Double-tracked lines

[Darrman]

The railway lines from Dublin to Cork and Belfast are double-track all the way (the Boyne Viaduct excepted), as are significant parts of the three cities' suburban lines. Dublin has the Sligo line as far as Maynooth, the Rosslare line as far as Bray, and the Howth and M3 Parkway branches double. Cork has the Cobh line double, with plans to extend that to Midelton. Belfast has the Bangor line and the Larne line up to some point past Carrickfergus double. In addition, the approach to Limerick from Killonan Junction is double track, with extending that to Limerick Junction at least under consideration.

But there used to be a lot more double track in Ireland, and there was even more railway with some degree of accommodation for future doubling that never came. I know the GSR did a lot of singling, but I don't know of any comprehensive list of former double-track railway. I'm under the impression that most/all of the MGWR main line was double at some point, and some of the Sligo line was too. I also think that some part of the Waterford line was double, up to around Carlow? Limerick to Limerick Junction was double too, I believe.

But I might be wrong about some of those, and I'm probably forgetting/don't know about some segments. Is there a comprehensive list of railway lines that were double-track at some point in history in Ireland?

[Mayner]

MGWR Double Tracked Sections.

Main Line--------Broadstone-Ballinasloe, Attymon Junction-Athernry, Oranmore-Galway. Ballinasloe-Woodlawn-Attymon Junction and Athernry-Oranmore were always single tracked.

Liffey Branch---Liffey Junction-North Wall Midland.

Meath Line----Clonsilla Junction-Drumree

Sligo Line-----Mullingar-Longford  Carrignagat Junction(later Ballysodare)-Sligo

Mayo Line---Athlone-Roscommon

The Midland operated a relatively sparse passenger service and double track not really essential from an operational perspective, for instance the Midland only operated 2-3 return passenger trains and 1 return goods daily between Broadstone-Navan-Kingscourt during the 19th Century. The Main Line, Sligo and Mayo Lines would have been busier with Day and Night Mail trains and heavier goods traffic.

The double tracking of much of the MGWR was possibly driven by a 19th Century Board of Trade expectation that 'main lines" should be double track to avoid head-on collisions in the days before the development of effective single track signal systems.

 

[RANGERMOUSE]

The old OS maps are a great source of info about the railway back in the early 20th century. You can see which lines were double tracked.
As Mayner says above the double track finished in Longford and carried on after Carriganat Junction. The infrastrucure between was built to accomodate double track however. 
The bridges over the Rynn River and the Shannon, which are local to me, are examples of this. The road bridges over the line were built wide enough for double track too. I'm not sure the actual track bed was built for double. It does seem too narrow in places, especially if you look towards Sligo from Dromad Station.

[Patrick Davey]

* BCDR double tracked from Belfast to Bangor and Belfast to Comber

* NCC double tracked from Belfast to Ballymena and from Bleach Green to Whitehead

* GNR was a bit more complicated, definitely double tracked from Belfast to Dublin (interlaced at the Boyne Viaduct) and Dublin to Howth but there were other sections too including from Portadown to Clones (I think?) and also from Portadown to some point between there and Dungannon and also the final section of the Derry Road, from one of the Donegal stations into Derry.  @jhb171achill can fill in the missing details there!

Also wasn't the Cork, Blackrock & Passage line known for having the only stretch of double tracked narrow gauge line in Ireland?

[airfixfan]

St Johnston to Foyle Road was double track. Singled in early 1930s due to effects of partition

Edited April 14, 2023 by airfixfan

[Flying Snail]

GSWR did indeed lay the line from Dublin to Carlow as double-track. It was singled south of Athy during WW1 so the track could be reused on local colliery lines built as part of the war effort, and Cherryville to Athy was singled in 1931 by the GSR to save costs.

[Westcorkrailway]

1 hour ago, Patrick Davey said:

Also wasn't the Cork, Blackrock & Passage line known for having the only stretch of double tracked narrow gauge line in Ireland?

It was standerd gauge initially before being converted to being double narrow. Not the whole railway was double track though.

 

the Cork & Bandon railway was built to accommodate possible doubling. This is clearest in the earlier underbridges, tunnels and viaduct abutments. 

[Mayner]

The Waterford and Limerick 

Waterford West-Fiddown was formerly double track.  A section of the Down? main line at Grange was retained as a siding to serve a high loading bank after the main line was singled during the 1930s.

Limerick Junction-Limerick double track in WLWR days.

Dublin-Waterford

Sections of double track retained as sidings.

Clonsilla Junction-Galway.

Sections of redundant double track were retained as lay-bye's or refuge sidings at the majority of crossing stations on singled sections of the main line.

The lay-byes/refuge sidings were used for shunting complete trains clear of the main line when the running line and loop were both occupied.

