Waterford & Suir Valley Railway

For much of its length the line skirts the River Suir.

The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway (WSVR) is a 3 ft (914mm) railway gauge railway which operates on 10.5 km of track from Kilmeadan sharing much of the route with the Waterford Greenway. There are two halts built in 2017 at Mount Congreve and Bilberry on the outskirts of Waterford.

History

The society was established in 1997 with the intention of restoring the Waterford and Tramore Railway but after feasibility studies this was deemed impractical due to changes in road layouts since the line's closure. The Waterford - Dungarvan rail route was then explored and agreement was reached to try to restore a section of the historic line. The society laid its first track in 2000 and by the end of 2003 it had laid over 8 km of track from Kilmeadan to Gracedieu Junction. It ran its first public trains in May that year.

In 2004, a further 2 km of track were laid as far as Bilberry. In 2008, the railway carried its 100,000th passenger, and in 2010 opened a maintenance and storage shed for its rolling stock. In 2016, the WSVR received planning permission for a new station building at Kilmeadan.

In March 2017 the Waterford Greenway opened on the 46 km of track bed built for the Waterford to Dungarvan rail line with walkers and cyclists sharing much of the last 10 km with the heritage railway as it heads towards Waterford City. Kilmeaden station is again a busy meeting point with users of the Greenway and visitors to the railway availing of the station's facilities.

The railway is a registered charity operated by over 50 volunteers with the purpose of preserving an important part of Waterford's rich industrial heritage. In 2016 it carried over 24,000 passengers including school groups, rail enthusiasts and families of all ages. In 2017 this number was over 28,000.

Route

The entire route is on the trackbed of the former 5'3'' Waterford, Dungarvan & Lismore Railway, that was opened in 1878 and closed in 1967, though a section remained open until 1987 for magnesite ore processing at the Quigley plant in Ballinacourty. This plant closed in 1982 though occasional weed spraying trains ran on the line up until May 1990. The WSVR uses the original railway station at Kilmeadan, though the buildings are long gone.

Along the route, Kilmeadan Castle, Mount Congreve Gardens, the Magic Wood and a trio of lime kilns can be seen from the train, as well as the River Suir Bridge, of which passengers have an excellent view after emerging from the Dan Donovan Tunnel under the Waterford Bypass. This tunnel was specifically built to facilitate the line running in towards Waterford City.

Though the line extends as far as a new platform at Bilberry just to the East of Waterford City, scheduled trains only run as far as Gracedieu Junction before turning back. In the near future trains will run the full length of the line to accommodate groups arriving by coach at the Bilberry coach and car park if booked in advance. Apart from Kilmeadan Station, which has two tracks, the line is single track throughout.

Future Development

New platforms have already been completed along the line at Mount Congreve Gardens and Bilberry where the local council has also created a coach parking area. Further halts are planned for the Woodstown Viking site and Waterford Institute of Technology Carriganore Campus.

In the medium term it is hoped the line will be extended further back in towards Waterford City. This has been made difficult by the development of apartments in the recent past on the original rail line just beside the bridge at Bilberry. The possibility of embedding the track in the road surface (traditional light rail model) is being explored along with other options to bring the railway and access to the hugely popular Greenway closer to the city centre.

The charity is also researching how it might return a working steam locomotive to the historic line.[1] This has always been a hope of the founding members and efforts are underway to gather best practice from similar operations in Wales where industrial heritage is a significant contributor to the local economy. The Board is actively exploring funding models and trying to locate a suitable locomotive to restore and operate.

In the short term the building of a new ticket office / coffee shop with an exhibition space is planned for the end of 2018.[2] This is thanks to an award from the Dormant Accounts Fund.

By 2019 the railway hopes to be able to carry bicycles as two of its unused ballast wagons are to be converted by local students of heavy metal engineering in a local training college.

Rolling Stock

Rolling stock consists of three diesel locomotives and two purpose-built semi-open bogie passenger carriages.[3][4] A number of permanent way wagons are kept inside the shed at Kilmaedan.

At Kilmeadan Station, an ex-Irish Rail grounded MkII carriage, No. 4106, is used as a ticket office and refreshment room.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "The Development Of Waterford & Suir Valley Heritage Railway Ireland". www.wsvrailway.ie. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  2. ↑ "The Development Of Waterford & Suir Valley Heritage Railway Ireland". www.wsvrailway.ie. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  3. ↑ "Semi-Open bogie carriage". www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. ↑ "Semi-Open bogie carriage". www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  5. ↑ "BR 3157 Mk 2c First Open (body only) built 1970". www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
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