Waterford – Rosslare railway line

Waterford – Rosslare

CIE 001 with a sugar beet train in Ballycullane (November 5, 1982)

Gauge :

1600 mm ( Irish track )

Route length :

38.1 mi / 61.3 km

Top speed :

25 mph / 40 km / h (Bellview Port - Rosslare Strand)
70 mph / 113 km / h (Rosslare Strand - Europort)

Train protection :

Manual Token (Waterford Plunkett - Rosslare Strand)
Centralized Traffic Control (Rosslare Strand - Europort)

Dual track :

No

Legend

		from Limerick - Clonmel
		from Dublin - Kilkenny
		from Mallow - Dungarvan
		Waterford West (storage and freight yard)
	75.7	Waterford Plunkett Phort Láirge Phluincéid
		Waterford East (storage and freight yard)
	76.2	Abbey Junction
		after New Ross
	79.8	Belview Port (freight yard and port connection)
	81.5	Snowhill Tunnel (198 m)
	81.6	Barrow Railway Bridge ( swing bridge / 650 m)
		Kilmokea Cill Mac Aodh
	84.7	Campile Ceann Poill
	89.4	Ballycullane Baile Uí Choileáin
	91.3	Taylerstown Viaduct (River Owenduff / 125 m)
	93.4	Wellingtonbridge Droichead Eoin
	98.1	Duncormick Dún Chormaic
	98.2	Duncormick Viaduct (River Muck / 70 m)
	103.2	Bridgetown Baile to Droichid
		National road N25
	107.7	Killinick Cill Fhionnóg
		to Wexford - Dublin (abandoned and dismantled)
		from Dublin - Wexford
	110.8	Rosslare beach Trá Ros Láir
	113.1	Kilrane Cill Ruáin
	113.7	Ballygeary (abandoned and later demolished)
	114.3	Rosslare Harbor (traffic to the harbor area stopped in 2008)
	113.8	Rosslare Europort Calafort Ros Láir

Route information in miles / length information to the structures in meters

The Waterford – Rosslare railway , also known as the South Wexford Railway Line , is a single-track railway line in the extreme southeast of the Republic of Ireland , which was part of a continuous cross-connection from Limerick via Clonmel and Waterford to Rosslare and Wexford between 1902 and 1906 by the Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbors Company and gradually opened in August 1906.

Since the last pair of passenger trains were discontinued on September 18, 2010, traffic on the section between Belview Port and Rosslare Strand has been idle . However, on instructions from the National Transport Authority , the line is kept in a navigable condition. Service trips take place irregularly.

history

The Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbors Company , a subsidiary of the Irish Great Southern & Western Railway and the British Great Western Railway founded, began in 1902 with the construction of the rail link between Waterford and Rosslare . The aim was to improve the movement of people and goods between Great Britain and southern and western Ireland and to connect Limerick and Waterford to the ferry connection from Rosslare to Fishguard .

The opening of the line between Waterford North (now Waterford Plunkett ) and Rosslare (now Rosslare Strand ) took place on August 1, 1906. The section to Rosslare Harbor (now Rosslare Europort ) was opened to traffic on August 30, 1906.

The operating company still exists and is now owned by the Irish state railway company Iarnród Éireann and the ferry operator Stena Line . This makes the railway line the only main line in Ireland that is not wholly owned by the state.

Railway stations and operating points

Waterford Plunkett

The still preserved bridge signal box Waterford Central in August 1983

Today's Waterford Central Station was opened on August 26, 1864 as Waterford North . It is located on the north bank of the River Suir , directly at the bridgehead of the Rice Bridge, which connects to the city center on the other bank of the river.

With the demolition of the original reception building and the opening of a modern reception building on April 10, 1966, the station was renamed in honor of the Irish resistance fighter Joseph Plunkett . For its wedding, the passenger station had a side platform and a central platform that were connected at the height of the reception building. This created two butt tracks 5 and 6 for terminating passenger trains in the south, only accessible from Limerick and Kilkenny. The outer part of the central platform lay on the continuous main track and was divided into platforms 3 (eastern part) and 4 (western part). In addition, there were two further, platformless tracks for freight traffic to the north, which were bordered by a rock wall.

