Dublin and Drogheda Railway

Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) was an Irish gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) railway company in Ireland.

The D&D constructed the railway line between Dublin and Drogheda. The company presented the scheme to parliament in 1836 and received royal assent on 13 August 1836. The line was proposed to be built to 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm) gauge[1] on the grounds of lower costs. The two broader gauges were used nowhere else. Following complaints from the UR the Board of Trade investigated the matter, and in 1843 decreed the use of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm).[2] John MacNeill was appointed as the line's engineer in 1840 and by October 1840 construction was underway. The official opening of the line occurred on 25 May 1844. Initially trains ran from Drogheda (the Drogheda terminus of the D&D being 1/4 mile southeast of the current Drogheda railway station) to a temporary Dublin terminus at the Royal Canal.

The following stations were served by the line when it opened: Royal Canal (Temporary Dublin terminus - replaced by Amiens Street Station on 29 November 1844); Clontarf; Raheny; Baldoyle; Portmarnock; Malahide; Donabate; Rush and Lusk; Skerries; Balbriggan; Gormanston; Laytown; Bettystown; Drogheda.[3]

In 1845 a new railway company, Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway (D&BJct), received royal assent for its Act to connect the D&D at Drogheda to the Ulster Railway at Portadown, therefore creating a rail link between Dublin and Belfast when the line was completed in 1852.

The Northern Railway of Ireland was formed by a merger of the D&D with the D&BJct in 1875.

References

  1. ↑ Steaming into the Future
  2. ↑ Railways in Craigavon
  3. ↑ "List of Railways in Ireland" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2010-01-10.


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