Journal Volume 2 1995

Notes on how the railway came to Greystones (continued/3)

Greystones Station

Greystones Station itself was designed by George Wilkinson, who also designed the stations at Bray, Harcourt Street, Wicklow and Kilcoole among others, and was famous as a designer of Poor Houses and Lunatic Asylums throughout the country. It was built by Messrs. Crowe and Sons, whose tender of £3,000 was accepted in April 1855 for the building of Greystones and Wicklow stations.

Greystones Station was the first station to be electrified, by the Greystones Electric Light and Power Company, in June 1921. It cost £250. The new turn table was built in 1914 for £390, and in 1918 a new creosoting plant was built in Ennis’s Lane.

Changes

The line was re-named The Dublin and South-East Railway in 1907, and became part of the Great Southern Railway in 1925. The D&KR was nominally independent until this point. On 1st January 1945 CIE came into being, which took over public transport on railways and roads in the country.

The Morrissey Report of 1948 found that the road system in Ireland was very extensive, but it would create a heavy burden on rate-payers if all freight was moved on the roads. The passenger rail service was inadequate and infrequent, and should be changed to lighter trains. Branch lines should never be removed, as they were an integral part of the infrastructure of the country. Also, the locomotives as a whole were extremely old. CIE was re-structured in 1950.

A further report was commissioned in 1956-57 by Frank Lemass. General Manager of CIE, and this was used as a reason for wholesale reduction of rail services. On 1st January 1959 the Harcourt Street line was closed. Kilcoole and Newcastle Stations were closed, as well as nine others in 1964 and Greystones was closed for freight. In 1965 the turntable at Greystones was removed.

In 1970 the McKinsey Report was commissioned, and its most telling point was that the railway passenger system was too slow and cumbersome, and that diesel engines were unsuitable for suburban working.

Today

The Shuttle to Bray has gone. Greystones has no resident Station Master. The station is closed for most of the time. Only the Wicklow and Wexford trains now stop. Will Greystones Station be in use for much longer?

[Note: since this paper was written it has been decided to continue the DART line as far as Greystones. This may revitalise the station.]

Sources

1. Ireland’s First Railway    by K. A. Murray
2. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway by W. Ernest Shepherd
3. The Book of Bray by Casserly
4. Thesis on Railway Architecture  by Brenda O’Reilly
5. Modern Ireland 1600 – 1972  by R. F. Foster
6. The National Trust Archive
7. The Architectural Archive