Athlone railway station
Athlone railway station of which there were two, serves the town of Athlone in County Roscommon and County Westmeath. It is located in the town on the east side of the river Shannon.The station is an interchange station between the Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Westport rail services. In addition it is located adjacent to the town's bus station.There are three platforms, of which Numbers 2 and 3 are an island platform.HistoryAthlone has two Railway stations of varying roles over time.Midlands Great Western Railwaythe first of these was built by the Midland Great Western Railway and opened in August 1st, 1851. Designed by J.S. Mulvany. It has a long, rather austere façade, in the Italianite style. This two-storey building has a staggering seventeen-bay façade which is broken by four breakfronts. It connected Galway and Dublin via the Sligo line, with a connecting branch between Athlone and Mullingar via Moate. Since 1985 it has served as engineering offices and stores for Irish Rail.Great Southern and Western RailwayThe second was opened in 1859 by the Great Southern and Western Railway that reached Galway via a branch of the Cork main line. For many years there was great rivalry between the two railway companies who developed the railway stations in Athlone but this was subsequently solved by arbitration.
