Connolly station

There are three InterCity routes served:

• The Enterprise service to Belfast Lanyon Place (intermediate stops, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Portadown and Lisburn)
• Sligo Mac Diarmada non-stop to Maynooth and calling at all stations to Sligo. Peak services call at Drumcondra.
• Rosslare Europort, calling at Tara Street, Dublin Pearse, Dun Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones and all stations to Rosslare Europort. Not all services call at Kilcoole. Peak services call at Blackrock, Lansdowne Road and Grand Canal Dock. The 16:33 departure from Connolly to Rosslare Europort offers a connection to ferries to Wales and France.

DART services use platforms equipped with overhead wires (Platforms 5, 6, and 7). Terminal Platform 4 is also electrified. As of January 2019 there are 6 DARTs per hour in each direction on weekdays. These are:

• Northbound: 3 per hour to Howth and 3 per hour to Malahide.
• Southbound: 4 per hour to Bray and 2 per hour to Greystones.

After years of delays, Irish Rail increased the DART frequency to every ten minutes in September 2018 which increased the number of trains per hour in Howth and Malahide to 3 and those terminating at Bray to 4 per hour but kept Greystones at 2 per hour, with some peak services also terminating at Dún Laoghaire. It is also planned to expand the DART lines to Maynooth, Hazelhatch and Balbriggan or Drogheda.[1]

Some Commuter services run along the DART line as far as Malahide. There are 2 Commuter services per hour in each direction off peak. These are:

• Maynooth from platforms 6 or 7: Calling at all stations to Maynooth.
• Drogheda/Dundalk from platform 6 or 7: Calling at Malahide and all stations to Drogheda/Dundalk, with some services also calling at Howth Junction, Clongriffin and Portmarnock.

2 trains per hour to Dublin Pearse from platform 5 or 6.

Peak time services also run to Longford, Hazelhatch, Newbridge, Newry, Dundalk, Balbriggan, Grand Canal Dock and Bray. There are also 3 trains per day from M3 Parkway to Connolly but do not run the return journey.

The opening of Docklands Station in March 2007 has provided an extra terminus station to take pressure from Connolly. During Monday to Friday peak times, trains from M3 Parkway and Dunboyne arrive at Docklands. It also provides an alternative terminus for the Western Commuter line to Mullingar if needed.

Docklands is the planned terminus for services to Navan.

As part of the DART Underground, Docklands will be replaced or supplemented by a new underground Spencer Dock station; this will further increase capacity in Connolly Station.

According to Iarnród Éireann, the project has provided the ability to operate 20 trains per hour in both directions through the Howth Junction to Grand Canal Dock line, which caters for Howth DARTs, Malahide DARTs, Northern Commuter trains, Belfast Enterprise services, Sligo InterCity, Western and South Western Commuter services, as well as other services in the Connolly to Grand Canal Dock area.[5] This means that more trains travel through Connolly rather than terminating; it has also facilitated the use of the Phoenix Park rail tunnel for commuter rail connections.[6] The project began in March 2015 and was commissioned on 15 November 2020.

This project will involve redeveloping the east section of the Connolly station area "to provide 81,500 sq. m. of mixed commercial, residential community and leisure uses comprising 50,200 sq. m. of office accommodation; 106 apartments; a hotel; retail and restaurants and a crèche." [7]

In April 2012, CIÉ received planning approval from Dublin city Council for the redevelopment.[8] In September 2017, CIÉ announced it was seeking a partner to develop Connolly Station site.[9] In 2018, CIÉ appointed Oxley Holdings as its partner for the construction of 697 build-to-rent apartments on Sheriff Street Lower. Planning permission was lodged in April 2019.[10]

The station is connected by bus to Dublin Port with Stena Line ferries from the Ferry Terminal to Holyhead, with connecting trains along the North Wales Coast Line to Bangor, Llandudno Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Chester, Crewe and stations to London Euston. SailRail is promoted as a viable alternative to air transport by using trains and ferries to reach places across the Irish Sea.[12]

Holyhead can also be reached by Irish Ferries or Stena Line from Dublin Port, reached by walking beside the tram lines around the corner from Amiens Street, Dublin into Store Street or by Luas one stop to Busáras where Dublin Bus operates a service to the Ferry Terminal, or Dublin Bus route 53 [13] or to take a taxi.

The ferry service from Dún Laoghaire was discontinued indefinitely in September 2014. Passengers traveled on the DART to Dún Laoghaire to sail using the Stena Line service. Now the route is a bus via Dublin Port to Holyhead as above.

InterCity trains from Connolly to Rosslare Europort connect with the evening ferry to Fishguard Harbour with through ticketing to places including Carmarthen, Llanelli and Swansea.[12][14]

Irish Ferries and Stena Line operate ferries from Rosslare Europort to Cherbourg in France. There is also a seasonal route to Roscoff operated by Irish Ferries.[15][16]

• Johnson, S. (1997). Johnson's Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland, Midland Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85780-044-3.
• O'Connor, K. (1999). The Great Northern Railway in Ironing the Land, The Coming of the Railways to Ireland, pp. 23–45. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. ISBN 0-7171-2747-8. (see also RTÉ TV series of same title)