Dublin Broadstone railway station
![]() The facade of Broadstone station | |||||||||||||||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Phibsborough Road, Broadstone, Dublin 7, D07 X2AE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 53°21′15″N 6°16′26″W / 53.354291°N 6.273816°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | CIÉ Transport Infrastructure Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Operated by | Transdev (as Luas) Bus Éireann | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bus operators | Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Original company | Midland Great Western Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Pre-grouping | Midland Great Western Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Post-grouping | Great Southern Railways | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Key dates | |||||||||||||||||||||||
June 1847 | Station opened | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 January 1937 | Station closed to passenger services | ||||||||||||||||||||||
8 April 1961 | Station closed | ||||||||||||||||||||||
9 December 2017 | Luas services commence | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dublin-Sligo main line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Broadstone railway station (Irish: Stáisiún An Clocháin Leathan) was the Dublin terminus of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR), located in the Dublin suburb of Broadstone. The site also contained the MGWR railway works and a steam locomotive motive power depot. A Luas tram station opened at the front of the station in 2017.
It is currently the headquarters of Bus Éireann, housing most of their administration and one of their main garages.[2] Nearby on the same property is a Dublin Bus Depot.
History
Etymology
The name derives from the Norse "Bradogue Steyn" or "Broad Stone", due to the Bradogue River crossing the road to Finglas at this location.[3] "Bradogue" itself means "Young Salmon" in Irish.[4]
Beginnings
In 1845, the Royal Canal was purchased by the Midland Great Western Railway Company (MGWR) with a view to using the land alongside the canal to construct a railway line to the west of Ireland. The line was constructed in stages and by 1848 reached Mullingar. Similarly, Broadstone station was worked in tandem with opening in 1847 and final completion 1850. The MGWR developed locomotive and carriage works around the station.
Designed by John Skipton Mulvany, the structure was built between 1841 and 1850, and the colonnade was added in 1861.[5] Broadstone Station is constructed of granite in a neo-Egyptian style.[6] Regarding the architectural merits of the station, historian Maurice Craig described it as "the last building in Dublin to partake of the sublime... Its lonely grandeur is emphasised now by its disuse as a terminus, and the melancholy quarter of high-and-dry hotels close beside it. It stands on rising ground, and the traveller who sees it for the first time, so unexpected in its massive amplitude, feels a little as he might if he were to stumble unawares upon the monstrous silences of Karnak or Luxor".[7]
During the construction of the permanent roof in the late 1840s it was damaged by a severe gale but complete disaster was averted by the earlier timber structure over which it was being built.[8] The 475 feet (145 m) by 120 feet (37 m) two span roof is said to have been basis of the design for the larger span at Liverpool Lime Street.[1] With the construction of the colonnade in 1861, trains arrived to the east side platform and passengers exited through the colonnade. Trains departed from the west side platform where there was a booking office and waiting rooms. The four middle tracks were used to stable rolling stock in the interim. The building at front of the station was used as the headquarters building for the MGWR and did not contain a passenger entrance.[1]
With
It was about this time that the majority of the houses in the area were constructed as dwellings for workers on the railway. Most of the houses were built by the Artisan's Dwelling Company, which built many similar estates in Dublin and elsewhere, and houses of this type are now frequently described as Artisan cottages, regardless of their origin.
In 1856, Broadstone Garage was the site of the murder of station clerk George Little. His body was discovered in his locked office on Friday 14 November 1856, when he didn't check in for work.[9] The story of the murder and the subsequent trial are told in the novel, The Dublin Railway Murder, which was published in 2021.[10]
Joseph Howley, a member of the
Closure
The station was closed to public traffic on 18 January 1937 with MGWR services redirected to the more central
After closure to passengers, the complex was used as a steam depot for Dublin, and then fully closed in 1961.
This building was one of Dublin's six original rail termini, the others being Westland Row (now
Location
Situated at the crest of Constitution Hill directly opposite King's Inns, the station served as the finishing point of the Midland and Great Western Railway.
Failed proposal re-use for heavy rail
In April 2007
Broadstone - University Luas stop
![]() Broadstone - University Luas Stop | |||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||
Location | Dublin Ireland | ||||||||||
Owned by | Transdev | ||||||||||
Operated by | Luas | ||||||||||
Line(s) | Green | ||||||||||
Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||
Key dates | |||||||||||
9 December 2017 | Stop opened as Broadstone - DIT | ||||||||||
2024 | Renamed Broadstone - University | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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In June 2013, Luas Cross City - a construction project which extended the Luas Green Line North from St. Stephen's Green to Broombridge - commenced. The line, which opened to passengers on 9 December 2017, traverses the city centre on street-running track and arrives at Broadstone. It then enters into the Broadstone cutting where it continues on its own right of way.
Broadstone - DIT is a Luas stop on the line. Its name refers to the fact that it was intended to be the closest stop to Dublin Institute of Technology Grangegorman campus. However, the plans were changed at a late stage, adding Grangegorman stop, which is closer to the campus.[15] Construction of the stop involved excavating a large amount of earth from the land in front of the station, and building a road bridge over the tracks which busses can use to access the depot.[16]
The Luas stop has two lateral platforms and is in front of the station building. It was built several metres below the station in order to make it level with Constitution Hill; and a curved, white wall separates the southbound platform from the garden in front of the building. Trams approach the stop from Dominick Street Upper and continues by passing under the new bridge and turning sharply to the right, where they traverse the edge of the bus depot and enter the cutting.
The stop was renamed in 2024 to "Broadstone - University" as a result of the renaming of the nearby university to Technological University Dublin.[17]
Gallery
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1912 map showing Broadstone and pre-1937 layout at Glasnevin
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The view of the old railway line from the North Circular Road showing Broadstone in the distance, before the LUAS development
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Foster aqueduct
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Broadstone terminus c1875
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Shepherd 1994, p. 120–121.
- ^ "Bus Éireann conducting feasibility study for potential future move from Broadstone Depot". thejournal.ie. 22 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Killeen 1981, p. 140.
- ^ Mooney 1985.
- ISBN 1-905483-11-2.
- ^ Pearson 2001.
- ^ Craig, p.322
- ^ Hemans 1849, pp. 9–20.
- ^ "The Dublin Railway Murder: Criminal Investigation and the Press". Aspects of History. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ Morris, Thomas. "The Dublin Railway Murder". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ISBN 0-9534683-3-X.
- ISBN 0715379615.
- ^ "Broadstone station to reopen 70 years on". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 9 June 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ "Battle of Broadstone". Irish Independent. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ Railway Procurement Agency (June 2009). "Line BXD Outline Business Case" (PDF). www.nationaltransport.ie. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2018.
- ^ "Luas Cross City New Bridge Construction @ Broadstone February 2016". Archived from the original on 5 December 2020 – via Youtube.
- ^ "Luas | Broadstone - University". luas.ie. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
Sources
- ISBN 978-1905483112.
- Hemans, George W. (1849). "On the fall of a station terminus roof". Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. 3. Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland: 13–20. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- Killeen, Michael (1981). "Broadstone: Railway Station to Bus Garage". Dublin Historical Record. 34 (4). Old Dublin Society: 140–154. JSTOR 30104257.
- Mooney, Peter (1985). "Hidden River". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- Pearson, Peter (25 March 2001). "Architect of Victorian solidity". The Sunday Business Post. Archived from the originalon 26 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- Shepherd, W. Ernest (1994). The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland: An Illustrated History. Leicester: ISBN 1-85780-008-7.
External links
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