History

Advertisement for Summer Excursions on the Waterford to Tramore Line, 1890

Advertisement for the Waterford to Tramore Line, 1890. The company is selling tickets for Summer Excursions;'Return Tickets at Single Fares', 'Bathing Tickets' and 'Tourist and Weekend Tickets'.

© Jack O'Neill

Advertisement for Summer Excursions on the Waterford to Tramore Line, 1890
© Jack O'Neill

Advertisement for Summer Excursions on the Waterford to Tramore Line, 1890

Advertisement for the Waterford to Tramore Line, 1890. The company is selling tickets for Summer Excursions;'Return Tickets at Single Fares', 'Bathing Tickets' and 'Tourist and Weekend Tickets'.

© Jack O'Neill

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Quakers started many of the industries in Waterford; they were shrewd business men who also wanted to help their fellow citizens. Quakers had already build the line from Waterford to Limerick in 1848 and it was so successful that they planned to build a further line to Cork via Dungarvan and Youghal but the money ran short and the line was never built.

A group of entrepreneurs in Waterford, including prominent Quaker merchants, decided to build their own portion of the line to Tramore. The Bill for the construction of the line was duly passed in the British Parliament on 24th July 1851 and the contract for the construction was awarded to the well known contractor William Dargan.

The first sod was cut on the 10th September 1853 and the railway was completed by 2nd September of the same year. This was record time and the total cost of the line was £77, 350 including buildings, engines and coaches. 

The line was built using picks, shovels and horses; part of the track was built on bog by laying the rails on trestles of trees. The line only had two signals, one at Tramore and one at Bath Street crossing gates. There were no signal cabins as it was a single line of track.

The maximum speed allowed on the track was 40 M.P.H. each way. In 1866 the Waterford Tramore Railway had the fastest trains in Ireland with an average speed of 30 M.P.H. Trains took about 15 minutes each way.

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