History
Collooney once had three railway stations. The first and sole surviving station was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) on 3 December 1862 [3] as part of the extension of its line from Longford to Sligo. On 1 September 1881 the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (SL&NCR) opened its station to the east, [3] before building a connection to the MGWR at Carrignagat Junction to the north and thus completing its line from Enniskillen to Sligo. Finally, on 1 October 1895, the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway (WL&WR) opened its station to the west, [3] as part of the extension of its line from Claremorris to Sligo. The WL&DR was taken over by the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) in 1901.
Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the MGWR and the GS&WR became part of the Great Southern Railways (GSR) in 1925. In turn, the GSR became part of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in 1945.
On 1 October 1957, the SL&NCR's Collooney station closed along with the company. The line to Enniskillen was lifted shortly afterward. The GS&WR station closed on 17 June 1963 when CIÉ withdrew passenger services between Claremorris and Sligo; this line remained open for goods traffic until 1975, after which it fell into dereliction. There were hopes it might re-open in the future as part of the Western Railway Corridor, but the All-Island Vision for a New Age of Rail [4] rejected any idea of the re-opening due to multiple buildings and farms having encroached on the route, since its final closure in 1975.
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