Owned by CIÉ Structure type At-grade Owner CIÉ Platforms in use 12 | Operated by Bus Éireann Province Leinster Tracks 6 | |
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Location Phibsborough Road, Broadstone, Dublin 7, D07 X2AE
Republic of Ireland Pre-grouping Midland Great Western Railway Post-grouping Great Southern Railways Address Phibsborough Rd, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, Ireland Similar Liffey Junction railway st, Broombridge railway station, St Stephen's Green sta, Mullingar railway station, Maynooth railway station | ||
Broadstone railway station (Irish: Stáisiún An Clocháin Leathan) was the former Dublin terminus of the Midland Great Western Railway.
Contents
It is currently the headquarters of Bus Éireann, housing most of their administration and one of their main garages. Nearby on the same property is a Dublin Bus Depot.
Beginnings
Designed by John Skipton Mulvany, the structure was built between 1841 and 1850, with the addition of the colonnade in 1861. Broadstone Station is constructed of granite in a neo-Egyptian style.
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.
With Galway projected to become the main port for transatlantic passenger traffic between Europe and North America, the MGWR successfully competed with its rival the Great Southern and Western Railway to reach it first in August 1851. A special fourth class was introduced by the MGWR for poor migrants from the west going to Britain for work. The line, which branched out to serve Sligo, Westport, Achill and Clifden, was also used to transport large numbers of cattle.
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.
Joseph Howley, a member of the Irish Volunteers in Galway, was shot dead by a special unit of the RIC known as the Igoe Gang at the station on 4 December 1920 during the Irish War of Independence.
Closure
The station was closed to public traffic on 18 January 1937 and finally closed on 8 April 1961, having been used as the steam depot for Dublin between 1937 and this date.
This building was one of Dublin's six original rail termini, the others being Westland Row (now Pearse Station) Amiens Street (now Connolly Station), Kingsbridge (now Heuston Station), North Wall and Harcourt Street (now a bar and nightclub complex).
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.
LUAS
Broadstone will be a Luas stop on the LUAS Cross City Line between Broombridge and St.Stephen's Green. Work on building the line commenced in June 2013 and services are scheduled to begin in December 2017.
The stop will have lateral platforms and be located adjacent to the Broadstone building with access from Constitution Hill. The stop will be called Broadstone-DIT due to it location near to DIT Grangegorman Campus.
Proposed re use for heavy rail
In April 2007 Iarnród Éireann announced that Broadstone Station was to be reopened for rail passenger use by 2010. This gave rise to a dispute between CIE/Irish Rail and the RPA over the use of the trackbed between Broadstone and Liffey Junction. On 5 February 2008 Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Transport, indicated his preference for the Luas project over the re-opening of Broadstone for heavy rail, asking CIÉ to seek permanent planning permission to build and use Docklands Station for the purposes CIÉ intended for Broadstone Station.