Foynes is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 512 as of the 2022 census.
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area around the border area between Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.
Rail transport in Ireland is provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.
Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2019, IÉ carried a record peak of 50 million passengers, up from 48 million in 2018.
Limerick Junction is the interchange railway station for trains originating in Limerick, Dublin Heuston, Cork, Waterford, Tralee and Ennis stations. The station opened on 3 July 1848.
The Great Southern Railways Company was an Irish company that from 1925 until 1945 owned and operated all railways that lay wholly within the Irish Free State.
A wide variety of steam locomotives have been used on Ireland's railways. This page lists most if not all those that have been used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Irish railways generally followed British practice in locomotive design.
The Western Railway Corridor is a term, used since c. 2003, for a partly disused railway line running through the west of Ireland. Currently two sections of the line, from Limerick via Ennis to Athenry and from Collooney to Sligo, see regular services, with other sections either closed or only technically classed as open.
The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the largest of Ireland's "Big Four" railway networks. At its peak the GS&WR had an 1,100-mile (1,800 km) network, of which 240 miles (390 km) were double track.
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of 538 miles (866 km), making it Ireland's third largest network after the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) and the Great Northern Railway of Ireland.
This is a bibliography for the history of rail transport in Ireland.
Mallow railway station is an Irish station on the Dublin-Cork railway line, Mallow-Tralee railway line and Cork Suburban Rail.
Limerick railway station also known as Colbert Station or Limerick Colbert serves the city of Limerick in County Limerick, Ireland. It is on Parnell Street and is the main station on the Limerick Suburban Rail network. It has approximately 2,500 rail passengers a day travelling on four rail routes. The Bus Éireann bus station on site services approximately one million passengers a year, with 125 buses departing each day.
Waterford railway station is a railway station which serves the city of Waterford in County Waterford, Ireland. The station is located across Rice Bridge on the north side of the city.
InterCity is the brand name given to rail services operated by Iarnród Éireann that run between Dublin and other major cities in Ireland. InterCity branding is also used in other European countries by unaffiliated organizations.
The Mallow–Tralee line runs from Mallow to Tralee Casement. Intermediate stations include Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney and Farranfore.
The Limerick–Tralee line, also known as the North Kerry line, is a former railway line from Limerick railway station to Tralee railway station in Ireland. It also has branch lines to Foynes and Fenit. Much of the line today has now been converted into a greenway, the Great Southern Trail.
The Farranfore–Valentia Harbour line was a 39.5 miles (63.6 km) long single-track broad gauge railway line that operated from 1892 to 1960 along Dingle Bay's southern shore in Ireland. It was the most westerly railway in Europe.
Martin Atock, also formerly known as Martin Attock, was an English railway engineer, who is best known as the Locomotive Superintendent of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) from 1872 to 1900.
