A closer look at the new proposed Greenway from Dungarvan to Ballyduff...

 Back at the end of July 2020, I had a post up about how the Government had granted €80,000 to Cork County Council to investigate the route for a new proposed Greenway from Mallow to Dungarvan.

While Cork County Council will be looking at the route from Mallow to the county border near Ballyduff, Waterford County Council also got a matching €80,000 to investigate the route from Dungarvan to Ballyduff.

In this post, we'll look at the Waterford section...

While the old railway line from Mallow to the county border by Ballyduff is 39.6 kms in length, the section from Dungarvan to Ballyduff is slightly shorter at 35.4 kms.

When I looked at the Cork section of the line, I could see from Google Maps that roughly 44% of the route was still intact. The Waterford section however is in a much worse state and I could only see roughly 18% of the old route remaining. 

On the section between Dungarvan and Cappoquin, the old route has largely disappeared into farmers fields and looking at a satellite view, it's hard in places to see where the old line might have been.

In terms of attractiveness, the western section of the old line is probably the nicest as it passes Cappoquin, Lismore and follows the River Blackwater west.

The remains of the old railway bridge over the Blackwater is still there near Cappoquin and would make for a nice feature on the Greenway.

This is a satellite view near Cappoquin showing the location of the railway bridge and the route of the old line to the west.

It's worth pointing out that the new Greenway that is being developed from Midleton to Youghal is on the old railway line that is still in state ownership. I'm not sure what the status is of the old line from Mallow to Dungarvan but it looks a lot more complicated.

If the overall project gets the go ahead, I suspect the Cork section may well start from the Mallow end as it's a large town and it can be put to immediate use while the remaining sections are completed.

From a Waterford perspective, it probably makes sense to start with the section nearest to Dungarvan first. There are already bike rental companies there and a new section from Dungarvan to Cappoquin would be immediate extension to the existing 46km Greenway to Waterford City.