I took a huge gamble today. The weather forecast predicted multiple thunder storms and it was correct but I decided to visit Leixlip hoping that there would be gaps in the weather giving me the opportunity to get some really interesting photographs. Based on experience the clouds are much more interesting before and after thunder storms.
Leixlip Louisa Bridge is a railway station in the north-eastern corner of County Kildare, Ireland. It is one of two stations that serve the civil parish of Leixlip, the other being Leixlip Confey. Both stations lie on the Dublin to Maynooth commuter route. It is one of the few stations in the Iarnród Éireann network in which the station building is located directly over the platforms, on a bridge (Dún Laoghaire railway station also follows this design).
Originally named Louisa Bridge & Leixlip when it opened on 1 September 1848 the station was known simply as Leixlip from 1851, until the opening of Leixlip Confey railway station in 1990.
The station was upgraded to two platforms as part of the Western Commuter upgrade project in the early 2000s. At the same time it was reconstructed to be disability-friendly. The previous station building is now a dwelling house. The 1980s concrete block station building remains, albeit out of use, and is the only remaining station building of this style from the 1980s re-opening of the Western Commuter line.
MAYNOOTH RAILWAY STATION – DUKES’ HARBOUR AND NEARBY
I am working on a new project that requires me to photograph the Royal Canal between Dublin Docklands and Maynooth and the first step was to travel to Maynooth by train today. Unfortunately as soon as I arrived at the railway station it began to rain and it was really heavy and as a result I got on the next train back to Dublin. However the weather got better as I got closer to Dublin so I got off the train at Castleknock and I walked to Ashtown thus completing part of the project.
The railway station is situated on the south side of the Royal Canal, opposite Dukes’ Harbour. Access to Maynooth is by either the footbridge to the west, which leads to the Main Street of Maynooth; west along the canal walk to residential areas of the town, or via the road bridges to the east, which lead north to the older part of Maynooth, or south to the newer areas.
The station has two staffed ticket desks and four automated ticket machines, one inside and three outside the station building. The ticket office is open from 06:00 AM to 23:15 PM, Monday to Sunday. [note: the ticket desks were closed when I visited]
The footbridge crossing the tracks and connecting the two platforms was originally situated at Lansdowne Road railway station.
From Maynooth onwards to Sligo, the line is a single-track railway, the line being a double-track railway from Maynooth to Bray.
The 2018 NTA Heavy Rail Census showed 6,625 passengers using the station on the day of the survey, up from 6,228 in 2017 and 5,262 in 2016.
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