Sunday 10 August 2008

Railway station planned for Croker

A new railway station is being planned for Croke Park in Dublin. Iarnród Eireann is expected to have high-level discussions with the GAA to open the new railway station at the GAA headquarters.

It is anticipated that the GAA would make a significant contribution towards its development costs, given that the new station has the potential to deliver a large amount of fans to the stadium on match days.

Croke Park is situated adjacent to the Sligo railway line, which serves stations in Boyle, Carrick-on-Shannon, Mullingar, Enfield, Kilcock, Maynooth and Leixlip. A spur on the line serving Dunboyne and Navan is planned for completion in 2015. The line terminates in Connolly station in Dublin, which is in turn connected with the Wexford and Belfast lines.

However, the real benefit of the station will come with the construction of the planned rail interconnector between Heuston station and Pearse station in the city centre. This has the potential to allow Iarnród Eireann to deliver trains directly to Croke Park from locations such as Cork, Limerick, and Galway. The interconnector is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The main problem facing any plan for the new station is the logistical challenge of moving large numbers of fans on and off trains on match days. Croke Park has a maximum capacity of 82,500 people, and were a new station to prove viable it would have to be able to accommodate large numbers of matchgoers.

Sunday Business Post

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