Railway station (1854-1958)

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 Halt 1960 Bray River Quinnsborough Rd. Bray Dublin-Rosslare railway line to Wexford and Waterford

The Harcourt Street railway line was built by the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway and opened in 1854, running from a temporary terminus at Harcourt Road near the city centre to Bray. Carrickmines was originally one of four intermediate stops on the line along with Dundrum, Stillorgan and Shankill.

The station was located to the east of Glenamuck Road North, which crossed the railway line on an iron bridge. The up platform (for trains towards Dublin) featured a small station building whose design was similar to those of other DWWR buildings, attributed to the line's engineer William Dargan.^[2] Passengers accessed this platform through a gateway next to the building. The down platform featured a smaller waiting room and a ramp leading passengers to the road bridge. A water tower was also situated on the up platform.

Closure (1959-2010)

The station in 2007, showing the building, waiting room, down platform and passenger ramp.

The Harcourt Street line had declined in use throughout the early 20th century and was becoming rundown in the 1940s and 50s. Carrickmines had been used so little by passengers that it was reduced to a halt under Foxrock in December 1951. After the line continued to dwindle in use, it was closed by CIÉ at the end of 1958, despite objection from the community. The remaining section was used for the filming of Johnny Nobody in May 1960, notably in Tullygates and Carrickmines. The tracks were lifted soon after and all stations on the route were auctioned off.

Carrickmines station building became a private residence. The property included the track bed and both platforms. The waiting room was used as an out building. The water tower, down platform and ramp all survived, and the building continued to be accessed by a driveway leading to the main road. The owners later built an extension to the back of the house, where the rails used to run.

Luas construction (2010)

In 2010, the Luas Green Line was extended south from Sandyford to Brides Glen. The line mostly uses the same alignment as the Harcourt Street line between Carrickmines and Brides Glen, and Carrickmines was rebuilt as a tram stop.

During construction, the property had to be bought by the Railway Procurement Agency for work to begin. The modern extension was demolished as it was blocking the tracks. The waiting room and ramp were also demolished, the latter being rebuilt. A wall was built to separate the stop from the old station property, and the old alignment had new tracks laid and overhead catenary wired hung. Once work had finished, the station building was once again sold off as a private residence.

At the same time as the construction of the stop, the Glenamuck Road North, which passes the stop was widened. To allow for this, the old iron road bridge was replaced with a modern concrete bridge. The new bridge has high solid parapets. On the sides that face the roads, these parapets are covered with sandstone bricks. This pattern extends along the walls on either side of the road.^[3]

Service

On average, trams run every 10–15 minutes. Southbound trams all go to Brides Glen. Most trams travelling north from Carrickmines continue to the northern terminus at Broombridge, but some terminate at Parnell. The stop is also served by Go-Ahead Ireland route 63.^[4]