Liffey Railway Bridge
| Liffey Railway Bridge Droichead Iarnróid an Life | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 53°20′51″N 6°18′12″W / 53.3474°N 6.3033°WCoordinates: 53°20′51″N 6°18′12″W / 53.3474°N 6.3033°W |
| Carries | Railway |
| Crosses | River Liffey |
| Locale | Dublin |
| Maintained by | Iarnród Éireann |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Wrought iron |
| History | |
| Construction end | 1877 |
The Liffey Railway Bridge is a rail bridge spanning the River Liffey near Heuston railway station in Dublin in Ireland.
It is a wrought iron box truss structure, and joins lines from Heuston Station to Connolly Station through the Phoenix Park Tunnel.[1]
It is used regularly for freight traffic and by limited passenger services on match days to carry Gaelic Athletic Association sports fans from southern rail lines to Connolly Station for Croke Park stadium.
In recent years, rail transport planners and interest groups such as Platform 11 have debated the use of the route over the bridge and through the tunnel to link the traditionally operationally separate lines which terminate at Heuston and Connolly stations.[2]
History
The bridge and tunnel were built by the Great Southern and Western Railway (GSWR) company to connect Kingsbridge station to the Dublin docklands. Before the line was built the Midland & Great Western Railway (MGWR) company had built a railway along the Royal Canal which enabled them to transport goods directly from Spencer Dock to Broadstone station where MGWR was based.
The GSWR had to transfer the goods from the docks by road to Hueston which was time-consuming and costly so they built the line to connect with the MGWR line at Cabra. Later, because of the cost that MGWR were charging GSR for use of its line to the docklands, a new line was built directly to the docklands.
References
| ||||||