Mullingar railway station

Mullingar railway station serves the town of Mullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland; it is situated 50 miles 17 chains (80.8 km) from Dublin,^{[lower-alpha 1]} and 84 miles (135 km) from Sligo.^[1] Mullingar station is served by national rail company Iarnród Éireann's Dublin to Longford Commuter service and Dublin to Sligo InterCity service.^[2]

Mullingar An Muileann gCearr
A view of the train station and its adjacent carpark, 2015
General information
Location	Clonmore Road Mullingar County Westmeath N91 HKR4 Ireland
Coordinates	53.5228°N 7.3460°W / 53.5228; -7.3460
Operated by	Iarnród Éireann
Platforms	3
Bus routes	5
Bus operators	Bus Eireann TFI Local Link
Connections	70 115 115C 167 819
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Other information
Station code	MLGAR
Fare zone	G
History
Opened	2 October 1848; 175 years ago (1848-10-02)
Services Preceding station   Iarnród Éireann   Following station Enfield   InterCity Dublin-Sligo   Edgeworthstown Enfield   Commuter Western Commuter   Edgeworthstown or Terminus Disused railways Killucan Line open, station closed   Midland Great Western Railway Dublin-Sligo   Clonhugh Line open, station closed   Midland Great Western Railway Dublin-Galway   Moate Line and station closed
Location

v t e Dublin-Sligo main line
Legend
Year closed Sligo Mac Diarmada Sligo Quay freight terminal 2000 Ballysodare 1963 Ballisodare River Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Rly to Enniskillen 1957 proposed Western Railway Corridor to Limerick 1963 Collooney Ballymote Kilfree Junction 1963 to Ballaghaderreen 1963 Boyle Carrick-on-Shannon Drumsna 1963 River Shannon Cavan and Leitrim Railway Dromod Newtown Forbes 1963 Longford Edgeworthstown Street & Rathowen 1963 to Cavan 1959 Inny Junction 1931 Multyfarnham 1963 Clonhugh 1963 The Royal Canal to Athlone 1964 Mullingar Killucan 1963 Hill of Down 1963 River Boyne Moyvalley 1963 to Edenderry 1931 Enfield Ferns Lock 1963 Kilcock Maynooth Blakestown Leixlip Louisa Bridge Leixlip Confey Lucan North 1941 Barberstown Docklands branch to M3 Parkway Clonsilla Coolmine Coolmine Castleknock Blanchardstown 1937 Navan Road Parkway Ashtown Ashtown Pelletstown Reilly's Bridge 1847 Broombridge Liffey Junction passengers 1937 goods 1977 Dublin Broadstone 1937 Glasnevin 1910 The Royal Canal Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Heuston Drumcondra Belfast–Dublin railway line Docklands ( Spencer Dock) The Royal Canal Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Tallaght and Saggart Dublin-Rosslare railway line to Rosslare Europort = Western Commuter

v t e Western Commuter
Legend
Dublin–Sligo Line Longford Edgeworthstown Mullingar Enfield Kilcock Maynooth Leixlip Louisa Bridge Leixlip Confey M3 Parkway Dunboyne Hansfield (serves Ongar) Clonsilla Coolmine Castleknock Navan Road Parkway Ashtown Pelletstown Broombridge to Liffey Junction & Dublin Broadstone ( closed 1937 ) The Royal Canal Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Heuston Drumcondra Docklands ( Spencer Dock) The Royal Canal Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Tallaght or Saggart Loopline Bridge Tara Street Dublin Pearse

History

The station opened on 2 October 1848. The Midland Great Western Railway line to Mullingar from Dublin opened in stages from 1846 to 1848, arriving in Mullingar on 2 October 1848.^{[citation needed]} This was to a temporary station, adjacent to the greyhound stadium. The original main line ran from Dublin (Broadstone) to Galway via Mullingar and Athlone, the Mullingar to Galway section opening in August 1851. The present station opened with the branch line to Longford on 14 December 1855.^{[citation needed]}

There were two secondary stations in Mullingar.^{[citation needed]} Canal Crossing cattle bank was on the Sligo Line.^{[citation needed]} On the Athlone Line, Newbrook racecourse had its own station.^[3] This was unique in that it was a two platformed station with both platforms on the Down Line.^{[citation needed]}

Mullingar to Athlone Line

There was a railway line to Athlone but it is now disused. It was part of the Midland Great Western Railway Dublin to Galway inter-city rail service. In 2006, calls were made for the line to Athlone (via Moate) to be reopened to facilitate more services between Galway and Dublin.^[4] However, this plan was dropped in favour of creating a new cycling route.^{[citation needed]}

Today Dublin to Galway intercity services go from Dublin Heuston via Portarlington to Athlone line.^[5]

Mullingar station looking towards Dublin with the former line to Athlone coming in from the right

RPSI base

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) has a secondary base in the town.^{[citation needed]} A turntable remains here used by steam locomotives a couple of times a year.^{[citation needed]}

Facilities

The station has three operative platforms, and two platforms on the line to Athlone which are not in use.^{[citation needed]} There are ticket machines, a ticket office and toilets inside the station. Outside the station, Bus Éireann routes 70, 115/C, 167 and 70 terminate.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of railway stations in Ireland

References

Notes

1. Distances are measured from the MGWR's original Broadstone terminus.^[1]

Footnotes

1. Shepherd 1994, p. 77.
2. "Dublin - Sligo - Monday - Sunday (excluding public holidays) - Valid from 30.09.2019 until further notice" (PDF). Iarnród Éireann. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
3. Shepherd 1994, p. 103.
4. "Closed Mullingar to Athlone rail line raised at meeting". Westmeath Examiner. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
5. "Dublin - Galway - Monday to Saturday (excluding public holidays) Valid from 18.11.2019 until further notice" (PDF). Iarnród Éireann. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.

Sources

• Shepherd, W. Ernest (1994). The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland: An Illustrated History. Leicester: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-008-7. OCLC 60006991.

External links

• Irish Rail Mullingar Station Website