9 thoughts on “Getting The DART In ’57

  1. Peter

    A station opening just two years before the Harcourt Street Line would close. Where was the forward thinking in that?

      1. Gaoithe

        Railway lines all across Europe were closing at the time. Huge losses were being made. It was a sane decision, though a sad one.
        The worst thing that happened after that was that people with houses bordering on the Harcourt Street line were allowed to build out onto the line, making it impossible for the route ever to be reopened, or for it to be a linear park as happened in other cities.

        1. Peter

          Rail lines were closing, without a doubt, but whether closing one down which travelled through Ranelagh, Milltown, Dundrum, and even through what was then a growing suburb in Kilmacud, can be described as “sane” is very much open to interpretation.

          The current route is extremely similar to the old route. Expcept that the station at Harcourt Street isn’t used (internally) I guess, and that the line now goes through the more populated suburb of Ballyogan rather than through Foxrock, which is as sparsely populated today as it was in the 1950s.

    1. 3stella

      The GNRI was a very progressive Irish railway company. It ran a extensive rail network from Dublin and Belfast to the north west of Ireland. It’s former system is great example of pre border trade flows in Ireland and the effects of political and economic division the border has subsequently caused to these areas.

      Harcourt street line “Todd Andrews” inspired closure on the 1st Jan 1960 was always considered short sighted for it’s relatively modest loss. But it must be remembered that places like Dundrum, leopardstown and Stillorgan were still relatively undeveloped and considered the sticks in 1960.

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