Harcourt Street station
![]() The facade of Harcourt Street station, 1910 | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Harcourt Street,Dublin | ||||
Coordinates | 53°20′00″N6°15′45″W/ 53.33345°N 6.26247°W | ||||
Owned by | CIÉ Railways Division | ||||
Operated by | CIÉ Railways Division | ||||
Platforms | 1 | ||||
Construction | |||||
Structure type | At-grade | ||||
History | |||||
Electrified | No | ||||
Original company | Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway | ||||
Pre-grouping | Dublin and South Eastern Railway | ||||
Post-grouping | Great Southern Railways | ||||
Key dates | |||||
7 February 1859 | Station opened | ||||
1 January 1925 | Station closes for goods traffic | ||||
1953 | Services to Wexford, Waterford and Rosslare cease | ||||
31 December 1958 | Station closed | ||||
30 June 2004 | Luas stop opened outside station building | ||||
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Harcourt Street railway stationis a formerrailway terminusinDublin.The station opened in 1859 and served as the terminus of thelinefrom Dublin toBrayinCounty Wicklow.It closed in 1958 following the closure of the Harcourt Street line. Since 2004, there has been aLuastram stop outside the front of the old station.
History[edit]
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The station opened on 7 February 1859, after the initial opening of the railway line itself.[1]
The station facade was designed byGeorge Wilkinson,and contains a centralarchand acolonnadeofdoriccolumns. The station was constructed on anembankment,with the line 25 feet above street level and aGilbey'sbondedspirits storein theundercroft.[2]
Although the line was double track, the station only had a single 597-foot-long (182 m) platform on the west side of the railway, which terminated in a 48'-diameter (14.6 m) turntable at the Hatch Street end of the station. There were two through sidings on the east side of the station, beyond which lay Harcourt Street goods station and the D&WR's locomotive shed. There was no direct access for arriving trains to the goods station, instead 'Up' Freight trains had to pull into the passenger station, then set back onto the 'Down' line before entering the goods station. This was a contributory factor to the 1900 train crash.[3]
The first signal box was installed in 1878, and was replaced with an electro-mechanical installation in 1938 at which point the station was re-signalled with colour light signals.[citation needed]
The station is perhaps most famous for atrain crashin 1900 - a cattle train from Enniscorthy failed to stop and crashed through the end wall of the station, leaving the locomotive suspended over Hatch Street. Nobody was killed, though the driver, William Hyland, had his right arm amputated.[4][5]The locomotive was lowered down onto a temporary rail line on Hatch Street, and brought to the goods yard.[6]
Following the accident, theBoard of Traderecommended the installation of a facing junction to allow direct access to the goods line, and until that took place all trains were to stop at Ranelagh to ensure that they made a controlled approach to Harcourt Street station.[7]This practice continued up to its closure.[8]
After the formation of TheGreat Southern Railwaysin 1925, Harcourt Street gradually declined in importance as services to the South East were increasingly concentrated onWestland Row (now Pearse) stationwith goods facilities transferred to the North Wall goods station. Thereafter, apart from during the 1933 GNR(I) strike, Harcourt Street became predominantly a passenger station. Services to Wexford and Waterford were transferred to thecoastal linein 1953, reducing the Harcourt Street line to commuter services and excursions. The station continued operating until 31 December 1958, whenCóras Iompair Éireann,during its rationalisation programme of the railway network and amid some public criticism, closed the line from Harcourt Street.[9]
The Luaslight railnetwork that opened on 30 June 2004 utilised parts of the old route. The station building has been converted into a leisure venue with bars and music venues.[10]
Liquor museum[edit]
In 1958, C.I.É. opened a liquor museum in the station basement.[11]The exit was to the station refreshment room which was, unlike most other local licensed premises, permitted to sell alcohol in theholy hourbetween 2pm and 3pm if customers held tickets for distances over 12 miles, namely Bray and beyond.[12]After closure, the museum was moved to the basement ofHeuston Stationin 1961.[11]
Harcourt Luas stop[edit]
![]() View from the platform looking north. The station building is visible on the right. | |
General information | |
Location | Harcourt Street,Dublin Ireland |
Coordinates | 53°20′01″N6°15′46″W/ 53.33364°N 6.26270°W |
Owned by | Transport Infrastructure Ireland |
Operated by | Luas |
Line(s) | Green |
Platforms | 2 (island) |
Bus routes | 3 |
Bus operators | Dublin Bus,Dublin Express |
Connections |
|
Construction | |
Structure type | At-grade |
Other information | |
Fare zone | Central |
Key dates | |
30 June 2004 | Stop opened |
2018 | Platforms extended |
In June 2004, theGreen Lineof theLuas- Dublin's light rail tram system - opened.[13]The Green line mostly followed the route of the old Harcourt Street line fromCharlemonttoSandyford(it has since been extended south toBrides Glen). Astopcalled Harcourt was opened on the site of the old terminus. Because the embankment which led to the station had been demolished and replaced with new developments, the Luas line diverges from the old alignment at Charlemont and descends a ramp before continuing north on the streets.
Harcourt Luas stop is directly in front of the entrance to the old station building. It has an island platform - a rarity for Luas stops - which is flanked by tracks running in lanes reserved for trams. Road traffic must travel on the western side of the street.[14]
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Preceding station | ![]() |
Following station | ||
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St Stephen's Green towardsParnellorBroombridge
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Green Line | Charlemont towardsSandyfordorBrides Glen
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Disused railways | ||||
Terminus | Dublin and South Eastern Railway Harcourt Street line |
Rathmines & Ranelagh Line and station closed |
Gallery[edit]
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Last train before closure 31 December 1958
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The Harcourt Street train crash, 1900
See also[edit]
References[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^Harcourt StreetArchived2009-03-17 at theWayback Machine- eiretrains
- ^Harcourt Street stationArchived2006-03-20 atarchive.today- Archiseek
- ^"BOT Accident Report"(PDF).
- ^"Strange Railway Accident".Freeman's Journal.15 February 1900.Retrieved8 October2022.
- ^"Dublin Day by Day".Belfast Newsletter.15 February 1900.Retrieved8 October2022.
- ^"Dublin Day by Day".Belfast Newsletter.28 February 1900.Retrieved8 October2022.
- ^NewsArchived2011-09-27 at theWayback Machine,Number 32, Summer 2008,National Library of Ireland
- ^"The Harcourt Street Train Crash, February 14th 1900".Harcourtstreettraincrash.Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2007.Retrieved8 October2022.
- ^Scannell, James."Closure of Harcourt Street-Bray Line, New Year's Eve, 1958".Ireland's Own.Retrieved8 October2022.
- ^"The POD".Archived fromthe originalon 17 September 2004.Retrieved13 February2009.
- ^ab"Dublin's Liquor Museum".RTE archives.Archivedfrom the original on 19 March 2019.Retrieved23 March2019.
- ^Mac Aongusa, Brian (2003).The Harcourt Street Line - Back on Track.Curragh Press.ISBN1-85607-907-4.
- ^"Trams for Dublin 2004".RTÉ Libraries and Archives.30 June 2014.
- ^Google."Harcourt"(Map).Google Maps.Google.
- Railway termini in Dublin (city)
- Disused railway stations in County Dublin
- Railway stations in the Republic of Ireland opened in 1859
- Railway stations in the Republic of Ireland closed in 1958
- Luas Green Line stops in Dublin (city)
- 1859 establishments in Ireland
- 2004 establishments in Ireland
- Railway stations in the Republic of Ireland opened in 2004