By the end of the 2020s, most of the passenger station's tracks had been dismantled. Today, passenger trains are handled exclusively from platform 5, while the uninterrupted freight traffic to the port takes place via the former platform 3/4. The other tracks were removed. The former short side platform (platform 6) is still available but no longer connected.

At the western end of the passenger station, a bridge signal box from the early years of rail traffic spans the three northern tracks.

To the east and west of the passenger station were extensive stabling and freight tracks. While the facilities in the east were gradually completely removed in the course of the relocation of the port from 1992, the storage and freight yard in the west still exists today.

Waterford Harbor

From 1992 the seaport of Waterford was gradually moved from the center of the city to a new location four kilometers down the River Suir to Belview. The old port area in the immediate vicinity of Waterford train station was dismantled together with the extensive track systems by the 2020s.

In Belview Port, a new loading terminal was built, primarily designed for containers , with four tracks running parallel to the quay , which enables direct transshipment between railroad and ship via the port's two portal cranes .

On the way stations

Condition of the Campile station before the station building was demolished on June 3, 1993. All other tracks have already been dismantled.

The subway stations Campile , Ballycullane , Wellingtonbridge , Duncormick , Bridgetown and Killinick were opened on August 1, 1906 and had a uniform design throughout:

In the middle of the two main tracks was a wedge-shaped island platform around 12 meters wide and 90 meters long at its widest point, in the center of which was the one-story station building clad with corrugated iron. Access to the platform was via an iron footbridge, which was located at the narrow end of the platform (in Campile, Ballycullane, Bridgetown and Killinick on the west side, in Wellingtonbridge and Duncormick on the east side). The signal box, also a single-storey building, was placed at the broad end and thus roughly in the middle of the station.

All stations were supplemented by additional parking and loading tracks, which were attached to the outside (each on the south side, in Wellingtonbridge on both sides). In addition to the generally existing loading ramps for loading goods, there were also goods sheds at some stations . In Wellingtonbridge there was also a conveyor system for sugar beet .

As the only intermediate station on the line, Wellingtonbridge station is still largely preserved today, the two main tracks still exist, so that train crossings are possible. In addition, a siding to the south is connected. The bridge, station building and signal box are still intact, as are the signals. At all other stations, the track systems were dismantled down to the main track and the buildings were demolished. There are only remnants of the platforms, the loading ramps or the platform lighting. Remnants of the signaling technology are also still found here and there.

Rosslare beach

Rosslare Strand train station as it is today

Rosslare station had already been opened on June 24, 1882 as the terminus of the railway line coming from Dublin via Bray and Wexford. There was no train service between May 17, 1889 and August 6, 1894. With the connection to the railway line from Waterford and the extension to the ferry terminal, the station was renamed Rosslare Strand to distinguish it in 1906 . Because of this, the train station has a different design than the other intermediate stations.

Today there are still two tracks with side platforms. Although there are direct accesses on both sides, there is still an iron pedestrian bridge at the southern end of the platform in the immediate vicinity of the road bridge. The reception building is designed as a one-story stone building. The former signal box was on the north side of the main platform and has since been demolished.

Since renovation work on the track system in 1973, train journeys to and from Waterford have only been possible via track 2 to the west.

Rosslare Harbor

CIE 2706 will be ready for departure on August 25, 2004 on the old platform of Rosslare Europort

On the pier, the remains of the track bed and the outer platforms of the first Rosslare Harbor station can still be seen

The port station in Rosslare was also shaped by various changes over the years:

From the start of operations on August 30, 1906 until September 14, 1989, the three-track terminus station, then still known as Rosslare Harbor , was located at the end of the 800-meter-long arched pier of the ferry port . This meant that the passenger trains stopped right next to the jetty , which should enable travelers to walk short distances. There were two outer platforms and a platform-free track in the middle for moving locomotives. A harbor wall shielded the station from the sea from high waves. Parking and loading tracks were also built on land.

