A fabulous new entrance to Ceannt Station opened this week, but a lack of signage is causing confusion among passengers rushing for trains.
Security staff manning the now-closed temporary entrance on the northern side of Ceannt Station have been directing train passengers with luggage over the past five days to walk all the way around the bus station, Hardiman Hotel and up through the laneway underneath the Hardiman’s brutalist extension, to enter the terminus of the Dublin-Galway railway.
No signs in Eyre Square or elsewhere direct tourists toward the train station, undergoing a €24 million major refurbishment since 2024.
Small, temporary construction signs mounted on hard-to-spot gates leading into the station car park from Eyre Square, between Station Road and Victoria Place, give any clue that a major, national transport hub lies within.
This week marks a major milestone in the modernisation of the 175-year-old train station, with two new platforms opened.
Platforms 3 and 4 are now in service, after the new Platform 5 opened late last year. The finishing touches are also now complete on the magnificent curved glass canopy which covers the station – reminiscent of St Pancras train station in London.
The roof reinstates the profile of the original curved roof from 1851, designed by Richard Turner who was responsible for the glasshouses of Dublin’s Botanical Gardens. It contains 432 laminated glass panes, overlapped in a tiered fashion to allow natural ventilation.
Entrances to the northern, bus station-side of Ceannt are closed from this week, as works continue on Platform, 2, and begin on Platform 1. A retail area is also under construction.
BAM is the main contractor at Ceannt Station, and the redevelopment is funded by the Department of Housing’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF ), and the National Transport Authority.
Demand on the Galway-Dublin Intercity route surged by over 9 per cent last year, to 2.8 million journeys, a new record; beating 2024’s previous record of 2.56 million.