The lay-bye sidings at the east and west end of Maynooth were used for shunting Liner and ESSO Oil trains clear of the main line when up and down passenger trains were crossing up to the early 2000s.

A section of the Up main line at the Dublin end of Drumree on the Meath Line was retained as a siding to serve a (new) goods shed after the line was singled by the GSR.

Cherryville Junction-Kilkenny.

Kilberry:  A section of the former Down main line was retained as a siding to serve the Kilberry Moss Peat factory until disconnected in 1975.

Carlow: A 3/4 mile section of the former Up main line was retained to serve the Carlow Beet Factory opened in 1926, rail borne beet traffic appears to have ceased during the late 60s/early 70s though the factory dispatched train loads of export sugar in ISO containers during the early 1970s.

Bridges and Structures

Bridges and Structures on main lines built during the 19th Century were were normally designed or built and enough land taken to accommodate double track at a later date, one of the main exceptions was Killarney Junction to Killarney, though the Killarney-Tralee section were built to accommodate double track. 

  

[Mayner]

3 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

* BCDR double tracked from Belfast to Bangor and Belfast to Comber

* NCC double tracked from Belfast to Ballymena and from Bleach Green to Whitehead

* GNR was a bit more complicated, definitely double tracked from Belfast to Dublin (interlaced at the Boyne Viaduct) and Dublin to Howth but there were other sections too including from Portadown to Clones (I think?) and also from Portadown to some point between there and Dungannon and also the final section of the Derry Road, from one of the Donegal stations into Derry.  @jhb171achill can fill in the missing details there!

Also wasn't the Cork, Blackrock & Passage line known for having the only stretch of double tracked narrow gauge line in Ireland?

I think Portadown-Armagh was double tracked Armagh-Monaghan always single Monaghan-Clones double possibly singled as an economy measure 1930s.

Belfast-Cavan appears to have been considered an important route up to closure, with a relatively frequent (by Irish standards) of direct passenger trains using modern steam hauled coaching stock.

[Patrick Davey]

49 minutes ago, Mayner said:

I think Portadown-Armagh was double tracked Armagh-Monaghan always single Monaghan-Clones double possibly singled as an economy measure 1930s.

Belfast-Cavan appears to have been considered an important route up to closure, with a relatively frequent (by Irish standards) of direct passenger trains using modern steam hauled coaching stock.

Thanks for clarifying John 

[Louth]

Johnson's Atlas and Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland gives a wealth of information on historic lines and stations but unfortunately doesn't seem to distinguish between single and double tracks. However if you have great patience and eyesight, you can look at the historic maps on the Ordinance Survey Ireland website (osi.ie). These show which lines were single and which were double.

[BSGSV]

On the MGWR, Collooney MGW station to Sligo was double-tracked, except for a short stretch from Collooney Junction to Carrignagat Junction.

On the GNRI, Portadown - Trew & Moy was double, the section from there to Dungannon had a tunnel, so stayed single, so far as I know. Dungannon to Donaghmore also got doubled I think. Newry North to King Street was also double.

[Galteemore]

Strictly speaking, wasn’t Carrignagat to Ballisodare two parallel lines rather than true double track ? 

[jhb171achill]

At one time - but had also been double at some stage earlier, I believe.

10 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

* BCDR double tracked from Belfast to Bangor and Belfast to Comber

* NCC double tracked from Belfast to Ballymena and from Bleach Green to Whitehead

* GNR was a bit more complicated, definitely double tracked from Belfast to Dublin (interlaced at the Boyne Viaduct) and Dublin to Howth but there were other sections too including from Portadown to Clones (I think?) and also from Portadown to some point between there and Dungannon and also the final section of the Derry Road, from one of the Donegal stations into Derry.  @jhb171achill can fill in the missing details there!

Also wasn't the Cork, Blackrock & Passage line known for having the only stretch of double tracked narrow gauge line in Ireland?

Correct!

[Old Blarney]

DSER Sections of Double Track

Harcourt Street - Shanganah Junction.

Newcastle to Wicklow - 19th July 1887

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Old Blarney

[Mayner]

8 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Strictly speaking, wasn’t Carrignagat to Ballisodare two parallel lines rather than true double track ? 

Carrignagat was the end of the double line section from Sligo until moved to Ballysodare in 1930. Apparently the original cabin was destroyed during the Civil War and replaced by a temporary ground frame until 1930 when the Junction was moved to Ballysodare.

Ballysodare Cabin was a GSR replacement which controlled the junction with the SLNCR and the remotely controlled junction with the Burma Road at Collonney Junction.

