Ballybrophy halt

Ballybrophy Halt is a small railway halt at Ballybrophy, County Laois, Ireland, near Borris-in-Ossory and Rathdowney. The halt is the junction for services to Limerick via Nenagh. Comparatively few services stop there.

Overview

The station opened on 1 September 1847 [cite web | title=Ballybrophy station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-09-05] as " Roscrea & Borris", was renamed "Roscrea & Parsonstown Junction" in 1858, and renamed again in 1871 as "Ballybrophy."Since late 2007, the station no longer lacks a lift on the footbridge for crossing the track. Therefore passengers who cannot use steps and are boarding or alighting from trains to Cork and Limerick via Limerick Junction are no longer required to cross the tracks at ground level, as was previously the case. [ [http://www.iarnrodeireann.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp?letter=B&action=showdetail&station_id=11 Ballybrophy halt website] ] This was only possible when trains were clear of the tracks.

The future

Ballybrophy's railway station is a connection point between the Dublin to Cork line and a line from Ballybrophy to Limerick. Trains wishing to cross from the Limerick to the Dublin line must perform time-consuming reversals. The line is lightly travelled, as an alternative routing via Limerick Junction is quicker and more comfortable due to newer track and fewer speed restrictions.

Due to the branch line's turn south to meet the line at Ballybrophy, some of those who favour retaining the line have theorised that continuing the line east with a stop at the more populated Borris-in-Ossory, joining the line nearer Portlaoise would be better for Dublin connections. However, in addition to the substantial capital cost of this work, substantial parts of the line would still need to be re-laid nearer Limerick to eliminate severe speed restrictions. Upgrades to the N7 road also dissuade rail usage.

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References

External links

* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/EI/15/Ballybrophy.html FallingRain Map - elevation = 144m (Red dots are railways)]