Waterford and Tramore Railway
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The Waterford and Tramore Railway was an independent line which opened on September 6, 1853, connecting the city of Waterford, Ireland to the seaside resort of Tramore, 7.25 miles away. Construction began on the 77,000 pound, 7.25 mile line on February 10, 1853, financed by the Waterford business community. The William Dargan Construction Company completed the line in 7 months - a considerable achievement as a section of line just outside Waterford ran over deep bogland covered in bullrushes.
In 1925, the line was amalgamated into the Great Southern Railways (GS&WR), which subsequently became part of CIE. On 27 September 1960, CIE announced closure of the line and, on December 31, it was permanently closed, to be replaced by a bus service. To avoid demonstrations, the last scheduled train did not run. The final trains thus were the 1.25 p.m. from Waterford and the 2.10 p.m. from Tramore.
During the first half of 1961 all the tracks were lifted - locally it is believed for shipment to Nigeria. The sleepers were sold for protection against coastal erosion. One of the few remaining traces of the railway is the Stationhouse which currently serves as the offices of Tramore Failte.
The Waterford and Tramore Railway was the only line in Ireland which did not connect to any others. It was one of Waterford's five railways, the others being:
- Waterford, Limerick and Western;
- Waterford and Central Ireland;
- Waterford, Dungarvan and Lismore;
- Dublin and South Eastern.
