Woodbrook railway station

Woodbrook Sruthán na Coille
Overgrown platform 2 of Woodbrook Halt
General information
Location	Ireland
Coordinates	53.217°N 6.108°W / 53.217; -6.108
Platforms	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
History
Original company	Dublin and South Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	Dublin and South Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	Great Southern Railways
Key dates
1910	Station opens
1915	Station relocated inland
31 December 1958	Services to Harcourt Street cease
1960	Station closes
2023	Under construction

Harcourt Street Line
Year closed Harcourt Street 1958 Harcourt Road 1859 Grand Canal Rathmines & Ranelagh 1958 Milltown 1958 Nine Arches Viaduct over River Dodder Dundrum 1958 80m Stillorgan 1958 Stillorgan Rd. Foxrock 1958 Carrickmines 1958 Lehaunstown Ln. Bride's Glen Viaduct over Loughlinstown River Shankill 1958 Shanganagh Junct. Dublin-Rosslare line to Amiens Street Woodbrook 1960 Bray River Quinnsborough Rd. Bray Dublin-Rosslare railway line to Wexford and Waterford

Woodbrook railway station, or Woodbrook Halt, was a station on the former Dublin and South Eastern Railway, and was located on the southern outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. Opened in 1910, the station closed in 1960. The halt served Shankill and Shanganagh, including the Woodbrook Estate from which it took its name, and lay a short distance north of Bray (at the northern edge of County Wicklow).

As of 2020, a new station, provisionally named Woodbrook DART Station (Irish: Stáisiún DART Shruthán na Coille), was proposed to be built on the DART line in the nearby Shanganagh area of Dublin. Construction of the new DART station started in November 2023.

History

Woodbrook Halt was opened as a halt in 1910. The small station was located on the main line, a few yards south of the split-off, thus receiving trains from both the coastal line and the Harcourt Street line. It served Sir Stanley Cochrane's Woodbrook estate, and especially his cricket ground. The Woodbrook Golf Club and Cricket Grounds later used this halt, from 1920 to 1960.

The part of the line between Killiney and Bray was moved inland in 1915 due to coastal erosion, with Shanganagh Junction being reinstated inland and Woodbrook station being relocated as a result. The new station lay in what is now the centre of Shanganagh Park.

Closure

The Harcourt Street line had declined in use throughout the early 20th century and was closed by CIÉ at the end of 1958. Being on the main line, Woodbrook survived the closure of the line, until it too was closed in January 1960. In the years that followed, the building at the halt was demolished and as the years went on, the platforms became overgrown.

Proposed station

A new station is intended for an area zoned for future housing development, with access to the proposed station included as part of a list of strategic infrastructure projects financed under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund in 2017. The proposed station is close to (but unconnected to) the former Woodbrook halt, the remains of which remain along the line at Woodbrook Golf Club.

In August 2020, Iarnród Éireann stated its intention to apply for planning permission for the station. An application was submitted in October 2020, and planning permission was granted in July 2021. Work on the new station had commenced by late 2023.

References

Preceding station	Iarnród Éireann			Following station
	Proposed
Shankill		DART Trans-Dublin		Bray
	Disused railways
Killiney and Ballybrack Line and station open		Dublin and South Eastern Railway Dublin-Wicklow		Bray Line and station open
Shankill Line and station closed		Dublin and South Eastern Railway Dublin-Bray		Bray Line closed, station open