Limerick Junction
|
|
Limerick Junction, actually situated in County Tipperary and formerly named "Tipperary Junction", is a railway station in Ireland. Tipperary Town itself is only a mile or two away, though Limerick Junction, with only a few houses and a pub, is not even a village. The station lies at the only railway junction in Ireland where two lines cross at a near-90 degree angle. One route is the Dublin-Cork main line, while the other is the line from Limerick to Waterford. Trains from all four locations are served, some connecting elsewhere onwards to Ennis in County Clare and Tralee in County Kerry.
Missing image Limerick_junction_incomplete_track_diagram.png The entire station at Limerick Junction is surrounded by track. Trains accessing the Waterford bay, arriving from Limerick or Waterford, must reverse into the platform (those from Waterford also reverse back from "Keane's points", where the curve out from the station joins the line). |
The platform layout consists of four platforms – two alongside the Cork-Dublin mainline (which passes in front of the station), and the other two, serving Limerick/Waterford trains, facing sidings on the rear of the station. Thus we come to the unusual nature of the station – access to the rear platforms (the "Limerick bay" to the right as one faces the station front, the "Waterford bay" to the left). A train coming from Limerick, needing to pull into the Waterford bay, must switch onto a curve off the Limerick-Waterford line, pass behind the station building, past the platforms, and reverse into the Waterford bay. A train coming from Waterford, must pass across the Dublin-Cork mainline towards Limerick, before reversing back to come into the curve used by trains arriving from Limerick. It can then stop at the Limerick bay.
Other places which feature, or have featured, the unusual requirement that some or all trains reverse into the station platforms include:
See also
External link
- Limerick Junction station (http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/your_station.asp?letter=L&action=showdetail&station_id=87)