Geashill always had a crossing loop and was a station until sometime in the 1960s. In those days you could not cross passenger trains at Tullamore, Clara (plus ca change), or Ballycumber, which were the other block posts between Athlone and Portarlington, so Geashill had some operational importance..
Ballycumber was so close to Clara is was pretty useless, and it was replaced by Clonydonnin, which was a greenfield site, when the Galway and Mayo trains were diverted to Heuston.
I reckon the reson these non-stations get into the PIS is that the signalling system may be programmed with them for operational purposes, and they copied over into whatever runs the PIS.
|