Waterford railway station (Plunkett Station, ga, Phort Láirge Stáisiún Phluincéid) serves the city of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for t ...

, Ireland. The station is located across Rice Bridge on the north side of the city. There are two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

at the west end of the station. These are platform 5 and 6 respectively. The main platform is quite long and due to a crossover it can be operated as two platforms if necessary. The eastern end is platform 3, the western end being platform 4. A large

signal cabin On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timeta ...

is situated across the running lines. The station area is still currently controlled by semaphore signals.

Services

The station is a significant interchange. It is the terminus for InterCity services from Dublin Heuston and InterCity services from

Limerick Junction Limerick Junction ( ga, Gabhal Luimnigh) is the interchange railway station for trains originating in , , , , and stations. The station opened on 3 July 1848. The station was highly noted for its layout which prior to 1967 required every t ...

. Travel to

provides onward connections to

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in Count ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2 ...

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. There are seven daily trains in each direction between Waterford - Dublin Mondays to Saturdays inclusive. One extra Dublin to Waterford train runs Friday only and one extra Waterford to Dublin train runs Friday and Saturday only. On Sundays there are four trains each way. The fastest of these trains being the 07.10 Waterford - Dublin which completes the journey in exactly 1 hour and 48 minutes. There are two trains each way between Waterford - Limerick Junction Mondays to Saturdays inclusive. There is no Sunday service on this line. Until 19 January 2013 (inclusive) there were three trains each way. However, the late-morning Waterford to Limerick Junction and early-afternoon Limerick Junction to Waterford trains are now discontinued.

Rail replacement bus to Rosslare Europort

Until 18 September 2010 (inclusive), there was one daily return train between Waterford and Rosslare, after which time passenger trains on the line were suspended. The rail service was replaced by a revised

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidi ...

Route 370 service from Monday 20 September 2010. However, the replacement bus service does not serve the railway station, the nearest stop being the bus station a walk of several minutes. In 2021, the transport minister

Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport since June 2020 and Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He ha ...

said the government were reviewing the line with a possibility of re-opening it.

Facilities

The station has a booking office, ticket vending machines, shop, waiting areas, toilets and a car park.

Freight

The station is directly rail connected to Waterford Port (Belview). A freight yard is located at the Dublin/Limerick end of the station, served by freight traffics such as cement and timber which travel to and from Dublin Port and Ballina.

History

The station opened on 26 August 1864 as Waterford North. It was renamed Plunkett on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of

Joseph Plunkett Joseph Mary Plunkett ( Irish: ''Seosamh Máire Pluincéid''; 21 November 1887 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish nationalist, republican, poet, journalist, revolutionary and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Gif ...

, one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916.

Future Development

As part of the Waterford North Quay SDZ Scheme the present station will be closed and a new station opened on the North Quays. The new station will be part of a "Transport Hub" with bus station and other transport infrastructure. A new sustainable transport bridge (bus, cycle and pedestrian bridge) will link the transport hub to the other side of river/Waterford city centre.

Statistics

Gallery

Image:Waterford Station, Ireland.jpg, Looking west File:Waterford Station 2.jpg, Looking east File:Waterford Station signal box.jpg, The signal cabin File:Train in Waterford station - geograph.org.uk - 2442524.jpg, Loco-hauled in 2007 now replaced by

IE 22000 Class The 22000 Class "InterCity Railcar" is a diesel multiple unit in service with Iarnród Éireann in Ireland. They are the first IÉ DMUs built specifically for InterCity routes, although they can also work on some commuter routes. They are design ...

File:Approaching Waterford station - geograph.org.uk - 1005460.jpg, In 1983 with a terminating train from Dublin Heuston hauled by a pair of

CIE 121 Class The Córas Iompair Éireann 121 Class was a railway locomotive which was manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. These locomotives were in regular service on the Irish railway network until 2002, with the last two remaining in ser ...

locomotives

References

External links

Irish Rail Waterford Station WebsiteSouth Tipperary Rail & Bus Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterford Railway Station Iarnród Éireann stations in County Waterford Railway stations opened in 1864