No greenway and no railway as Rosslare to Waterford route ignored – ‘Nothing is going to happen here in the next five years’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

With freight at Rosslare Europort increasing by almost 400 pc since Brexit, the number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) travelling to and from the port has risen exponentially. As a result, this particular stretch of the N25 has become overburdened, with hundreds of HGVs travelling at high speeds through residential areas.

The proposed motorway between Rosslare and Oylegate will, eventually, alleviate congestion and provide relief, but work is not expected to commence there until 2030. In the meantime, those living in the villages adjoining the port must continue to endure trucks not only speeding through their communities, but also parking in residential areas, using secondary roads to avoid traffic, and, allegedly, discarding rubbish and containers full of bodily fluids in Co Wexford’s ditches and bushes.

One possible solution while these people wait for the motorway to be constructed – the most recent estimate suggests this will be 2035 – is to lighten the load by reviving the old railway line from Rosslare to Waterford. Permanently closed since 2010, the old railway line had been mooted as a new greenway for south Wexford, a project which reached the planning stage but has since fallen off the radar.

In light of that, many thought the next best option was to reopen the railway line as a freight service, allowing companies to transport deliveries to and from the Europort via rail rather than road.

However, those hopes were dashed last month when, in its Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy, the Department of Transport chose to overlook Rosslare entirely. While Limerick, Dublin, Cork, and Waterford were all included in the government’s ambitious plans to overhaul Ireland’s rail lines, Rosslare and Wexford were not mentioned.

As someone who grew up within a stone’s throw of the railway, local councillor Frank Staples is more qualified than most to discuss the merits of the Rosslare to Waterford line and he fondly recalls the years when it was a popular passenger route.

“I used to go across the fields and over the railway into school, it was part of my life for years,” he says. “But by the time it finished running (2010) there was no-one using it; I suppose more people got cars, young people were getting lifts to college in Waterford, and it was losing money.”

At that time the line serviced villages like Bridgetown, Mayglass, and Baldwinstown as it wound its way towards Waterford. And plans to turn it into a greenway were welcomed by Cllr Staples when they were first revealed in 2019.

“There was a golden opportunity to put a greenway there, everyone was so looking forward to seeing that happen. The school in Mayglass is literally in walking distance of it, and it would have transformed Bridgetown. All the greenways in the country are so busy, little pop-up shops are being opened beside them and it’s lifting entire communities.”

Although his heart still says a greenway would be hugely beneficial for the area, Cllr Staples admits that, long-term, a freight service on the line makes the most sense.

“Since Brexit the roads have become so busy here, and we need to take some of that traffic off the road. I think it should be used for freight, you won’t get the passengers on it. This would help alleviate the traffic until the new motorway is complete.”

Unfortunately, the next review of the nation's rail lines is not expected to take place until 2030, leaving Rosslare in a state of limbo for the time being.

“It must not be important enough,” reflects Cllr Staples, “nothing is going to happen here in the next five years and there’s no guarantee we’ll feature in the five years after that either. We could still be waiting in 20-30 years, I’d be worried we’ll be forgotten about completely.”