With the further expansion of the port, the south-eastern area outside the arch of the pier was gradually filled in, creating a large port area over the years. In 1989, the passenger stop was moved back around 500 m in the arch, as a new terminal building for the stay and handling of travelers was built here. From then on, the trains stopped at a single platform in the outer arch, which was now named Rosslare Europort . The tracks on the pier were still preserved for operational journeys, as the actual platform area was single-track.

With another change in the handling of ferry passengers, the passenger station was relocated again on April 14, 2008. The curved track through the center of the port was dismantled and the new Rosslare Europort station with two main tracks, side tracks and a barrier-free side platform was built in the area of the former depot area on the southern edge of the site . There is a turntable at the end of the route .

Engineering structures

In addition to the stations, there is a tunnel , twelve stone bridges, 56 steel bridges and 96 passages along the route . The most important structures are:

Snowhill tunnel

About 2.5 kilometers northeast of Belview Port is the only tunnel on the route at 198 meters (217 yards). It pierces the Snowhill, a small headland at the confluence of the River Suir and River Barrow and lies in a slight right curve when coming from Waterford.

Barrow Bridge

On July 6, 1997, a ship passed the open Barrow Railway Bridge

Immediately to the east, the Barrow Railway Bridge, the most remarkable engineering structure on the line, joins the tunnel. With a length of 650 meters (2131 feet), the single-track spans steel truss - swing bridge with the 15 segments in this area already at an estuary expanded River Barrow, which is also the boundary between the County Kilkenny and County Wexford forms. Built between 1902 and 1906, it was the longest bridge in Ireland when it was completed. At medium high tide , the headroom is 7.9 meters (26 feet).

Segments 3 and 4 on the Waterford side are pivoted to enable large ocean-going vessels to enter the lower part of the barrow when the bridge is open. The control station is set up in a pulpit in the middle of the rotating segment. To protect against unintentional driving on the opened bridge, there are cover signals and derailment switches on both sides , which are controlled from the control station. The Barrow Bridge is usually open to shipping twice a day.

Taylerstwon Viaduct

With seven arches, situated in a slight curve, the approximately 130 meter long red-brown stone viaduct between Ballycullane and Wellingtonbridge spans the valley of the River Owenduff and a country road. In July 1922, the railway bridge was destroyed as a result of the Irish Civil War, the repair work could only be completed in January of the following year.

Duncormick Viaduct

Immediately to the east of Duncormick station, the railway line crosses the Muck River, a country road and a dirt road in a straight line on a viaduct, also made of reddish-brown stones, with three arches.

business

Former company

Freight transport

Sugar beets on a train at Wellingtonbridge on October 23, 1993

On March 11, 1975, goods loading in the Campile station was discontinued , the remaining intermediate stations on the line followed on November 3 of the same year. The exception to this was Wellingtonbridge , where tar was still loaded onto freight trains until June 2, 1978 .

For the beet campaign in 1980, a warehouse and a transfer station for sugar beet was built in Wellingtonbridge . Every year in the harvest season from September to January, a daily pair of trains ran to the sugar factory in Mallow or Carlow . The traffic ended in January 2006 when the plant in Mallow, the last sugar factory in Ireland, ceased operations and the depot at Wellingtonbridge station was also abandoned.

A cement train running from Waterford to Wexford also used the railway regularly until 2004, which necessitated a change of direction and re-tensioning of the locomotives in Rosslare Strand .

passenger traffic

The service of Duncormick and Killinick was stopped on September 6, 1976 due to low demand.

