Navan Junction railway station

Last updated

Navan Junction
Kingscourt train at Navan Jct - geograph.org.uk - 1693049.jpg
A train from Kingscourt passing the station in 1982.
General information
Location Navan, County Meath
Ireland
Coordinates 53°38′54″N6°41′31″W / 53.6482°N 6.6919°W / 53.6482; -6.6919
History
OpenedSeptember 1872 (1872-09)
Closed27 January 1947 (1947-01-27)
Pre-grouping Midland Great Western Railway
Location
Navan Junction railway station
Railways around Navan
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Navan
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Navan Central
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Navan Junction
Tara Mine
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Navan North
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Navan Junction was a railway station serving the town of Navan in County Meath. As the name suggests, the station was located at the junction of two railway lines. The first was a branch line off the main line between Belfast and Dublin, which connected Drogheda and Oldcastle, and opened in 1850. The second, which opened in 1862, was also a branch line, this time off the line from Dublin to Sligo, connecting Clonsilla and Navan. This line was later extended as far as Kingscourt in 1865. [1]

Although Navan had two railway stations, Navan Junction was the main one serving the town, with a total of four platforms serving the two routes. However, following the nationalisation of the railways in Ireland in 1945, a major rationalisation programme led to the closure of many branch lines. Passenger services on the Kingscourt line ended in 1947, and led to the line between Clonsilla and Navan being lifted, while services on the Oldcastle line ended in 1958, with the line between Navan and Oldcastle lifted in 1963. This saw the final closure of Navan Junction station itself.

Today, little remains of the station. Most of the buildings have been demolished, with the exception of the Midland Great Western Railway goods shed and the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) down platform. [2] However, freight trains still pass through the site – until 2001, trains transported gypsum from the Gypsum Industries plant at Kingscourt through the site, while trains from the Tara Mine continue to use the remaining part of the Oldcastle line to transport zinc and lead to Drogheda.

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Navan   Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
Drogheda-Oldcastle
 Ballybeg
Bective  Midland Great Western Railway
Clonsilla-Kingscourt
 Gibbstown

References

  1. "Navan Junction station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  2. Navan Junstion – eiretrains.com