[Branchline121]

What was the story with the Drogheda-Navan line? All the OS Maps show it as single-tracked (although the final 6-inch signifies accomodation for a second), but various photos show two lines, and it was singles again from c. 1965 onwards(?) Can anyone clear this up?

[Mayner]

4 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

What was the story with the Drogheda-Navan line? All the OS Maps show it as single-tracked (although the final 6-inch signifies accomodation for a second), but various photos show two lines, and it was singles again from c. 1965 onwards(?) Can anyone clear this up?

Drogheda-Navan was always single with the exception of crossing loops and sidings at Drogheda Platin, Duleek, Beaupark and Navan. 

As far as I remember the cutting between Drogheda and Platin was only wide enough for a single track https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3348749

 

[David Holman]

S. Maxwell Hajducki's A Railway Atlas of Ireland (David & Charles 1974) is an excellent resource. Contains 36 pages of maps showing opening dates, double or single track, plus narrow gauge, mineral lines and tramways. Also a double page covering closures and a summary of all the independent railway companies too.

 Well worth finding a copy - got mine second hand quite a few years ago, so not sure how many there are out there.

[StevieB]

I have a video of a cab ride from Waterford to Wellington Bridge and it clearly shows that the road over bridges were built to accommodate double track below even if the earthworks weren’t. The two largest pieces of civil engineering, the Barrow Bridge and Taylorstown viaduct, were built as a single track structures.

Stephen

[David Holman]

A couple of pics of Hajducki's atlas - cover and a map. Going through the pages, north to south, the [by no means definitive] list is shown below, though I've left out the obvious modern double track:

• Derry [Foyle Rd to St Johnston
• Belfast - Ballymena
• Belfast - Whitehead
• Portadown - Trew & Moy and Dungannon - Donaghmore
• Portadown - Armagh
• Belfast - Bangor & Comber
• Monaghan - Clones
• Collooney - Sligo
• Galway - Oranmore
• Athenry - Attymon
• Athlone - Ballenasloe & Roscommon
• Mulligar - Athlone & Roscommon
• Dublin - Athlone
• Clonsilla - Drumree
• Sallins - Naas
• Cherryville Junc - Carlow
• Wicklow - Newcastle
• Kilkenny - Laviston
• Waterford - Fiddown & Portlaw
• Cork - Blackrock

 Many of these lines were singled a long time ago, while some are closed completely. Others started single, were made double, only to revert to single again!

[BSGSV]

20 hours ago, David Holman said:

• Kilkenny - Laviston

I'm not aware of there ever being a cabin at Lavistown, I think it was always only two single lines running in from Carlow and Waterford to Kilkenny, together.

 

On 15/4/2023 at 1:38 AM, Branchline121 said:

What was the story with the Drogheda-Navan line? All the OS Maps show it as single-tracked (although the final 6-inch signifies accomodation for a second), but various photos show two lines, and it was singles again from c. 1965 onwards(?) Can anyone clear this up?

Navan Junction to Kingscourt Junction was, for a short time, a proper double-track line, with a cabin at Kingscourt Junction. Like a lot of cabins probably over-provided during the installation of block working and interlocking, (post-Regulation of Railways Act 1889), Kingscourt Junction had a short life.

Harpers block was installed Newry King Street to Bridge Street c1907, so the double-track was from Newry North to Bridge Street.

The Belfast Central was double from Central cabin to East Bridge too.

Edited April 17, 2023 by BSGSV
Typo

[David Holman]

Am only going on what the atlas suggests, so fuller historical knowledge trups that every time!

[BSGSV]

18 hours ago, David Holman said:

Am only going on what the atlas suggests, so fuller historical knowledge trups that every time!

Not having a dig at you or Mr. Hajducki. Given we all make mistakes, it's no surprise that books have them too!

[jhb171achill]

This clarifies the details of the Galway main line; often thought by many to have been FULLY double at one stage, but it wasn't quite........

[BSGSV]

23 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

This clarifies the details of the Galway main line; often thought by many to have been FULLY double at one stage, but it wasn't quite........

And given Attymon - Athenry only got double-tracked c1905, it only lasted, such as it was, for 20-odd years.

[David Holman]

Looking at my recent rail atlas of Britain and Ireland (you can never have enough maps), see that the triangle created South of Kilkenny is double track on the new North to South arm, even though all the other lines leading to it are single.

[seagoebox]

someone has made a mistake!

[jhb171achill]

11 hours ago, David Holman said:

Looking at my recent rail atlas of Britain and Ireland (you can never have enough maps), see that the triangle created South of Kilkenny is double track on the new North to South arm, even though all the other lines leading to it are single.

A little confusion there between the numbers "1" and "2"................

[seagoebox]

See also IRRS Journals no 3 and 144.

Railway Gazette December 1930, first page of a series of articles including a huge fold out map.