Mullingar - Least Used Station in Co. Westmeath

[@janosmilenkovic6695]

mullingar beatifull town!!! lived for 3 years! love from serbia 😁😁

[@alantuite459]

Well done young man excellent footage....mullingar to athlone line should have never been closed...absolutely madness

[@oscyk]

Thanks! Plans are in place to reopen the Mullingar to Athlone railway, the question is if the government will ever follow through on them.

[@noeldoyle4501]

Thanks for your nice and relaxing video. I travelled through a lot of Irish places by train over the decades and I always enjoyed the experience.

[@oscyk]

Thank you! Although it could be improved, Ireland's railway system is excellent for seeing the sights of Ireland.

[@noeldoyle4501]

@@oscyk Thanks for your reply. As children back in the late sixties, our family took many train journeys, (we could never get enough), "magic" was the only word for it, we were able to lean right out of the windows and see where the train was rushing to. We would see a huge deep marsh ahead and think "Now we're finished" but were amazed every time when we flew smooth as silk through the marsh, the same excitement coming near a village, the houses would rush nearer and nearer till eventually we could see houses that seemed to block the line, we would get back from the windows and wait for the crash, but the driver "was marvellous" and squeezed the racing train just barely between all of the houses. Finally, like yourself, we loved the stations, each of which had a special magic of its own. Please keep your videos safe, they are a lovely record of a nice time in our history.

[@joeryan1153]

Brilliant video, I remember my father bringing me as a child to Mullingar Station. The thing that stuck in my mind in the early 70's was that the Dublin evening paper Evening Press was being distributed by train when we arrived. The front page always had a blank space close to the bottom left corner. It was a broadsheet. When the paper was delivered to the station the copies were taken to a printing machine on the platform. It printed in local news and deaths into the blank section before it was distributed to local newsagents! It gave the Evening Paper from Dublin a local blas every day of the week!

[@oscyk]

Wow, that's really interesting how much the railways have changed. It's great that we still have stories like these to remember what life was like back then.

[@FriarsMillPress]

@joeryan1153 That's amazing history! You can almost imagine the urgency of getting the news printed quickly! Do you remember where the Printing Machine(s) was located on the platform? Was it an electric printer? The Press used to leave blanks for local news, and death notices. It gave all their papers a distinctly 'local' feeling. I'd love to know more about that machine if you had any more memories of it. Cheers.

[@joeryan1153]

@@FriarsMillPress I recall the printer being on the platform under the canopy. A printer would feed each newspaper front side up into machine and out it would come with the new paragraph added. I presume it was the first edition of the paper from the city, brought on the train for sale in the surrounding counties.

[@fastrace14]

Mullingar to Athlone and Longford to Athlone line is much needed would also help with tourism and jobs in those towns.

[@gerardquinn4513]

Excellent video and brilliant history.

[@oscyk]

Many thanks!

[@PatrickLaneMJD]

Time to reopen Mullingar Athlone railway to connect up the system across the midlands.

[@oscyk]

If the railway gets reopened, it will bring amazing opportunities for Dublin and the Midlands!

[@irish_trains]

really good video! i love the addition of the shrubs and decorations on the platforms, something that the raising of platforms during the 2000s often removed entirely.

[@oscyk]

Thank you! It really is good to have decoration at stations, some are blank.

[@IESpotter]

Good video as always Oscar! The island Platform 2/3 looks so nice with the roof! And even the rest of the station. It's so unique to see a lot of the Athlone infrastructure still in place.

[@oscyk]

Thanks! The Athlone-bound platforms are still in place because when the Athlone/Mullingar Greenway was being built, they futureproofed by keeping a single track in the hopes that it may reopen. Unfortunately, chances are low and due to the greenway, the line speed would have to be quite low.

[@irish_trains]

@@oscyk ah no just build a fence like at the coastal section of the rosslare line

[@RYNT1157]

With the opening of the Foynes line and the increase in freight traffic and possibly passenger traffic the line to Athlone needs to reopen.

[@oscyk]

Definitely! It will relieve pressure on the Heuston mainline if needed in future years.

[@DART25]

Class video of Mullingar Oscar! Great informative video as usual.

[@oscyk]

Many thanks!

[@IrishTransportGuy]

Brilliant video! It was great coming along with you!

[@oscyk]

Thank you! It was great company.

[@nicholasmoroney5627]

How many stations are in Co. Westmeath? Might Mullingar also be the second busiest station in Co. Westmeath?

[@oscyk]

Yes, it is also the second busiest! Many other counties also have only 2 stations, including Carlow and Kilkenny.

[@trainasseen7838]

Interesting video

[@oscyk]

Thank you!

[@trainsinireland5063]

Excellent Video and Commentary Oscar!😃.Were the three Train Services busy?.Did many board and alight the three Train Services?.

[@oscyk]

Thanks! All the services were busy and are always, it is a very profitable line. A lot of people use Mullingar station, the trains can sometimes become full once departing Mullingar for Dublin.