PHOENIX PARK RAILWAY TUNNEL
Platform 10 is like something from a Harry Potter book in that there is little possibility of finding it. Many Dubliners are unaware that platform 10 exists or that there is an underground railway that passes under the Phoenix park.
A few days ago I received an invitation to visit Platform 10 at 12 Noon on the 18th. of August and I must that I got lost. However. I did arrive before anyone other than a few train drivers so I assume that everyone else had difficulty finding platform 10.
The purpose of the event provide a platform for transport minister Paschal Donohoe from which to announce a 13.5 million euro upgrade of the Victorian Phoenix Park tunnel which will allow a new direct services to Connolly, Tara Street, Pearse Street and Grand Canal Dock stations next autumn. "For the first time, commuters on the Kildare suburban rail line will have frequent services directly into the heart of the south city business district," said the minister.
My belief is that four trains an hour at peak periods are set to run from the Kildare direction through to Grand Canal Dock, catering for the growing numbers of commuters from Co Kildare. Off-peak, there will be one train an hour through the tunnel. The service won’ t start until signalling work has been completed, so the exact start date has yet to be decided.
The Phoenix Park tunnel is 757 yards in length and it has two parallel railway lines, so that trains going in each direction can pass each other. It is well-lit and an additional feature is the number of recesses built into the walls, every 10m on both sides of the tunnel, so that if a train approaches, a railway worker in the tunnel can step in to safety. During the second World War, the tunnel was used to store food supplies, so it became a gigantic larder, just as over-ground, in the Phoenix Park, great stacks of turf were built.
A few days ago I received an invitation to visit Platform 10 at 12 Noon on the 18th. of August and I must that I got lost. However. I did arrive before anyone other than a few train drivers so I assume that everyone else had difficulty finding platform 10.
The purpose of the event provide a platform for transport minister Paschal Donohoe from which to announce a 13.5 million euro upgrade of the Victorian Phoenix Park tunnel which will allow a new direct services to Connolly, Tara Street, Pearse Street and Grand Canal Dock stations next autumn. "For the first time, commuters on the Kildare suburban rail line will have frequent services directly into the heart of the south city business district," said the minister.
My belief is that four trains an hour at peak periods are set to run from the Kildare direction through to Grand Canal Dock, catering for the growing numbers of commuters from Co Kildare. Off-peak, there will be one train an hour through the tunnel. The service won’ t start until signalling work has been completed, so the exact start date has yet to be decided.
The Phoenix Park tunnel is 757 yards in length and it has two parallel railway lines, so that trains going in each direction can pass each other. It is well-lit and an additional feature is the number of recesses built into the walls, every 10m on both sides of the tunnel, so that if a train approaches, a railway worker in the tunnel can step in to safety. During the second World War, the tunnel was used to store food supplies, so it became a gigantic larder, just as over-ground, in the Phoenix Park, great stacks of turf were built.
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PLATFORM 10 PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAM MURPHY