In March 2010 it was found in the course of a three-day market analysis that the line was still used regularly by around 40 passengers during the survey period. This is also due to the severely restricted timetable, which last consisted of just one pair of trains on weekdays with a morning departure at 7:00 a.m. in Rosslare Europort and arriving at 8:20 a.m. in Waterford Plunkett and a return journey in the early evening at 5:20 p.m. from Waterford Plunkett with arrival at 18:35 in Rosslare Europort . Passenger traffic was completely stopped on Sunday. Although the train journeys were coordinated with the ferry from Rosslare Europort to Fishguard Harbor, as there was no good connection to and from further trains in Waterford, the service was poorly received beyond the region. The National Transport Authority therefore approved the abandonment of rail passenger transport requested by Iarnród Éireann .

The last passenger train left Waterford for Rosslare on September 18, 2010 at 5:20 pm. A double traction with the 2711/12 and 2714/13 diesel multiple units was used instead of the vehicle that usually runs solo. Since then, passenger traffic has been ensured by Bus Éireann's 370 bus.

Current situation

Rosslare Europort and Rosslare Strand will continue to be served by passenger trains to and from Wexford and Dublin. Since the cessation of passenger traffic on the rest of the route, a few maintenance vehicles are still in use. The navigable state is maintained on the instructions of the National Transport Authority .

The railway line continues to be used irregularly to transfer railcars and empty passenger and freight cars, for example to reach the south-eastern part of the Irish rail network around Bray, Wicklow , Wexford and Rosslare even in the event of disruptions and closures in the greater Dublin area .

Freight traffic continues between Waterford Plunkett and Belview Port . Usually, pairs of freight trains chartered by DFDS and operated by IÉ run between the port and Ballina twice a week . New vehicles for Iarnród Éireann have also been landed here by ship in the past.

Interlocking and signaling technology

The maximum line speed between Belview Port and Rosslare Strand was reduced from 40 to 25 mph with the abandonment of regular traffic. The locally manned mechanical interlockings, of which only the one in Wellingtonbridge remained, were replaced by a manual token system , the issue of which is regulated by the Waterford Central interlocking . Due to the cessation of operations on the line, 22 jobs were cut. Most of the employees affected opted for severance pay instead of continuing to work elsewhere.

The section from Rosslare Strand to Europort is controlled remotely , along with the route along the east coast, from an electronic signal box in Bray.

Web links

Commons : South Wexford Railway Line - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

literature

Ernie Shepherd: Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbors Company . Colourpoint Creative Ltd, 2017, ISBN 978-1-78073-067-7 .
KA Murray: Great Southern & Western Railway . Irish Railway Record Society, 1976, ISBN 0-904078-05-1 .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Conor Cullen: End of the Line. New Ross Standard, September 21, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .
^ ^A ^b Facilities and Quays - Rail. Port of Waterford, 2020, accessed March 25, 2020 .
^ ^A ^b Iarnród Éireann: Asset Management of the Bellview – Rosslare Strand Line after Service Withdrawal. (PDF) National Transport Authority, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Colm O'Callaghan: Irish Traction: Iarnród Éireann . Amberley Publishing, 2019, ISBN 978-1-4456-8844-2 .
^ ^A ^b Iarnród Éireann: Business Case for Withdrawal of Rail Services. (PDF) National Transport Authority, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .

[New_Ross_Standard-1] A ^b ^c Conor Cullen: End of the Line. New Ross Standard, September 21, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .

[Port_of_Waterford_Rail-2] A ^b Facilities and Quays - Rail. Port of Waterford, 2020, accessed March 25, 2020 .

[CCE_Track_and_Structures_Report-3] A ^b Iarnród Éireann: Asset Management of the Bellview – Rosslare Strand Line after Service Withdrawal. (PDF) National Transport Authority, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .

[Irish_Traction-4] Colm O'Callaghan: Irish Traction: Iarnród Éireann . Amberley Publishing, 2019, ISBN 978-1-4456-8844-2 .

[Buisiness_Case_for_Withdrawal-5] A ^b Iarnród Éireann: Business Case for Withdrawal of Rail Services. (PDF) National Transport Authority, 2010, accessed March 25, 2020 .