Harcourt Street station

The station opened on 7 February 1859, after the initial opening of the railway line itself.[1]

The station facade was designed by George Wilkinson, and contains a central arch and a colonnade of doric columns. The station was constructed on an embankment, with the line 25 feet above street level and a Gilbey's bonded spirits store in the undercroft.[2]

Although the line was double track, the station only had a single 597-foot-long (182 m) platform on the west side of the railway, which terminated in a 48'-diameter (14.6 m) turntable at the Hatch Street end of the station. There were two through sidings on the east side of the station, beyond which lay Harcourt Street goods station and the D&WR's locomotive shed. There was no direct access for arriving trains to the goods station, instead 'Up' Freight trains had to pull into the passenger station, then set back onto the 'Down' line before entering the goods station. This was a contributory factor to the 1900 train crash.[3]

The first signal box was installed in 1878, and was replaced with an electro-mechanical installation in 1938 at which point the station was re-signalled with colour light signals.

The station is perhaps most famous for a train crash in 1900 - a cattle train from Enniscorthy failed to stop and crashed through the end wall of the station, leaving the locomotive suspended over Hatch Street. Nobody was killed, though the driver, William Hyland, had his right arm amputated.[4][5] The locomotive was lowered down onto a temporary rail line on Hatch Street, and brought to the goods yard.[6]

Following the accident, the Board of Trade recommended the installation of a facing junction to allow direct access to the goods line, and until that took place all trains were to stop at Ranelagh to ensure that they made a controlled approach to Harcourt Street station.[7] This practice continued up to its closure.[8]

After the formation of The Great Southern Railways in 1925, Harcourt Street gradually declined in importance as services to the South East were increasingly concentrated on Westland Row (now Pearse) station with goods facilities transferred to the North Wall goods station. Thereafter, apart from during the 1933 GNR(I) strike, Harcourt Street became predominantly a passenger station. Services to Wexford were transferred to the Westland Row line in 1941, reducing the Harcourt Street line to commuter services. The station continued operating until 31 December 1958, when Córas Iompair Éireann, during its rationalisation programme of the railway network and amid some public criticism, closed the line from Harcourt Street.[9]

The Luas light rail network that opened on 30 June 2004 utilised parts of the old route. The station building has been converted into a leisure venue with bars and music venues.[10]

Harcourt Sráid Fhearchair
View from the platform looking north. The station building is visible on the right.
General information
Location	Harcourt Street, Dublin Ireland
Coordinates	53.33364°N 6.26270°W / 53.33364; -6.26270
Owned by	Transdev
Operated by	Luas
Line(s)	Green
Platforms	2 (island)
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Other information
Fare zone	Central
Key dates
30 June 2004	Stop opened
2018	Platforms extended
Services
Preceding station Luas Following station St Stephen's Green towards Parnell or Broombridge Green Line Charlemont towards Sandyford or Brides Glen

In June 2004, the Green Line of the Luas - Dublin's light rail tram system - opened.[13] The Green line mostly followed the route of the old Harcourt Street line from Charlemont to Sandyford (it has since been extended south to Brides Glen). A stop called Harcourt was opened on the site of the old terminus. Because the embankment which led to the station had been demolished and replaced with new developments, the Luas line diverges from the old alignment at Charlemont and descends a ramp before continuing north on the streets.

Harcourt Luas stop is directly in front of the entrance to the old station building. It has an island platform - a rarity for Luas stops - which is flanked by tracks running in lanes reserved for trams. Road traffic must travel on the western side of the street.[14]

Luas Green Line
Dublin–Sligo line westbound Broombridge Dublin–Sligo line eastbound Depot Cabra Phibsborough Grangegorman Broadstone – DIT 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

• 
  Last train before closure 31 December 1958
• 
  The Harcourt Street train crash, 1900

• Harcourt Street railway line