Foxrock railway station
Foxrock railway station was a station in on the Harcourt Street railway line that served Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland.
Foxrock Carraig an tSionnaigh  | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General information | |||||||||||||
| Location | Brighton Road, Foxrock, County Dublin Ireland | ||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53.267°N 6.185°W | ||||||||||||
| Platforms | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||
| Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
| Original company | Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway | ||||||||||||
| Pre-grouping | Dublin and South Eastern Railway | ||||||||||||
| Post-grouping | Great Southern Railways | ||||||||||||
| Key dates | |||||||||||||
| 1861 | Station opens | ||||||||||||
| 31 December 1958 | Station closed | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Harcourt Street Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
Foxrock was opened by the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) in 1861 as part of the Harcourt Street line.[1] A temporary platform had previously opened there in 1859 before a complete station was finished in 1861. The station opened as Foxrock and Leopardstown and retained this name until 1921 when it was shortened to Foxrock.
The station served as a connection to Leopardstown Racecourse and was eventually also a major setting for Samuel Beckett's radio play All That Fall, completed in 1956. The station was very busy on race days with many special trains running to the station.
Closure
The Harcourt Street line had declined in use throughout the early 20th century and was becoming rundown in the 1940s and 1950s. The station was closed by Córas Iompair Éireann with the closure of the whole line from Harcourt Street on 31 December 1958.
The disused station building remained until the 1990s, when it was demolished to make way for new housing developments. A small disused ticket office remains directly adjacent to the site of the old station house, on the grounds of Leopardstown Racecourse - this office was operated not by the railway but by the racecourse, to cater for patrons travelling by train on race days.
The Luas green line reuses most of the track layout of the Harcourt Street line, however it bypasses Foxrock in favour of the busier suburbs of Stepaside, Leopardstown and Ballyogan, but rejoins the former trackbed at Carrickmines, which is currently the nearest Luas stop to Foxrock. Most of the alignment hasn’t been build on however, making a Luas extension possible, though this isn’t on the table for now.
Layout
Foxrock had quite a large station, boasting three platforms. The third platform was nicknamed the 'racecourse' platform, as it was adjacent to the well known Leopardstown Racecourse, proving a connection through a pathway. The platforms were all linked by a typical, but long, DWWR/DSER footbridge. The station building, was also a typical DWR structure, and was located on the down platform, along with the DSER brick built signal cabin. There were additional sidings to the both the north and south of the station.