Mullingar railway station – Wikipedia

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Station in County Westmeath, Ireland

Mullingar railway station serves the town of Mullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland; it is situated 50 miles 17 chains (80.8 km) from Dublin,[a] and 84 miles (135 km) from Sligo.[1]
Mullingar station is served by national rail company Iarnród Éireann’s Dublin to Longford Commuter service and Dublin to Sligo InterCity service.[2]

History[edit]

The station opened on 2 October 1848. The Midland Great Western Railway line to Mullingar from Dublin opened in stages from 1846 to 1848, arriving in Mullingar on 2 October 1848. This was to a temporary station, adjacent to the greyhound stadium. The original main line ran from Dublin (Broadstone) to Galway via Mullingar and Athlone, the Mullingar to Galway section opening in August 1851. The present station opened with the branch line to Longford on 14 December 1855.

There were two secondary stations in Mullingar.[citation needed] Canal Crossing cattle bank was on the Sligo Line.[citation needed] On the Athlone Line, Newbrook racecourse had its own station.[3] This was unique in that it was a two platformed station with both platforms on the Down Line.[citation needed]

Mullingar to Athlone Line[edit]

There was a railway line to Athlone but it is now disused. It was part of the Midland Great Western Railway Dublin to Galway inter-city rail service.
In 2006, calls were made for the line to Athlone (via Moate) to be reopened to facilitate more services between Galway and Dublin.[4] However, this plan was dropped in favour of creating a new cycling route.[citation needed]

Today Dublin to Galway intercity services go from Dublin Heuston via Portarlington to Athlone line.[5]

Mullingar station looking towards Dublin with the former line to Athlone coming in from the right

RPSI base[edit]

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) has a secondary base in the town.[citation needed] A turntable remains here used by steam locomotives a couple of times a year.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Distances are measured from the MGWR’s original Broadstone terminus.[1]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Shepherd 1994, p. 77.
  2. ^

    “Dublin – Sligo – Monday – Sunday (excluding public holidays) – Valid from 30.09.2019 until further notice” (PDF). Iarnród Éireann. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.

  3. ^ Shepherd 1994, p. 103.
  4. ^ “Closed Mullingar to Athlone rail line raised at meeting”. Westmeath Examiner. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  5. ^ “Dublin – Galway – Monday to Saturday (excluding public holidays) Valid from 18.11.2019 until further notice” (PDF). Iarnród Éireann. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.

Sources[edit]

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