Question about Broombridge sation
 

Hi

I use the Broombridge station every day but I remember hearing a few years ago there was an intention to get rid of that station and build another one beside the new apartments in the Pelletstown area. Has anyone heard of anything else about this ? How would I find out about this type of thing. I believe some of the apartments were sold with this as a feature ?

Also on a sepearate note regarding the metro . If I was living in Maynooth and wanted to go to the airport would I have to go all the way to Connolly and then change there or do they intend to have an interchange or feeder bus or something around Ashtown or Broombridge if its still there?

Thanks

sorry cait, broombridge is a kip and its barely used - bye bye

there already is an airport interchange station - drumcondra, take the 16A or 41 - takes 18 mins off peak

A new station is planned for Pelletstown, this is in addition to Broombridge. Both appear on IE's map. Broombridge is likely to be rebuilt and moved back towards Liffey Junction when the Luas to Liffey Junction is built, Liffey Junction is the curve about 200m on the Drumcondra side of Broombridge.

The new stations proposed on the Maynooth line are
Pelletstown between Ashtown and Broombridge, previously known as Ashington
Phoenix Park between Ashtown and Castleknock, previously known as River Rd
Porterstown between Coolmine and Clonsilla

Broombridge is the pits, the local vandals tear down or burn out anything new is put in. The ticket office was burned out at least twice. Add in the failed attempt to derail a train and lets not forget the urban legend about the bouquet of flowers, which in fact is true

If you are a Maynooth line user and wish to go to the airport via Metro we suggest you make a submission to the RPA http://www.rpa.ie/metro/have_your_say specifying your desire for a interchange at either Glasnevin Junction or Drumcondra. I met and spoke the to the RPA yesterday about this and they want such but appear to need to force the budget situation through public support, they didn't say that its my read

On the overall Maynooth line, from experience with IE, lighting, signage etc they will fix if they are put on the spot, services and timetables they stubbornly refused to make any moves. If you want security at the car park then you will have to pay

Thanks Mark for the useful comments

I want aware of the liffey valley interchange you mentioned, it sounds reasonable enough if it actually gets built and if its only 200m from the present station I would be very happy with that as it would be very close to me.

I find using the station in Broombridge quite handy and I have never experienced any problems regarding acts of vandalism or attempted de-raillings. I wasn't aware that a ticket office had been burnt out twice either, but I guess that explains why there is nothing there now. Could you expand on "the urban legend about the bouquet of flowers" whats all that about, sounds nasty
In my opinion it's a catch 22 situation there at Broombridge. because its unmanned and located close to empty factories it is a target for vandalism, but its also under-utlilzed. I dont undestand the reason for this but for most people in the area the bus links are very good

Ill take your advice and check out the rpa site and add my comments

Thanks again

The lack of a staff presence is the real problem, I wouldn't blame anyone for avoiding the place.

There was quite a sustained period of chaos in 2004, it reached a point where a barricade was placed across the tracks, the train struck but the driver managed to reverse back and clear the obstruction http://www.platform11.org/media/pres...no=pr_030.html

The bouquet of flowers story dates from the time the modern Maynooth service began 1990. In a strange twist to the IE we all love to hate on the opening day a bouquet of flowers was presented to the first female passenger at the new stations, no female passenger showed up at Broombridge

Hopefully things in Broombridge will clean up with the Luas as it will become an important interchange

As always if something goes wrong we would love to know, in particular any specific issues as IE tend to be useful about things like that, train times are a different issue

Welcome to the board, cait!

I sympathise with you using Broombridge -- that place gives me the creeps even in broad daylight, but maybe you're made of sterner stuff than me!

As a matter of interest, what time do you normally get a train there, and how many people would normally board with you?

ah yes ah welcome to the board cait
sorry if my post was a bit abrupt...

Hi Thomas

I get one of three Arrows between 750 and 8.27

On Average there are approx ten-twelve people getting on give or take a few.
In the evening I return around 6 or 6.30 and there always seem to be about 15-20 getting off at that time. So its true its strangely under-utilized. But ,because so few of us get on we can usually squeeze on easily enough at a separate door .That suits me, plus I dont really get too squashed as I get to lean against the door......I love commuting:o

There really is no problem with the station at all , obviously as I said little Oiks are going to hang around there late at night and drink or whatever, but there is never anything going on around the normal commuting times or during the day at the weekend ,all thats needed is a few Cops every now and then to patrol the place. Naturally I always carry my pepper spray and flick knife but I think my expert knowledge of martial arts is enough to frighten away little kids

Of course its not the most pleasant place to hang out (but then train platforms generally aren't) , but it very handy, 15 mins to the southside and you can be surrounded by a totally different environment

Hopefully I am not advocating the use of the station too much (!) Although somehow I think I am safe enough with that.

It really wouldn't surprize me too much if they did away with it altogether but hopefully if the service improves and the station improves perhaps more people will be encouraged to use it

By the way, how come you wanted to know this...you're not a spy for IE who wants to shut the station down are you ......Ill be getting onto Bertie ....

