Heuston railway station

Heuston Station
Stáisiún Heuston
Iarnród Éireann
Luas
The station in late 2006
Location St John's Road West
Dublin 8
D08 E2CV
Republic of Ireland
Coordinates 53°20′47″N 6°17′34″W / 53.346451°N 6.292662°W / 53.346451; -6.292662Coordinates: 53°20′47″N 6°17′34″W / 53.346451°N 6.292662°W / 53.346451; -6.292662
Owned by Iarnród Éireann
Operated by Iarnród Éireann
Platforms 12 (including 3 for Luas)
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Other information
Station code HSTON
Fare zone Suburban 1
History
Opened 4 August 1846 (1846-08-04)
Key dates
1846 Station opened as Kingsbridge Station
1966 Renamed as Heuston Station
1998, 2004 and 2005 Station refurbished and partially rebuilt

Heuston Station /ˈhjuːstən/ (Irish: Stáisiún Heuston; formerly Kingsbridge Station) also known as Dublin Heuston, is one of Ireland's main railway stations, linking the capital with the south, southwest and west.[1] It is operated by Iarnród Éireann (IÉ), the national railway operator. It also houses the head office of its parent company - Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). The station is named in honour of Seán Heuston, an executed leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, who had worked in the station's offices.

History

The station opened on 4 August 1846[2] as the terminus and headquarters of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR). It was originally called Kingsbridge Station after the nearby Kings Bridge over the River Liffey. In 1966, on the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, it was renamed "Heuston Station" in honour of Seán Heuston, a young railway worker who commanded a nearby post in the 1916 Easter Rising. Heuston was one of the 16 executed by the British after that Rising, and had previously worked in the station's offices.[3]

The original buildings, designed by Sancton Wood, remain. The five panels along the front represent, in order:

  • VIII.VIC - being the Act of Parliament that incorporated the GS&WR
  • Coat of arms of Cork City
  • Coat of arms of Dublin City
  • Coat of arms of Limerick City
  • AD. 1844 - being the year of incorporation of the GS&WR

When first consructed the station had only two plaforms separated by 5 carriage lines. Two of the lines were subsequently replaced by a two-sided platform and the remaining carriage line also removed. An additional plaform was created in 1872 on the south side of the station beyond the station roof, this was known as the "military platform" and was intended military personnel could be kept separate from the rest of the station.[4] Due to need to cater for increased demand and reduce delays three new plaforms were incorporated in August 2002 as part of a €170,000,000 development incorporating improved signalling and approach trackwork.[5]

Since its renewal (by Quinn Savage Smyth architects and engineers Buro Happold) it includes two branches of Eason's, a Marks & Spencer Simply Food store, as well as some dining facilities, including a Supermacs and a pub.

Operation

Interior of the station looking towards the track area
Ticketing area

Rail services

InterCity

InterCity services from Heuston go to and from Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Mayo and Kerry.

Commuter

Commuter services stop at all stations to Portlaoise Mondays to Saturdays, and on Sundays at all stations to Kildare

All services leave the station on a triple line as far as Inchicore, quadruple line until Hazelhatch, and thereafter only double line (one each way).

This is the main line to Cork with key service terminus and transfer points in the Cork-bound direction at

For a full list of stops on these routes, and route descriptions, see Rail transport in Ireland.

Before 2016, the physical rail link between Connolly Station and Heuston via the Phoenix Park Tunnel was usually only used for freight and rolling stock movements. Once or twice a year special trains operated, usually from Cork to Connolly for Gaelic Athletic Association matches at Croke Park. A more regular service along this route, with four journeys an hour, began on 21 November 2016.[6]

The Luas light rail red line connects the two stations (apart from off-peak Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays; connection to Busáras, a three-minute walk from Connolly, is possible at those times).[7] Dublin Bus has a direct service to Connolly, but this operates as a special service for Dublin Airport so fares are not at commuter level.

Platforms

There are nine platforms: eight terminal platforms and one through platform. Platform 1 is an extension to Platform 2, and reachable only via that platform. Prior to Heuston's recent upgrade, there were five terminal platforms.

The through platform is numbered Platform 10, and is situated on the Phoenix Park Tunnel line, which connects to Connolly Station. There is no platform nine. Platform 10 is some distance from the main concourse, and is not used for any regular scheduled trains.

Statistics

YearsDaily Passenger Exit and EntryChange[8]
201217,165NA
201317,183Increase 18
201418,667Increase 1,484
201519,750Increase 1,083
201619,544Decrease 206

Future

In March 2018. plans to recast the defunct platform 10 at the entrance to the Phoenix Park tunnel as a new station named "Heuston West" were revealed. [9]

The Iarnród Éireann initiative plans to have a DART Underground tunnel linking Heuston with Pearse Station and onwards to the Docklands railway station. An underground station would be constructed at Heuston.

Construction has been indefinitely delayed due to lack of funding; however, planning and design is still ongoing under the heading of the DART underground project.[10]

Inchicore works

The main IÉ maintenance depot, at Inchicore, is approximately three kilometres (two miles) away.

Preceding station   Iarnród Éireann   Following station
Terminus   Commuter
South Western Commuter		   Park West &
Cherry Orchard
Terminus   InterCity
Dublin-Cork		   Newbridge
or
Kildare
or
Portlaoise
Terminus   InterCity
Dublin-Waterford		   Newbridge
  InterCity
Dublin-Limerick via Thurles		  
Terminus   InterCity
Dublin-Galway		   Hazelhatch
& Celbridge
Terminus   InterCity
Dublin-Westport/Ballina		   Kildare
or
Newbridge
Terminus   InterCity
Dublin-Tralee		   Portlaoise
  Future  
Terminus   Commuter
South Western Commuter		   Heuston West
Christchurch   DART
Line 2		   Inchicore
Preceding station   Luas   Following station
Museum
towards Connolly or The Point		   Red Line   James's
towards Tallaght or Saggart

See also

References

  1. ↑ CIE annual report which names the station as "Heuston Station".
  2. ↑ "Dublin Kingsbridge station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  3. ↑ Boyd-Hope, Gary; Beaumont, Jonathan (14 August 2017). "FROM OUR ARCHIVE: HOW THE RAILWAYS REMEMBERED IRELAND'S 1916 EASTER RISING". Railway Magazine. Dublin Heuston. Archived from the original on 15 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Murray, K. A.; McNeil, D.B. (1976). The Great Southern & Western Railway. Irish Record Railway Society. pp. 170, 171. ISBN 0904078051.
  5. ↑ "A New Improved Heuston Station 2002". RTÉ. 22 August 2002. Heuston Station in Dublin has been given a major overhaul and is due to open in just over a week. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Plans for four trains an hour in Phoenix Park tunnel next year". The Herald. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.luas.ie/red-line-frequency.html
  8. ↑ https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/NTA_Rail_Census_Report_2017_FINAL.pdf
  9. ↑ Metrolink Consultation document
  10. ↑ Irish Rail DART Underground Webpage Archived 2015-03-03 at the Wayback Machine.
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