Millstreet railway station



Millstreet railway station serves the town of Millstreet in County Cork. The station opened on 16 April 1853 and closed for goods traffic on 6 September 1976.

Upgradings & improvements
The original railway station was much smaller to the current one. The station was heavily upgraded for the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Millstreet. Before 1993, there was one track which went to Rathmore and Banteer. As part of the redevelopment plan, a new track was constructed opposite the main platform. This meant there could be two trains in the station at one time. However, since the Eurovision, the spare track has been rarely used. The platform was upgraded to meet EU safety standards, and is now much higher than before 1993.

Facilities
The station has two platforms, but only one is ever used. The track meets the main Millstreet-Mallow road on the Kerry direction, and can be a small hazard, but it is relatively safe since the introduction of barriers. There is a ticket office where information can be found and tickets sold. There is one toilet catering for both male and female, and there is a ticket vending machine. There is a small car park to the entrance to the station and an overflow car park across the road.

Services
Normally twelve trains pass through Millstreet every day in each direction, depending on the day of the week, with an average interval of approximately two hours between trains. Most services are operated by Commuter railcars, but four service each day both ways is normally operated by an InterCity 22000 Class train.

The station is one of the best maintained on the island of Ireland, and is of great use to the local community, as Macroom is also served by this station. The station continues to successfully cater for the mid-Cork region.