Goresbridge Station, Co Carlow, Ireland.
One of Ireland’s largely forgotten railways was the Bagenalstown & Wexford Railway, dreamt as a 44 mile inland route to Wexford. The first 8 miles to Borris including Goresbridge opened in 1858, but with various competitive railway companies interwranglings and yet to be built lines the dream stuttered and the railway only made it to Ballywilliam by 1862.
Running through the totally unremunerative, but beautiful and sparsely populated rolling hills of South Carlow and Kilkenny and with only four stations it earned the least of any railway in Ireland and early closure soon followed in 1864.
Operated on behalf, by the Great Southern and Western Railway, fresh plans in the 1870’s revived the line and with the line operated south of Ballywilliam by the Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway the line eventually made it’s connection to Wexford just North of Palace East.
Unfortunately for the line these developments never really improved the financial situation of the line and the Bagnelstown - Palace East section was the first in Ireland to lose it’s passenger service under Great Southern Railways ownership in 1931, full freight services following in 1947.
Surprisingly for a line with such a perilous existence, it was kept open and in place for occasional passenger special and seasonal sugar beet traffic till the axe finally
came down in 1963.
64 years after closure, nature has back much of the Goresbridge station, smothering it’s single platform, original features, gate keepers house in rich summer growth. It remains a rare example of a relatively untounched abandoned railway station still in existence in Ireland today.
IP 15 -
H
Goresbridge Station, Co Carlow, Ireland.
One of Ireland’s largely forgotten railways was the Bagenalstown & Wexford Railway, dreamt as a 44 mile inland route to Wexford. The first 8 miles to Borris including Goresbridge opened in 1858, but with various competitive railway companies interwranglings and yet to be built lines the dream stuttered and the railway only made it to Ballywilliam by 1862.
Running through the totally unremunerative, but beautiful and sparsely populated rolling hills of South Carlow and Kilkenny and with only four stations it earned the least of any railway in Ireland and early closure soon followed in 1864.
Operated on behalf, by the Great Southern and Western Railway, fresh plans in the 1870’s revived the line and with the line operated south of Ballywilliam by the Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway the line eventually made it’s connection to Wexford just North of Palace East.
Unfortunately for the line these developments never really improved the financial situation of the line and the Bagnelstown - Palace East section was the first in Ireland to lose it’s passenger service under Great Southern Railways ownership in 1931, full freight services following in 1947.
Surprisingly for a line with such a perilous existence, it was kept open and in place for occasional passenger special and seasonal sugar beet traffic till the axe finally
came down in 1963.
64 years after closure, nature has back much of the Goresbridge station, smothering it’s single platform, original features, gate keepers house in rich summer growth. It remains a rare example of a relatively untounched abandoned railway station still in existence in Ireland today.
IP 15 -
H