Milltown Luas stop

Milltown

Location within Dublin

Milltown (Irish: Baile an Mhuilinn) is a stop on the Luas light rail tram system in Dublin, Ireland which serves Milltown, Dublin and southern parts of Dartry, including Trinity Hall. It opened in 2004^[1] as a stop on the Green Line, which re-uses the alignment of the Harcourt Street railway line which closed in 1958. Milltown Luas stop is located a few yards north of the site of the former rail station of the same name.

History

Railway station (1860-1958)

v t e Harcourt Street Line
Legend
Year closed Harcourt Street 1958 Harcourt Road 1859 Grand Canal Rathmines & Ranelagh 1958 Milltown 1958 Nine Arches Viaduct over River Dodder Dundrum 1958 80m Stillorgan 1958 Stillorgan Rd. Foxrock 1958 Carrickmines 1958 Lehaunstown Ln. Bride's Glen Viaduct over Loughlinstown River Shankill 1958 Shanganagh Junct. Dublin-Rosslare line to Amiens Street Woodbrook 1960 Bray River Quinnsborough Rd. Bray Dublin-Rosslare railway line to Wexford and Waterford

The Harcourt Street railway line was built by the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway and opened in 1854, running from a temporary terminus at Harcourt Road near the city centre to Bray. Milltown was added as an infill station in 1860. The station was located on an embankment to the north of Milltown Road. The main station building was located on the up (Dublin-bound) platform. A footbridge allowed passengers to cross the tracks.^[2] A signal cabin existed on the down side, but this was closed in 1923 and demolished soon afterwards.^{[citation needed]}

To the south of the station, trains crossed the River Dodder on the Nine Arches Bridge, a stone viaduct built for the line.^[3]

Closure (1959-2004)

The Harcourt Street line had declined in use throughout the early 20th century and was closed by CIÉ at the end of 1958, despite local opposition. The tracks were lifted soon after and all stations on the route were auctioned off. In the years that followed, the buildings and platforms at Milltown were demolished.^{[citation needed]}

Luas (2004-present)

v t e Luas Green Line
Legend
Dublin–Sligo line westbound Broombridge Dublin–Sligo line eastbound Hamilton Depot Cabra Phibsborough Grangegorman Broadstone – University Dominick Parnell O'Connell Upper O'Connell - GPO Marlborough Red Line - Abbey Street O'Connell Bridge │ River Liffey │ Rosie Hackett Bridge Westmoreland Trinity Dawson St Stephen's Green Harcourt Grand Canal Charlemont Ranelagh Beechwood Cowper Milltown Nine Arches Bridge over River Dodder Windy Arbour William Dargan Bridge Dundrum Balally Kilmacud Stillorgan Sandyford Depot Central Park M 50 Glencairn The Gallops Leopardstown Valley Ballyogan Wood M 50 Racecourse (unused) Carrickmines Brennanstown (unused) Laughanstown Cherrywood Wyattville Link Road Brides Glen

Construction of the first phase of the Luas system commenced in 2001 and concluded in 2004. The route chosen for the Green Line re-used the old Harcourt Street alignment between Charlemont and Stillorgan. By this stage, little of the old Milltown station remained, but a Luas stop of the same name was built in the same place; The retaining wall at the edge of the southbound platform is the only feature retained from the original station. However, the adjacent viaduct was in good enough condition to be re-used. The viaduct was renovated, hand new track laid on it, and was fitted with parapets and poles to support the catenary wires.^{[citation needed]}

Milltown Luas stop has simple edge platforms with signage, ticket machines, displays and shelters. Directly to the north is a level crossing which provides access to a nearby college. The old station had a level crossing in much the same place.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, the platforms were lengthened from 45 to 55 metres. This was to accommodate the new longer trams introduced to boost capacity.^[4]

Service

Trams run every 5–10 minutes and terminate at either Parnell or Broombridge in the north, and Sandyford or Brides Glen in the south.^[5]

Onward transport

Go-Ahead Ireland operate route S4, which connects the stop with areas such as Rathgar, Terenure, Clonskeagh and Belfield.

References

Preceding station	Luas			Following station
Cowper towards Parnell or Broombridge		Green Line		Windy Arbour towards Sandyford or Brides Glen
Disused railways
Rathmines & Ranelagh Line and station closed		Dublin and South Eastern Railway Harcourt Street line		Dundrum Line and station closed