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Leopardstown to Rosslare by train

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2015-04-23 17:56:10 - Graham Ellis

I was in Dublin in the early part of last week and decided to come back on the ferry via Rosslare and Fishguard ... a boat I've used before with a car, but this was to be my first time by train. A few pictures along the way ...

Starting out from Leopeardstown in the south suburbs of Dublin ... I should have caught the No. 75 bus out to the coast to pick up the grain there, but the bus is infrequent so I doubled back via the centre of Dublin - hence my start on the Green Line Luas from Central Park.



The tram makes its way into Dublin - most of the way on its own way (an ex railway, perhaps?) but then as it crosses the canal it runs roadside past Harcourt Street and up to St Steven's Green where it ... terminates on the outside of the city centre. Just like London's original railways teminated at the edge of the expensive centre, so has this Luas line leaing it a walk away across the city from the other (red) line.

I walked through Dublin - to Tara Street, the smaller intermediate station betwen the north-facing Conely and the south-facing Pearse main stations, and boarded the DART - Dublin Area Rapid Transit - service running from Howth to Bray. A well used service - trains every 15 minutes; busy, electric and somewhat mature and basic.



From a full train in the City Centre, the load thinned out as we dropped off passengers along the coast - with stations all showing signs of the harsh elements of running right along the sea front:



But what a way to see the scenery of Dublin Bay (easier to see than to photograph from the train!):



And so on to the terminus of my train at Bray, where the station is a real treat - an active opertional spot in a cared for station.


 


There are only 4 trains a day that head south all the way to Rosslare - and I was on the final one of these from Bray ... a very modern diesel unit of Iarnrod Éireann ... which came in bang on time.



A really comfortable 4 car train - plenty of seats, plenty of tables, power, WiFi that worked well - and a cheerful buffet trolly attendant withe what seemed to be the freshest railway sandwich I have ever had!


 


Both seaward and landward the views were breathtaking (and I'm only giving you a sample here) and there's still some interesting old infrastructure around too.


 

 


At Eniscorthy, we crossed / passed the train that had gone town as far as Wexford an hour ahead of us, and carried on down the single line to Wexford - by now in the dark. Again, the station's on the waterfront and having dropped off eight passenger we carried on - unfenced street running and a bridge across a leg of the old harbour



A single passenger dropped off at Rosslare Strand (where I could just make out the old line running in from Waterford - now an engineer's siding) and on to our final stop at Rosslare Harbour / Europort. I commented to the the conductor that it was a bit quiet, and he told me the late train always is. As we arrived into Rosslare, I could see the Fishguard ferry leaving (no problem as I had a B&B booked) and it turned out I was the only passenger on the whole train. Here's the train in Rosslare Europort new station ... and a good point at which to take a break from the story.