneck for intensive steam-hauled suburban services to/from Bray. It was not until 1957 that CIÉ remedied the situation by providing a second through the platform. Further improvements were carried out in connection with the introduction of DART electric trains in 1984.

A replacement station entrance, with a combined ticket office and automated barriers, was built above the railway lines at street level in 1998. It was constructed with a steel framework supporting a taut sail-like canopy and with glazed panels as side features.

Naming

Also called Kingstown Harbour the station was renamed Kingstown in 1861, and renamed Dún Laoghaire in 1921. It was given the additional name "Mallin" on 10 April 1966, 50 years after the Easter Rising, when Córas Iompair Éireann renamed 15 major stations after Republican leaders. It is named in honour of Michael Mallin, a leader in the 1916 Easter Rising. although it is usually referred to simply as Dún Laoghaire.

Transport services

Directly outside the station are bus stops for Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland and other private bus operator routes:

Dublin Bus Routes:

Go-Ahead Ireland routes:

In addition, a number of bus services stop at Marine Road / George's Street, located less than 350m from the station.

There is also a busy taxi rank near the station on Marine Road, and a large car park adjacent to the station in the harbour area.

The station is where the Killiney-Dún Laoghaire footpath "The Metals" (Ná Ráillí) ends.

The station is next to the former Dún Laoghaire Ferryport, for Stena Line services to Holyhead. This service ceased in September 2014.

See also
  • The station in 2014
  • Commuter train arrives from Dublin
  • DART 8300 Class at Dún Laoghaire Mallin station in 2008
  • The previous station entrance in 2007
  • June 1975, the footbridge was later to become the main entrance
  • Chartered NIR diesel train in 1982 before the new entrance
  • Train in cutting south of the station in 1982
  • The terminus platform in 2012, the other side of the wall from the through platforms
  • Dalkey Atmospheric Railway used what is now platform two which was previously wider

Notes
  1. The D&KR had some eventual ambitions of reaching Bray
  2. The 1837 station was essentially based on the north of the current station at an beyond the current Platform 3 terminus platform
  3. It would reasonable there was work to buildings for the opening of the Dalkey Atmospheric in 1844 but this seems difficult to source
  4. This is the current platform 2 which was much wider at its eastern end than now
  5. This may refer to the high station walls still showing in pictures in 2017 to the north of the station and between platforms 2 and 3
  6. The precise order and details of the builds between 1840 and 1854 have some details that seem somewhat difficult to resolve between the sources and may require expert interpretation or better sources
  7. this would have been in the part put off by the railway which had issues of holding stagnant water

References
  1. Kullmann (2018), pp. 26–27.
  2. https://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf
  3. Grierson (1887), pp. 108, 116, 120.
  4. Murray (1981), p. 32—37.
  5. Murray (1981), p. 38—42.
  6. Pearson (1981), p. 48.
  7. Grierson (1887), pp. 127–128.
  8. Murray (1981), pp. 49, 51–53.
  9. Grierson (1887), p. 127.
  10. Kullmann (2018), pp. 141–146.
  11. "Former Railway Station". Archiseek. Archived from the original on 23 March 2005. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  12. Murray (1981), p. 73.
  13. Murray (1981), p. 72–74.
  14. Murray (1981), p. 74.

Sources
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