Bray Daly Station
Encyclopedia
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...
in County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
DART
From the inception of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART)Dublin Area Rapid Transit
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running mainly along the coastline of Dublin Bay on the Trans-Dublin route, from Greystones in County Wicklow, through Dublin to Howth and Malahide in County Dublin.Trains are powered via a 1500V DC overhead catenary...
service until its extension to Greystones
Greystones
Greystones is a coastal town and small seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is located on Ireland’s east coast, south of Bray and south of Dublin , with a population in the region of 15,000....
in 2000, Bray Daly station served as the terminus for the service, and thus a large number of tracks are present just south of the station for inactive trains at the end of the line. Although some DARTs now continue southwards to Greystones, the majority of southbound services still terminate in Bray. Northbound DART services towards Howth
Howth
Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...
and Malahide
Malahide
Malahide is a coastal suburban town, near Dublin city, located in the administrative county of Fingal, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. It has a village-like centre and extensive residential areas to the south, west and northwest.-Name:...
usually begin their routes in Bray, however since the aforementioned expansion to Greystones, some DART services originate there instead. From Bray heading southbound the line becomes single track.
Other services
Bray is also on the Dublin-RosslareRosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....
and Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
-Dublin-Arklow
Arklow
Arklow , also known as Inbhear Dé from the Avonmore river's older name Abhainn Dé, is a historic town located in County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland. Founded by the Vikings in the ninth century, Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion...
routes, and all passenger services on these routes serve the station. Often, these services will run non-stop between Bray and Dublin Connolly railway station
Dublin Connolly railway station
Dublin Connolly, commonly called Connolly station , is one of the main railway stations in Dublin, Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. Opened in 1844 as Amiens Street Station, the ornate facade has a distinctive Italianate tower at its centre...
, however only freight and maintenance trains pass through Bray without stopping. Between the 1984 inauguration of DART and November 1990, a diesel shuttle train (initially a 201 class
CIE 201 Class
The Córas Iompair Éireann 201 Class was a class of 34 diesel electric locomotives manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers at their Dukinfield Works in Manchester. They were a smaller, lighter and less powerful version of the 001 Class and were originally intended for branch line passenger and freight...
or 121 class
CIE 121 Class
The Córas Iompair Éireann 121 class is a railway locomotive which was manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. These locomotives were in regular service on the Irish railway network until 2002, with the last two remaining in service until 2008....
locomotive with former AEC railcars
CIÉ 2600 Class
The Córas Iompair Éireann 2600 Class were Associated Equipment Company –engined diesel multiple units that operated intercity and suburban services on the CIÉ system between 1951 and 1975...
converted to push–pull stock, later an 80 class
NIR 80 Class
The Class 80 is a type of diesel electric multiple unit in service with Northern Ireland Railways.-History:By the early 1970s the MEDs and units inherited from the GNR had been in service for 20 years, and the MPDs for 10 years. To replace these increasingly life-expired units, Northern Ireland...
train leased from Northern Ireland Railways
Northern Ireland Railways
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period of time, Ulster Transport Railways , is the railway operator in Northern Ireland...
) operated between Bray and Greystones, connecting with DART services. A similar service using a steam railmotor
Railmotor
Railmotor is a term which was used by several British railway companies for a steam railcar.-Overview:William Bridges Adams started building railmotors as early as 1848, but only in small numbers...
had operated briefly between 1906 and 1908.
Station Building
The station houses a barBar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
, two shops , a ticket office and unheated public toilets. A staff room is also present for drivers at the end of their route. Disabled access to platform two on the east side of the station was formerly through a separate gate on that side, however lifts are now provided on the footbridge.
The redevelopment which saw the installation of these lifts was a part of Iarnród Éireann's Dart Upgrade project, which sought to improve stations and facilities on the DART line. In addition to the lifts, the distinctive pyramid-style glass roof over platform two was also renovated, as was the main station building.
The station was opened on 10 July 1854.
It was given the name Daly on 10 April 1966, 50 years after the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
when Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Irish state, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the...
renamed 15 of their major stations after Republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
leaders. It is named in honour of Edward Daly, a leader in the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
.
Platforms
The station has two main platforms; platform one on the west side of the station near the main entrance, and platform two over the footbridge on the east side of the station. Although platform one is generally used for northbound services and platform two for southbound services and terminating trains, the roles are frequently reversed so as to accommodate as many services as possible. Platform three, the platform formerly used for the Greystones diesel shuttle, is now very seldom used as it has no northbound capacity (its line ends directly south of the station building), however it is often used for cleaning trains and occasionally for DART services to and from Greystones.Picture Series
One of the more distinctive elements of Bray Daly Station is the series of paintings on platform two on the east side of the station. Beginning with a painting of the station's opening ceremony in 1852, the series runs along the length of Platform 2, documenting both Irish history and Irish railway historyHistory of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland counted 5,500 route kilometers...
right up to the present day. Various forms of carriages, locomotives and characters can be seen in the pictures, including British soldiers
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
in 1916, James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
in the 1940s, and a hippy couple in the 1960s. Many of these panels were in need of repair as lime was seeping through the plaster. In 2008 the original artist began a Mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
replacement programme for the Mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
.
Road transport services
Directly outside the station is a series of busBus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
stops, at which Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company, established in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann which is...
routes 45A, 45, 84, 145, 184 and 185 stop. The station is also served by Finnegan Bray local bus services . These busses all serve local routes, and connect Bray, by road with Dublin city, Dun Laoighre, Enniskerrry and Newtownmountkennedy. One Finnegan route, route 111 connects Bray with the Luas green line at Sandyford. There is a busy taxi rank outside the station. There is also a large car park adjacent to the station, and a pickup lane for collecting passengers by car.A tiny Chinatown adjoins the Station in Albert Walk with 2 restaurants and 2 groceries and other services.