Dublin and the Belfast Junction Railway (D&BJct, Irish: Iarnród Bhaile Átha Cliath agus Acomhal Bhéal Feirste) was an

Irish gauge Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Australia, Brazil and Ireland. History 600 BC :The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved pave ...

() railway in Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1845 and opened its line in stages between 1849 and 1853, with the final bridge over the River Boyne opening in 1855. It linked the

Ulster Railway The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). History The Ulster Railway was auth ...

(UR) from Belfast to Portadown and

Dublin and Drogheda Railway Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) was a railway company in Ireland which publicly opened its 31¾ mile main line between Dublin and Drogheda in May 1844. It was the third railway company in Ireland to operate passenger trains and the first to us ...

(D&D) from Drogheda to Dublin, completing the missing link in the

Belfast–Dublin line The Belfast–Dublin Main Line is a main and busiest railway route on the island of Ireland that connects Dublin Connolly station in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast Lanyon Place station in Northern Ireland. It is the only railway line tha ...

History

The

Boyne Viaduct , native_name_lang = , image = 02 Boyne Viaduct Drogheda 2007-10-5.JPG , image_size = , alt = , caption = , official_name = , other_name = , carries = Belfast-Dublin railway ...

at Drogheda was not built until 1854–55, at a cost of £124,000, to the design of Sir John Macneill, who was the consulting engineer for the D&BJct.

Route

The D&BJct line from Drogheda to Portadown connected the

's – – Belfast original line with the

's Dublin Amiens Street – Drogheda line, forming the main line between

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Aftermath

In 1875, the D&BJct merged with the Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D), forming the

Northern Railway of Ireland Northern Railway of Ireland was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was formed by a merger of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) with the Dublin and the Belfast Junction Railway (D&BJct) in 1875. In 1876 it merged with the Irish No ...

. This was in turn one of the companies that amalgamated to form the Great Northern Railway of Ireland in 1876.

References

Sources

* * * Railway companies established in 1845 Railway companies disestablished in 1875 Irish gauge railways Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Defunct railway companies of Ireland {{Ireland-transport-stub