Cait

We have been thinking for years that Thomas was a mole from IE but I'm afraid not. We just want to find out what is wrong. We know Broombridge is dodgy finding someone who uses the station almost impossible

While we are literally standing on the platform next to you we can't be everywhere and rely heavily on the regular passenger to get in contact with any issues. We need your feedback there is no better person to explain the challenges of the daily commute than the commuter themselves

A ticket vending machine in Broombridge could be worth a try, is it warranted ? given the design IE use have survived falling off buildings, being dumped in lakes I think the local vandals won't win this time

I don't know Mark. I know these machines are tough but the lads in Broombridge should win an award for vandalism techniques. I remember one morning all the light poles had been unscrewed and bolts stolen!!! :eek:

If only they could put the same effort into fixing things....

Its when the vending machine vanishes with all the money in it, then you can get all romantic about them being dropped off bridges and getting chucked into the canal. When I lived in Maynooth and used to get the last sligo train on a Saturday night I used to be genuinely scared going through Boombridge of the carraige getting stoned. And by that I mean people chucking rocks at it.

A TVM in Broombridge as it stands would be a hiding to nothing. The place is the most vandalised station I have seen anywhere in the world. There is virtually nothing left to vandalise! A TVM would be like a big challenge to the local scumbags. The station should remain 'minimalist' until conditions allow it to be manned 24/7 or the area is redeveloped in it's entirety. One of Broombridge's big problems is it's setting. Shouldn't close though, it has a lot of potential with T21 coming along.

Bring it on, Broombridge vandals are very well equiped they bring there own tools, spanners blot cutters etc. The vandals will try there best. The way to beat vandals is persistence you replace and repair ASAP

One of the Broombridgean tactics I have seen is pile up wood beside the offending object. Pour petrol over the wood and offender and light. The end result usually leaves enemy unable to recover as was the case of the "station" in Broombridge.

I would love to know if the TVMs were tested against this sort of abuse.

Has anyone got conclusive proof that there isn't a time warp on the line and Broombridge station isn't a post apocalyptic Dublin? Until I see proof that there is no time warp I continue to believe that this is the only answer.

Perhaps rename it Baghdad?

Don't you think it would get rather expensive to be repairing/replacing TVMs on a regular basis?

Sub contract it, I'm sure the manufacture offers a warranty and a commitment that the product can take antisocal behavior

There's expected abuse and then there's what goes on at Broombridge. They managed to melt a patch of the actual platform there remember! They are a cut above a few kids jamming lollipop sticks into the coin slot-they'd probably remove the TVM completely by ramming it with a JCB they robbed from one of the buildig sites nearby. No manufacturer would warranty the type of abuse the TVM would come under at Brombridge. It simply wouldn't stand a chance. The screens would be the obvious target-smashed in every night and useless for a week or so until Scheidt u. Bachman come out and repair it. It's simply nt a runner until Broombridge is a manned station with residential development around it instead of those run-down industrial units.

Give those lads an award!

I'd have to agree. I don't condone their actions but if they should get a nobel prize for vandalism.

Is there any plans for that area. Right beside the station there is a field that used to have burned out car trees growing in it. Beside that there is an old werehouse where someone has chosen to advertise 'GAS' quite alot in red paint. That whole area could probably be converted into a shopping centre which would be highly integrated with rail and would bring a lot of people to that station. Is this just a fanatasy?

You can bet your bottom dollor that entire area will get built upon sometime, a la pelletstown. Dont know who owns it, but imagaine sitting on it whilst the price simply shoots up.

If you want to look at what can be done with it take a look at Howth Junction. That was a similarly scary place as well. Remember the old ticket booth? The reason why the ticket sellers were so far inside was because someone sprayed them with lighter fluid once and threw in a match to get them outso it could be robbed. Hopefully now the new station will eliminate all of that history. Same could be done in Cabra but I guess only when all that wasteland is built upon.

The "field" between the railway and the industrial units originally were for cattle, in connection with the old cattle market between Prussia and Aughrim Streets, now built on as Drunalee road, etc. Cattle would be held there in connection with train transfers at the then named station of Liffey Junction.

So it is likely that it is owned by CIE. Certainly it is prime land for redevelopement. I'd love a piece of that! :rolleyes:

Im am always amazed at the vandels at Broombridge. I rember in 2003 Irish rail putdown a nice brick platform and the local yobs managedto take the bricks out one at a time and place them on the track. Now IE have used tarmac on the platform. The valdels themselfs also burn out that warehouse next to the station back in 2002.

I remember that. Broombridge really is a marvel of modern vandalism. ;) :D

Without high end graffiti ;)

The one thing which makes Broombridge different is the fact the vandals appear to be very skilled and well equipped with tools, these aren't your average bored teenager these vandals come with blot cutters and other tools its almost impossible to win. You wish they would go off an do a fas course or something where they could get employment as they clearly got skills.

