The Liffey Railway Bridge is a rail bridge spanning the River Liffey near Heuston railway station in

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 ...

in Ireland. It is a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

box truss structure, and joins lines from Heuston Station to Connolly Station through the

Phoenix Park Tunnel The Phoenix Park Tunnel is a railway tunnel in Dublin, Ireland. The tunnel was built in 1877 and begins at the Liffey Railway Bridge near Heuston Station, running underneath the Phoenix Park for 690 metres before re-emerging close to the juncti ...

. Historically used primarily for freight traffic, in November 2016, the bridge and tunnel were reopened to more regular passenger traffic.

History

The bridge and tunnel were built by the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the ...

(GSWR) company to connect

Kingsbridge station Heuston Station ( ; ga, Stáisiún Heuston; formerly Kingsbridge Station) also known as Dublin Heuston, is one of Dublin's largest railway stations and links the capital with the south, southwest and west of Ireland. It is operated by Ia ...

to the Dublin docklands. Before the line was built the Midland & Great Western Railway (MGWR) company had built a railway along the

Royal Canal The Royal Canal ( ga, An Chanáil Ríoga) is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from Dublin to Longford in Ireland. It is one of two canals from Dublin to the River Shannon and was built in direct competition ...

which enabled them to transport goods directly from Spencer Dock to

Broadstone 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 ...

where MGWR was based. The GSWR had to transfer the goods from the docks by road to Heuston which was time-consuming and costly so they built the line to connect with the MGWR line at Cabra. Later, because of the cost that MGWR were charging GSR for use of its line to the docklands, a new line was built directly to the docklands. For some time, the bridge and tunnel were not used for regular passenger services, and traffic over the bridge was largely limited to freight traffic and for shunting of engines between Connolly and Heuston. An exception to this was occasional match-day services carrying

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

fans from southern lines to Connolly Station for

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

stadium. However, from the early 21st century, rail transport planners and interest groups such as

Platform 11 Rail Users Ireland (previously Platform 11) is a rail transport pressure group in Ireland whose agenda is centred on the idea that there is an economic case for expanding rail transport in Ireland through better utilisation of existing infrastru ...

debated the use of the bridge and tunnel to link the operationally separate passenger lines which then terminated at Heuston and Connolly stations. Ultimately, in November 2016, the bridge and tunnel were reopened to more regular passenger traffic.

References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Bridges in Dublin (city) Railway bridges in the Republic of Ireland