Collooney railway station
Collooney railway station serves the town of Collooney in County Sligo, Ireland and is on the Dublin-Sligo railway line. It was the first of three stations to be built in Collooney and remains the only one still in service.
History
Collooney once had three railway stations. The first and sole surviving station was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway on 3 December 1862 as part of the extension of its line from Longford to Sligo. On 1 September 1881 the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway opened its station to the east, before building a connection to the MGWR at Carrignagat Junction to the north and thus completing its line from Enniskillen to Sligo. Finally, on 1 October 1895, the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway opened its station to the west, as part of the extension of its line from Claremorris to Sligo. The WL&DR was taken over by the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1901.Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the MGWR and the GS&WR became part of the Great Southern Railways in 1925. In turn, the GSR became part of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in 1945.
On 1 October 1957, the SL&NCR's Collooney station closed along with the company. The line to Enniskillen was lifted shortly afterward. The GS&WR station closed on 17 June 1963 when CIÉ withdrew passenger services between Claremorris and Sligo; this line remained open for goods traffic until 1975, after which it fell into dereliction. There were hopes it might re-open in the future as part of the Western Railway Corridor, but the All-Island Vision for a New Age of Rail rejected any idea of the re-opening due to multiple buildings and farms having encroached on the route, since its final closure in 1975.