Dublin and Kingstown Railway
Encyclopedia
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), which opened in 1834, was Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

’s first railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour’s
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...

 West Pier in County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

.

History

The Dublin and Kingstown Railway Company was founded in 1831 by businessmen in the city to look into building a railway. Within two years, they had a contractor and a parliamentary act. The construction contract was awarded to William Dargan
William Dargan
William Dargan , an engineer, often seen as the father of Irish railways, came from Killeshin, County Laois, Ireland. Born in 1799, he constructed Ireland's first railway from Dublin to Dún Laoghaire in 1833. He constructed over of railway to important urban centres of Ireland...

.

Building of the 10 km (6 mi) line was delayed by opposition from two different landowners who insisted on large cash compensations and in the case of Lord Cloncurry
Valentine Lawless, 2nd Baron Cloncurry
Valentine Brown Lawless, 2nd Baron Cloncurry , was an Irish politician and landowner. He lived in Lyons, under Lyons Hill Ardclough County Kildare.-Birth:...

 the building of a private foot bridge over the line to a bathing area complete with a Romanesque temple, a short tunnel and a cutting to maintain his privacy. Part of the line ran on an embankment built across the strand between Merrion
Merrion Gates
The area called Merrion Gates, in Sandymount, Dublin 4, is roughly where the northbound Dublin DART line goes inland before the station at Sydney Parade, which lies to the north. Booterstown DART station is the nearest to the south. The lands of the School for the Visually Impaired are here...

 and Blackrock
Blackrock railway station
Blackrock railway station serves Blackrock in County Dublin, Ireland.The station opened on 17 December 1834.The station is served by the 7, 7a, 8, 17, 45 and 114 buses....

 which later led to the formation of Booterstown marsh
Booterstown marsh
Booterstown Marsh Nature Reserve is located in Booterstown, County Dublin between the coastal railway line and the Rock Road. It is a salt marsh with brackish water, covering an area of approximately 4.3 ha...

. The first train ran on 9 October 1834, consisting of eight carriages hauled by Hibernia
Hibernia (locomotive)
Hibernia was a steam locomotive designed by Richard Roberts and built by Sharp, Roberts and Company in 1834 for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway . The locomotive had vertical cylinders driving via bell cranks.-History:...

.

From Bradshaw's
George Bradshaw
George Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables.-Biography:...

 1843 timetable

DUBLIN AND KINGSTOWN

From both ends on week days, every half-hour from 6 a.m. until 11½ p.m., stopping at all stations, Viz: Booterstown, Black Rock
and Salt Hill.
An extra train from Kingstown at 9¼ a.m. stopping at Merrion in addition to the usual stations.

An extra train every day, at 4¾ p.m., stopping at Merrion only. This train will convey passengers to Her Majesty's mail packet, starting from Kingstown at 5¼ p.m.

The 11 p.m. Up and Down, also stop at Merrion every day.

Sunday trains same hours as on weekdays, with extra trains every ¼ of an hour from 11¾ a.m. to 5¾ p.m. and from 7¾ to 10¼ p.m.

FARES — First Class 1s, second class 8d, third class 6d.

The mail bags are conveyed by the 8½ a.m. by Holyhead; 5 and 10 p.m. by Liverpool.

The line was extended to Dún Laoghaire station’s current location using the then existing Dalkey Quarry
Dalkey Quarry
Dalkey Quarry is a disused granite quarry located in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey. It was used for quarrying during the 19th century, and is now part of Killiney Hill Park, a public park...

 industrial tramway cutting which ran to the West Pier. However, this took a further three years, again due to opposition from local property owners, this time led by Thomas Gresham
Gresham Hotel
The Gresham Hotel is a hotel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Located on O'Connell Street, the hotel is a Dublin institution. This landmark building has recently been refurbished.-History:...

. The station building was converted in 1971 to a restaurant, Brasserie Na Mara.

The D&KR later included the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway
Dalkey Atmospheric Railway
The Dalkey Atmospheric Railway was an extension of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway to Atmospheric Road in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Ireland. It used part of the Dalkey Quarry industrial tramway, which was earlier used for the construction of Kingstown Harbour...

 branch.

In 1854 the lines were leased to the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway who changed the original standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 to the wider Irish gauge.

The line is now part of the DART
Dublin Area Rapid Transit
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running mainly along the coastline of Dublin Bay on the Trans-Dublin route, from Greystones in County Wicklow, through Dublin to Howth and Malahide in County Dublin.Trains are powered via a 1500V DC overhead catenary...

route.

External links

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