Heuston railway station

Heuston Station Stáisiún Heuston
Heuston Station
Location	St John's Road, Dublin 8 Republic of Ireland
Coordinates	53°20′47″N 6°17′34″W / 53.346451°N 6.292662°WCoordinates: 53°20′47″N 6°17′34″W / 53.346451°N 6.292662°W
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
Key dates
1846	Station opened as Kingsbridge Station
1966	Renamed as Heuston Station
1998,2004 & 2005	Station refurbished and partially rebuilt

Dublin–Waterford line
Legend
Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Dublin Connolly & The Point Dublin Heuston Luas Red Line to Tallaght & Saggart Inchicore Works Park West and Cherry Orchard M50 motorway Clondalkin/Fonthill Kishoge(yet to open) Adamstown Hazelhatch and Celbridge Grand Canal Straffanclosed Sallins and Naas River Liffey Newbridge Kildare to Cork and Westport/Galway M7 motorway Athy Carlow Muine Bheag River Barrow Kilkenny to Portlaoise Thomastown River Nore to Limerick to Mallow Waterford West goods yard Waterford to Rosslare

Dublin to Cork Line
Legend
Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Dublin Connolly & The Point Dublin Heuston Luas Red Line to Tallaght & Saggart Inchicore Works Park West and Cherry Orchard† Clondalkin/Fonthill† Kishogeproposed Adamstown† Hazelhatch and Celbridge† Straffanclosed Sallins and Naas† Newbridge† Kildare Dublin–Waterford Line Monasterevin† Portarlington Dublin–Westport/Galway line Port Laoise Laois Traincare Depot Limerick–Ballybrophy line Ballybrophy Templemore Thurles Limerick–Rosslare line Limerick Junction Limerick–Ballybrophy line Limerick–Ennis line Limerick Colbert Charleville Mallow Mallow–Tralee line Cork Kent Cork–Cobh/Midleton line
† Not served by through trains from Dublin to Cork

Dublin–Galway/Westport railway line
Legend
Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Dublin Connolly & The Point Dublin Heuston Luas Red Line to Tallaght & Saggart Inchicore Works Park West and Cherry Orchard Clondalkin/Fonthill Kishoge (Unused) Adamstown Hazelhatch and Celbridge Straffanclosed Sallins and Naas Newbridge Kildare Dublin–Waterford Line Monasterevin Portarlington Dublin to Cork main line Tullamore Horseleap Branch connecting to Mullingar closed 1964 Clara Athlone Ballinasloe Woodlawn Attymon Western Railway Corridor to Limerick Athenry Claremorris (Disused) Oranmore Galway Roscommon Castlerea Ballyhaunis Athenry (Disused) Claremorris Collooney (Disused) Manulla Junction (Exchange only) Foxford Ballina Castlebar Westport Midland Gt Western Rly to Achill closed 1937 Westport Quay

Heuston Station /ˈhjuːstən/ (Irish: Stáisiún Heuston; formerly Kingsbridge Station) is one of Ireland's main railway stations, serving 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).

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 Sean Heuston, an executed leader of the Rising, who had worked in the station's offices.

Designed by Sancton Wood, the handsome original buildings 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

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

Operation

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 Sundays 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

• Kildare for stations on the Waterford line
• Portarlington - for routes to west via Tullamore and Athlone
• Portlaoise (end of commuter services from Heuston)
• Ballybrophy (junction for stations on the Limerick-Ballybrophy railway line),
• Limerick Junction (for transfer to Limerick and Ennis services, and Waterford via Clonmel)
• Mallow (junction for Killarney & Tralee and start of Cork Commuter Services).

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

Links to other main railway stations

Although there is a physical rail link between Connolly Station and Heuston, via the Phoenix Park Tunnel, this 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 in Croke Park. A more regular service along this route, with four journeys an hour, began on 21 November 2016.^[3]

However the Luas light rail red line connects the two stations (apart from off peak Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays)^[4] 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.

Future

The Iarnród Éireann initiative plans to have a DART Underground tunnel linking Heuston with Pearse Station and onwards to a new Spencer Dock 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.^[5]

Inchicore Works

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

Gallery

• 
  Cork-Dublin train at Heuston
• 
  Recently renewed roof
• 
  Heuston interior

See also

• List of railway stations in Ireland
• History of rail transport in Ireland

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. "Plans for four trains an hour in Phoenix Park tunnel next year". The Herald. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
4. http://www.luas.ie/red-line-frequency.html
5. Irish Rail DART Underground Webpage

External links

• Irish Rail Dublin Heuston Station Website
• Luas Heuston Stop information
• Irish Rail Dart Underground Project site
• Video Tour of how Heuston Underground station if look like
• Eiretrains - Heuston Station