Nenagh railway station serves the town of Nenagh in County Tipperary, Ireland. The station on Martyrs Road and Tyone opened on 5 October 1863 and is on the Limerick-Ballybrophy railway line between Birdhill railway station and Cloughjordan railway station. Passengers can connect at Ballybrophy to trains heading northeast to Dublin or southwest to Cork or Tralee. The buildings consist of a two-storey station house with a platform canopy supported on cast iron columns, a goods shed and a disused cast iron footbridge. The station is staffed and has a car park and sheltered bicycle parking. The railway line is lightly used due to low passenger numbers. Lack of upkeep means the line is restricted to speeds of 40 kilometres per hour and the existing trains are poorly timetabled for commuters. A committee working in conjunction with Irish Railway News, had a meeting with Iarnród Éireann on 1 September 2005 to present the results of a traffic study funded by Nenagh Town Council and North Tipperary County Council, and to seek a morning and evening service between Nenagh and Limerick which would increase commuter traffic. Iarnród Éireann agreed to delay an afternoon service from the December 2005 timetable. In October 2007, following a further meeting between the Nenagh Rail partnership, Irish Railway News and Irish Rail it was announced that a new commuter service would begin on 1 September 2008, to comprise an early morning service into Limerick and an early evening service out of Limerick. While the current twice-a-day service on the Ballybrophy/Limerick line is poor, Nenagh has an efficient bus service to Dublin and Limerick and is only 37 km from Thurles, which is on the main Dublin/Cork line, and which has c. 18 trains daily in each direction, including non-stop services to and from Dublin. However, there are only two buses each weekday from Nenagh to Thurles so this option is generally only practical for motorists.
Closure proposed
A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Irish Rail was expected to seek permission from the National Transport Authority to close the line. An enhanced timetable was in force during 2012 however the service was again reduced from February 2013. The station is very likely to close down in 2018 with the closure of the Limerick to Ballybrophy line as the demand for the service is very low and the line is unviable. The rail service will be replaced with a bus service
On 4 September 2011 a GAA Special service departed from Birdhill at 09:00 Hours serving Birdhill, Nenagh and Roscrea with no change at Ballybrophy Direct to Dublin. Iarnród Éireann used an ICR IE 22000 ClassIntercity train which was the first time since the early 90s a train to Dublin ran along the line and the first time a modern train served the line.
Buses serving the station
Bus Éireann's Tuesdays and Fridays-only route 323 from Killaloe, County Clare to Nenagh via Portroe terminates at Nenagh railway station at 10.35am offering the possibility of making the onward journey to stations towards Limerick on the 11.04am train departure. The Fridays-only route 323 from Newport, County Tipperary to Nenagh via Silvermines also terminates at the station but neither its arrival time nor the return journeys on either route coincide with any train arrival or departure.
