DUBLIN & KINGSTOWN, THE FIRST PASSENGER RAILWAY

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the Irish first passenger railway, that was opened on a day like today in 1834. 

The Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), which opened in 1834, was Ireland's first passenger railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour (Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin.

The D&KR was also notable for a number of other achievements besides being Ireland's first passenger railway: it operated an atmospheric railway for ten years; claimed the first use of a passenger tank engine; was the world's first commuter railway and was the first railway company to build its own locomotives.

On 30 June 1856, the Dublin and Wicklow Railway (D&WR) took over operation of the line from the D&KR with the D&KR continuing to lease out the line. The D&WR had formerly been known as the Waterford, Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin Railway (WWW&DR or 3WS). It changed its name to the Dublin Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) in May 1860 and was ultimately renamed the Dublin and South Eastern Railway (D&SER) in 1907, a name which was retained until the amalgamation of the D&KR and D&SER with the Great Southern Railways on 1 January 1925.

As of 1974, its independent existence of over 90 years by a railway company was only exceeded in the British Isles by the Great Western Railway and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.

1817 had seen the beginning of the construction of a new harbour at Dunleary village that soon began to attract traffic due to silting problems elsewhere around Dublin Bay. The name Kingstown was adopted after King George IV departed from the harbour in 1821. Proposals for canal or rail infrastructure links to Dublin were variously proposed through to the 1830s. James Pim took the initiative and commissioned a plan by Alexander Nimmo which was supported by other businessmen and presented as a petition to the House of Commons on 28 February 1831 for a rail line from near Trinity College to the west pier at the Royal Harbour of Kingstown under a company to be known as the D&KR. A bill was presented and was progressing but was scuppered by a prorogation of parliament and an election. A fresh bill received royal assent on 6 September 1831 as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway Act 1831 (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. lxix).

A meeting of D&KR subscribers on 25 November 1831 at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce included the submission of a long report which indicated that Westland Row was to be the Dublin terminus and that the enterprise was initially to focus on passenger traffic with a high train frequency. Thomas Pim was appointed chairman. A key appointment was James Pim (Junior) as secretary and Murray notes his great natural ability, tact, energy, and a valuable business experience. James Pim was appointed Treasurer in May 1832 and effectively functioned as General Manager. The position of clerk/secretary was awarded to Thomas Fleming Bergin who with his engineering background effectively controlled the operation of the railway.

One of the earliest tests was with a horse pulling a single carriage carrying directors and friends on 31 July 1834; at that stage with only a single line laid throughout. The D&KR claimed that trials expected in September were delayed due to the risks to labourers still working on the line. The first recorded train with invited passengers on 4 October 1834 was hauled by the engine Vauxhall and ran as far as the Williamstown Martello Tower at what is now Blackrock Park before returning. 

The engine Hibernia on 9 October 1834 hauled another train of invited passengers composed of eight carriages and in this case traversed the whole length of the line and back. Plans were made to introduce a service on 22 October 1834 but storms and flooding damaged the line including wrecking the bridge over the River Dodder and this led to delays for repairs.

Newspaper advertisements of an hourly service and fares for one shilling, eight (old) pence and six pence for first, second and third class respectively indicated the service was to start on Wednesday 17 December 1834. At 9 o'clock on the appointed date the locomotive Hibernia departed with the first train of the day from Westland Row. Throughout the day a total of nine trains of between eight and nine carriages were run, all full to overflowing, and with a total of almost 5,000 fare paying passengers conveyed.

A timetabled regular service was introduced from January 1835.

More information: The Irish Times

The establishment of rail line and railway

network expansion has always been 

of prime importance.

Anurag Thakur