The Dublin–Sligo railway line is a railway route operated by

Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann, () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national Rail transport in Ireland, railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal I ...

in Ireland. It starts in Dublin Connolly station, terminating at Sligo Mac Diarmada railway station in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

. The route is a double-track railway as far as

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) 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 College, Maynoo ...

, 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 o ...

s between there and Sligo. Between Dublin and

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

, the line is served by the Western Commuter service, part of the Dublin Suburban Rail network. In 2018, 1.4 million passengers were carried on the line.

History

The line would start construction as the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was incorporated in 1845 to buy the

Royal Canal The Royal Canal () 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 to the Grand Canal. Th ...

between Dublin and Longford to build a parallel railway. The MGWR would receive assent in 1846 to branch off from Mullingar to further their planned Galway main line, and they would reach Mullingar on 2 October 1848, pausing work on the line to Longford to focus on the Galway line. After Galway was reached in 1851, the MGWR would open as far as Longford on 8 November 1855. An extension to Sligo would be approved in 1857, and the line would open in full on 3 December 1862. After the Broadstone terminus' closure in 1937, most trains on the line would be diverted to

Westland Row Westland Row () is a street on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs along the east end of Trinity College Dublin. History Westland Row first appeared on maps in 1776. It was originally known ...

(now Pearse). In 1973, the line would lose most its services as they were diverted to use the ex- GSWR branch towards Heuston.

Route

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

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

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

Services

Commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

operates the suburban services between Dublin and Maynooth. These run from Pearse Station, which connects with the line to Rosslare Europort. 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 train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

*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 () or Dublin Connolly is the busiest railway station in Dublin and Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. On the North side of the River Liffey, it provides InterCity, Enterprise and commuter services to ...

. Originally Broadstone railway station was the terminus. In the intervening years Pearse (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 County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

or Bray for example or travelling to

Dublin Port Dublin Port () is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximately two-thirds of Ireland's port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on the island of Ireland. Locatio ...

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, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

and then by train along the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Main Line ( or ; ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line (), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, England, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey. The lin ...

to London Euston 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 where

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, 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 east

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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, 121, 141 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 CIE may refer to: Organizations * Cambridge International Examinations, an international examination board * Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst * Cleveland Institute of Electronics, a private technical ...

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 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