Owned by Iarnród Éireann Structure type At-grade Opened 1858 | Operated by Iarnród Éireann Station code 40 Owner Iarnród Éireann Platforms in use 4 | |
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Location Parnell Street, Limerick, V94 H2PP
Republic of Ireland 1966 Renamed Limerick Colbert Station Address Parnell St, Limerick, Ireland Similar Limerick Junction railway st, Ballybrophy railway station, Waterford railway station, Galway railway station, Cork Kent railway station | ||
Colbert Station serves the city of Limerick in County Limerick. It is on Parnell Street and is the main station on the Limerick Suburban Rail network. It has approximately 2,500 rail passengers a day travelling on four rail routes. The Bus Éireann bus station on site services approximately one million passengers a year, with 125 buses departing each day.
Contents
Services
The station is the terminus of the Dublin–Limerick, Limerick–Nenagh–Ballybrophy and Limerick–Ennis–Galway lines. Connections for Cork, Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir, Waterford and Kerry stations, such as Killarney, Farranfore and Tralee can be made at Limerick Junction.
The Limerick–Sligo line is operational to Athenry only. It is planned to be reopened on a phased basis as the Western Railway Corridor.
Bus Éireann's Limerick depot is adjacent and offers Intercity, Express and Eurolines services.
Connecting to Shannon Airport
Buses connect the railway station to Shannon Airport.
History
The station opened on 28 August 1858, replacing a temporary station 500 metres (1,600 ft) further east, which had operated from 9 May 1848. It was built by the Waterford and Limerick Railway (W&LR), which ran its first train, as far as Tipperary, on Tuesday, 9 May 1848, with intermediate stations at Killonan, Pallasgreen and Oola (all since closed). Two months later the GS&WR connected their Dublin–Cork line with the W&LR at Limerick Junction, near Tipperary. The work was carried out at the height of the Irish Potato Famine, resulting in extreme financial difficulties for the company.
Originally named "Limerick", the station was given the name Colbert on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of Cornelius Colbert, one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916.
The direct line to Cork and the North Kerry line to Tralee were dismantled during the 20th Century.
Parts of the video for the Westlife song "My Love" were filmed at Colbert Station.
Proposed closure of Limerick–Nenagh–Ballybrophy line
A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Irish Rail was expected to seek permission from the National Transport Authority to close the line. However, the announcement on 20 February 2012 of an enhanced timetable for the line means that this threat is lifted, at least for the time being.
Future
Conditional planning permission was granted by Limerick city and county council for the €16.8m redevelopment of Colbert Station in December 2014.
Plan includes
Phase 1. A new pedestrian plaza limestone paved area of 3,350 square metres (0.83 acres) replacing the current car-park.
Phase 2. Knocking existing toilet block to make way for a new bus station, with the current bus station being converted into the access area for a new 235-space car park.
Phase 3. Significant refurbishment of the interior of railway station with new finishes throughout and provision of a new ticketing office and retail units.
Funding of approximately 3 million euro was secured for phase one and work began in Q.1 2015. The disused Fuel Station site was levelled and work completed on site for a temporary car park in summer/autumn 2015. The temporary parking will be used while work on station redevelopment takes place.
There is no timetable in place for construction of phase 2 and 3 but work on the design and planning proceeded in 2015.
Separately Limerick council is seeking to redevelop the Parnell street area including the interface between the street and Colbert station. It is planned to have a raised platform and new pedestrian crossing across Parnell Street at the entry to Colbert Station to complement the new pedestrian plaza. This will, among other objectives, provide better pedestrian and cycle connectivity between Colbert Station and Limerick City Centre.