Ballybrophy railway station

Ballybrophy is a railway station in the village of Ballybrophy, County Laois, Ireland, halfway between Borris-in-Ossory and Rathdowney in the Barony of Clandonagh.

Ballybrophy Baile Uí Bhróithe
Ballybrophy Station
General information
Other names	Heavens Entrance
Location	Station Road, Ballybrophy, County Laois, R32 DW66 Ireland
Coordinates	52°53′58″N 7°36′9″W
Owned by	Iarnród Éireann
Operated by	Iarnród Éireann
Platforms	4
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
History
Opened	1847
Services
Preceding station   Iarnród Éireann   Following station Portlaoise   InterCity Dublin-Cork Main Line   Thurles Portlaoise   InterCity Dublin-Limerick   Templemore Roscrea   Commuter Limerick-Ballybrophy   Terminus

The station is an exchange point for passengers on Dublin to Cork services to connect to Limerick via Nenagh services.

Station name

The station opened on 1 September 1847 as Roscrea & Borris. It was later renamed Roscrea & Parsonstown Junction in 1858, and renamed again in 1871 as Ballybrophy.

Facilities

Lifts were fitted to the footbridge in late 2007. Therefore, disabled passengers who cannot use steps and are boarding or alighting from trains to Cork and Limerick via Limerick Junction are no longer required to cross the tracks at ground level, as was previously the case. This was only possible when trains were clear of the tracks.

Dublin–Cork
Phoenix Park Tunnel to Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Dublin Connolly & The Point Liffey Railway Bridge Dublin Heuston Luas Red Line to Tallaght & Saggart Inchicore Works Park West and Cherry Orchard † Clondalkin/Fonthill † Kishoge † Lucan (south) 1947 Adamstown † Hazelhatch and Celbridge † Straffan 1947 Sallins and Naas † to Tullow 1947 Newbridge † Curragh Racecourse 1977 Curragh Mainline 1999 Kildare † Dublin–Waterford Line Monasterevin † Portarlington † Dublin–Westport/Galway line Portlaoise to Mountmellick 1947 Conniberry Junction to Kilkenny 1962 Laois Traincare Depot Mountrath 1976 Limerick–Ballybrophy line Ballybrophy Lisduff 1963 Templemore Thurles to Clonmel 1963 Goold's Cross 1976 to Cashel 1954 Dundrum 1976 Limerick–Rosslare line to Limerick Colbert and Rosslare Limerick Junction Emly 1963 Knocklong 1977 Kilmallock 1977 to Limerick 1967 Charleville Buttevant 1977 Waterford–Mallow line 1967 Mallow Mallow–Tralee Line Mourne Abbey 1963 Rathduff 1976 Blarney (GSW) 1963 Kilnap Viaduct Cork railway tunnel Summerhill 1893 Cork Kent Cork–Cobh/Midleton line † Not served by services from Dublin to Cork

Proposed developments

Ballybrophy's railway station is a connection point between the main Dublin-Cork main line and the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line. The branch line is lightly travelled, as the principal route between Dublin and Limerick is via Limerick Junction. Since the introduction of a two-hourly Dublin-Limerick service in 2008, this journey does not usually require a change of train.

Up until the mid-1980s the line to Limerick via Nenagh diverged from the mainline via a junction that faced Cork. This was replaced by a siding connection when the mainline was resignalled. For trains to enter the Nenagh branch from the Dublin bound mainline requires trains to set back into the bay platform before proceeding to Nenagh and Limerick. A train travelling from Dublin to Limerick via Nenagh would need to set back from the Down mainline onto the Up mainline before pulling forward into the bay platform. Prior to 1967, the only route from Dublin to Limerick that did not entail a reversal was via Athenry and the former Sligo to Limerick line of the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway.

Some of those who favour retaining the line have theorised that replacing the south facing connection at Ballybrophy with a new line east to the more populated Borris-in-Ossory, and joining the line nearer Portlaoise would be better for Dublin connections. However, in addition to the substantial capital cost of this work, substantial parts of the line would still need to be re-laid nearer Limerick to eliminate severe speed restrictions. The M7 motorway from Dublin to Limerick also dissuades rail usage.

Proposed closure

In November 2016 it was announced the line was very likely to close in 2018 as the demand for the service was low and CIE/IE wished to close it to save money. This was subsequently ruled out by Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann).

Petitioned upgrades

The North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership have campaigned to improve the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line service, including issuing an online petition. It is hoped that, as soon as an ongoing continuous welded rail (CWR) relay project is completed between Cloughjordan and Roscrea stations, that further improvements such as the signalling system on the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line will then be upgraded to help improve the speed limits imposed on trains travelling on the line.

An old water tower, from the days of steam, pictured in 2002

See also

• List of railway stations in Ireland

External links

• Ballybrophy-Roscrea-Nenagh-Limerick line
• Ballybrophy Station on Eire Trains