Demise

Railway Station, Tramore

Railway Station, Tramore - postcard.

© Waterford City Library (purchased June 1998 from Tim Healy)

Railway Station, Tramore
© Waterford City Library (purchased June 1998 from Tim Healy)

Railway Station, Tramore

Railway Station, Tramore - postcard.

© Waterford City Library (purchased June 1998 from Tim Healy)

Enlarge image

After 1930 the line faced competition for a bus service that brought passengers into the centre of Waterford. The Waterford to Tramore Line was steam operated from 1853 to 1945 but on November 8th in 1954 diesel railcars replaced steam traction locomotives on the line.

These were adequate for the numbers of passengers in the winter but had to be supplemented by buses during the peak summer months. That winter booking offices were closed, the tickets were bought from the guards.

It became clear that Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE) (as the Great Southern Railways was now called) intended to close the railway and transfer all the traffic to the road. On 27th September 1960 CIE announced sweeping closure plans that would hit the small detached 7 ¼ mile Waterford to Tramore Line. The operation of such a small unconnected section of line was not seen as viable although the line was making a profit right up until its closure.