Maybe put up a juicy target like a TVM or something and then have army commandos waiting, hiding, and when the skanger crew shows up with petrol bombs/whatever, let the commandos lose to "bang heads together" :eek: literally.

Thats funny as there is a fas training center next to the burnt out warehouse. Maybe thats where they learnt thier trade.:)

eugene, whats the story with Boombridge these days? Do many people use it, does the 122 bus go near the station?

Only been getting off at Broombridge a few times over the last week, about 10 people get off with me.

Waiting for the new station between Broombridge and Ashtown to be buillt someday, closer to where I live :)

Dont know about the 122 but have taken the 120 out of Royal Canal Park sometimes

Maybe its the 120 im thinking off, which is the old 12, and thre 122 is the old 22 and 22A. They were remaned when Bob montgonerie revamped BAC back in the early 90's. New buses, new routes and the idea that you should use mini buses to places like cabra and save the double deckers further out.

Of course he was never going to last.

Monty is sadly missed and yes, it was obvious he wouldn't last. The words visionary and CIE don't mix well.

As for "the broomer", it was an ill-conceived idea from day one. A new station was put in an area that was built in the late 30s/early 40s and was only accessible to a fraction of the area. It already had donkeys years of CIE bus methodology, that conditioned the folks there, so they had a pattern laid out for themselves. Furthermore, it was only the locals who knew that the station area was somewhat dodgy for a long time and the 22 bus stop was a better place to be. Close it down, redevelop the land around it and plonk a station at the original junction point with cctv, good access and cleansed of junkies, hippies and general scumbags, and we might have a case for developing a decent station in the area that people will need and feel safe using. Funnily enough, CIE have a feck load of land up there, but seem very slow to get going on it. RPA/T21 plans a luas to this point. Maybe they know something we don't.

Regardless, the railway site is a no mans land, controlled by burnt out cars, Bulmers/dutch gold on a bad day drinkers and flashers. In a country that proclaims to be so rich, its a shame that its way down the list.

Watch out for the shopping trolleys on the track and the flying rocks that sometimes find passing trains.

Just wondering if there's any movement on the construction of Pelletstown/Royal Canal Park station as yet? Seems to be going on for 3 years now

I have some general questions and observations about Broombridge.

I would hope the luas line goes ahead to Liffey Jct and assume Broombridge would be moved down a bit towards batchelors factory instead of where it is now. Hopefully it won't be closed if Royal Canal Park/Ashington station ever gets built. I believe there are no current plans for another station at Harts Corner/Brian Boru Pub in Glasnevin Phibsboro, I have sent an observation about this to the people who are preparing the Phibsboro Local Area Plan in Dublin City Council.

Will the level crossing ever be replaced by a bridge at Ratoath Road? The traffic around there is shocking in the mornings with queues of cars back as far as Cappagh Hospital sometimes. There is land by the Ratoath Estate and on the other side the Ormond Printing company is looking a bit derelict these days. I assume the reilly's bridge is listed and won't be demolished.

I am living in Cabra for a while now and it is a 20 min walk to Broombridge so I dont use it too often as it is only 35 mins into town on foot or 5-10mins on the bike.
My girlfriend uses the station once or twice a week to travel to Leixlip instead of driving and some days the place is in an awful state. Water gathers on the westbound platform that is a few inches deep. The options are

1) wading and having wet feet all day in work.
2) climbing down the embankment from the bridge through the grass.
3) going to the eastbound platform and crossing the tracks.


She wrote to IE two months ago and still hasnt heard back.

Also about 1/3 of the lights are broken which makes it feel even more unsafe.
A planning application is in for 288 Bannow Road (One of the derelict factory sites) for apartments so that may be the beginning of the redevelopment of the area. Here's hoping.

Reilly's Gates are to be replaced by a bridge, its not IE's problem, its local council its been mentioned and discussed to death here. The bridge would be slightly east of the canal bridge and in doing so will eliminate the chicane like road layout currently in place

There is a plan for a station at Pelletstown and that the existing Broombridge station would be replaced with one 200m closer to Dublin linking with the Luas

Irish Rail don't do complaint handling, it more a case of ignore you and you will go away

However if Irish Rail don't like to talk, the Rail Safety Commission do and a station with no name displayed, with an unsafe platform surface, railings with gaps and little or no lighting it is in breech of a whole heap of rules the questions is are the rules retrospective or just for new

Reilly's gates could be replaced with an underpass if the bridge is causing problems with planning. More expensive but a better quality solution.

Considering that Manulla Junction has no signs at all on the Ballina side of the platform is that an issue that would go against the RSC?

But Manualla Junction has a well lit, clean platform

Broombridge looks like a cruise missile landed next door

You have a point there. :)

Broombridge looks like a bomb went off. The platform looks dirty and unclean looking not to mention unsafe. If i was a tourist travelling on that line my immediate reaction would be a bad area......