Connemara Railway

About

The Connemara Railway is a heritage railway at Maam Cross railway station, County Galway in Ireland. It currently exists as a short operable narrow gauge pop-up railway, with standard Irish Gauge track available for static exhibits. The railway opened to the public in July 2025, running services on their narrow gauge track.

Background: The Clifden branch line from Galway was opened in 1895, and marketed as a tourist line, closing after 1934. As of May 2021, a project was underway to open an isolated 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) stretch of line around Maam Cross station.

Project: The aim of the project is to get steam trains running on an 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) stretch around Maam Cross, where an all-weather heritage centre is to be set up. Access to the site was gained on 14 February 2017, and the cost of the first phase of the project was expected to be c. €300,000. No MGWR engine was preserved as the hope was to build a new one.

Delays: Those involved in the project had planned to get a "pop-up" narrow gauge demonstration train running by September 2020, with a special steam traction event, 125 years after the railway first opened and 85 years since it closed in 1935....