| Waterford and Kilkenny Railway | |
| Start: | Waterford city |
| End: | Mountmellick, County Laois |
| Open: | 12 May 1848 |
| Close: | 1900 |
| Successor Line: | Waterford & Central Ireland Railway--> |
| Owner: | Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company |
| Short Title: | Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Act 1845 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for making a Railway from Waterford to Kilkenny, with a Branch to Kells, in the County of Kilkenny. |
| Year: | 1845 |
| Citation: | 8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxvii |
| Royal Assent: | 21 July 1845 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
Waterford and Kilkenny Railway incorporated 21 July 1845 by the (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxvii).[1]
The aim was to create a series of railways which would connect Waterford, Cork, Dublin and Galway. The creation of such links was considered a good investment for the stock market but also intended to have a positive impact on businesses in Ireland and links to the rest of the UK.[1]
The first part of the rail line to be completed was the Kilkenny to Thomastown section. Work began in 1846 but the line didn't open until 12 May 1848 due to delays in waiting for other railway companies to finish connecting track. Thomastown station was a Tudor Revival building which opened 1848.[2] [3] The line reached Seapoint Hill in 1850 and the rest of the track to Waterford was completed in 1853 with the opening of the station at Dunkitt.[4]
| Short Title: | Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Amendment Act 1850 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to enable the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company to raise further Capital; and for other Purposes. |
| Year: | 1850 |
| Citation: | 13 & 14 Vict. c. lxii |
| Royal Assent: | 15 July 1850 |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/13-14/62/pdfs/ukla_18500062_en.pdf |
| Collapsed: | yes |
In 1850 the company applied for an act of Parliament, the (13 & 14 Vict. c. lxii) to allow them to raise further funds. The long term goal being the trunk line to the midlands.[5] [6]
| Short Title: | Central Ireland Railways Act 1866 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1866 |
| Citation: | 29 & 30 Vict. c. cclvii |
| Royal Assent: | 23 July 1866 |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/29-30/257/pdfs/ukla_18660257_en.pdf |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Waterford and Central Ireland Railway Act 1868 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1868 |
| Citation: | 31 & 32 Vict. c. cxli |
| Collapsed: | yes |
Another act of Parliament, the (29 & 30 Vict. c. cclvii) was put forward in 1866 to create new railway lines as a joint venture of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company and the Kilkenny Junction Railway Company. In anticipation of the increased range of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway company the name was changed to the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway by the (31 & 32 Vict. c. cxli). The line from Kilkenny only reached Maryborough in 1867. The line to Mountmellick was opened in 1883 and that was as far as the Waterford & Central Ireland Railway got.
| Short Title: | Central Ireland Railway Act 1896 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to confer further powers on the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway Company for the construction of new Railways to form part of the Central Ireland Railway to Authorise that Company and the Kilkenny Junction Railway Company to amalgamate their undertakings and for other purposes. |
| Year: | 1896 |
| Citation: | 59 & 60 Vict. c. xvi |
| Royal Assent: | 21 May 1896 |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/59-60/16/pdfs/ukla_18960016_en.pdf |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The Waterford and Central Ireland Railway and the Kilkenny Junction Railway were amalgamated by the (59 & 60 Vict. c. xvi).
In 1900, as a result of acts of Parliament, several important lines became part of the GS&WR system, including the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway and the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway.[7]
The line from Thomastown to Jerpoint Hill, completed in 1850, was the section which needed the viaduct across the river Nore. Captain William Moorsom was the engineer who designed the structure of lattice woodwork beginning the work in 1846.[8] It was two hundred feet long and seventy-eight feet above the River Nore. At twenty-five feet wide, it was designed for two lines, although only one was built. When done was the longest single span viaduct in either Ireland or Great Britain.
The new viaduct had Charles Richard Galwey (1840–94) as the engineer.[9] The iron structure was completed in 1877. It replaced an older wooden viaduct which was feared to be unstable and dangerous. Throughout the 1850s there were reports on the safety of the structure and while all agreed it was safe it was still recommended to replace it with an iron viaduct which would need less maintenance. The metal constraction was made by the Mallet foundry and the son of that family, Robert Mallet was one of the planner of the viaduct.[10]