The Dublin to Sligo main line is a railway route operated by Iarnród Éireann in Ireland. It starts in Dublin Connolly station, terminating at Sligo Mac Diarmada railway station in Sligo. The route is a double-track railway as far as

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

, being a single-track railway with

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

s between there and Sligo. Between Dublin and Longford, the route is operated as part of

Dublin Suburban Rail The Dublin Suburban Rail ( ga, Iarnród Bruachbhailteach Baile Átha Cliath) network, branded as DART/ Commuter, is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland, most of the Greater Dublin Area and outlying towns. The system is m ...

, specifically the Western Commuter service. In 2018, 1.4 million passengers were carried on the line.

History

The extension from Longford to Sligo opened on 3 September 1862.

Route

The line is long. From Dublin the route mostly bends alongside the Royal Canal to

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census. The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...

along a fairly level gradient. Thereafter there are a number of gradients, with the sustained 1 in 80 between mileposts 75¼ and 70⅜ towards Dublin noted as challenging.

Services

Commuter operates the suburban services between Dublin and Maynooth. These run from

Pearse Station Pearse railway station ( ga, Stáisiún na bPiarsach) or Dublin Pearse is a railway station on Westland Row on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's busiest commuter station and second busiest station overall (behind Dublin Con ...

, which connects with the line to

Rosslare Europort Rosslare Europort ( ga, Europort Ros Láir) is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland. The port is the premier Irish port serving the European Contin ...

. Some trains run from Bray through to Maynooth. Two trains per day (Monday to Friday) operate Longford to Pearse in the morning and return from Connolly to Longford in the evening.

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

*Monday-Friday 8 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo *Saturday 7 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo *Sunday 6 trains in each direction Dublin to Sligo

Former services in dieselisation era

There was a basic service pattern of 3 services a day, sometimes supplemented by an additional service from Dublin on Fridays and a very early morning service from Sligo on Monday mornings. The closure of many stations in 1963 enabled the service to be speeded up with over an hour reduction in journey time. Freight trains from Sligo stopped when the final trains carrying logs from Sligo ceased in December 2008.

Dublin stations

InterCity services now commence and terminate at

Dublin Connolly Connolly station ( ga, Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile) or Dublin Connolly is one of the busiest railway stations in Dublin and Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. On the North side of the River Liffey, it provides InterC ...

. Originally

Broadstone railway station Broadstone railway station ( ga, 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 ...

was the terminus. In the intervening years Pearse Street (Westland Row) was the starting point.

Connections at Dublin Connolly

The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

or Bray for example or travelling to

Dublin Port Dublin Port ( ga, Calafort Átha Cliath) is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximatively two-thirds of Ireland's port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on the ...

for the

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin ...

or Stena Line to Holyhead and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

and other destinations in England and Wales.

can be reached by walking beside the tram lines around the corner from Amiens Street into Store Street or by Luas one stop to

Busáras Busáras (; from '' bus'' + '' áras'' "building") is the central bus station in Dublin, Ireland for Intercity and regional bus services operated by Bus Éireann. Designed in the International Modern style, Busáras is also a stop on the Red L ...

where

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

operates route 53 to the Ferry Terminal or to take a taxi. Passengers can change at Dublin Connolly for the Belfast–Dublin railway line for the

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

to Northern Ireland.

Rolling stock

Current operations

InterCity services have been operated by 22000 Class DMUs since December 2007, the Dublin-Sligo route being the first in the whole of Ireland to get the new trains. They replaced the interim use of 29000 Class Commuter DMUs, which had been introduced to these services in 2005, having in turn replaced locomotive-hauled stock.

Previous dieselisation era operations

InterCity services saw haulage by CIÉ classes

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

, 121,

141 141 may refer to: * 141 (number), an integer * AD 141, a year of the Julian calendar * 141 BC __NOTOC__ Year 141 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caepio and Pompeius (or ...

and latterly 071 after they were displaced from mainline duties. 121 and 141 Classes would often work in multiple on the heavy midday trains and latterly to achieve faster timetables. The

CIE 201 Class The Córas Iompair Éireann 201 Class was a class of 34 diesel electric locomotives manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers at their Dukinfield Works in Manchester. They were a smaller, lighter and less powerful version of the 001 Class and were ...

was rarer on passenger duties. Coaching stock could reach to about 13 coaches requiring multiple stops at some stations. Laminate and Park Royal coaching stock including 6-wheel luggage/generator vans were replaced in time by Cravens and eventually Mark 2 coaches with Mark 1 generator vans cascaded from mainline services.

CIÉ 2600 Class The Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) 2600 Class were Associated Equipment Company (AEC)–engined diesel multiple units (normally termed railcars in Ireland) that operated InterCity and suburban services on the CIÉ system between 1952 and 1975. ...

AEC DMUs were sometimes used on the morning and evening services up until 1969/70.

References

External links

Iarnród Éireann: Line information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin-Sligo Railway Line Railway lines in Ireland Railway lines opened in 1847 1847 establishments in Ireland