Summerhill Train Crash

City Terminus at Summerhill

A photograph of the view of Glanmire Road Station (now Kent Station) from the old Cork and Youghal city terminus in Summerhill. Visible in the left of the photograph are billboards, an advertising space which is still used to this day.

Courtesy of David and Charles Ltd., Newton Abbot, Devon

City Terminus at Summerhill
Courtesy of David and Charles Ltd., Newton Abbot, Devon

City Terminus at Summerhill

Courtesy of David and Charles Ltd., Newton Abbot, Devon

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The continuing relevance of the Youghal passenger line was called into question by a major accident which occurred at the single-line Summerhill station in 1882, when an arriving Youghal train collided with a Queenstown train at the platform.

100 people were injured in the crash, 30 of them seriously, and several thousand pounds in compensation had to be paid by the railway company.

The limitations presented by the Summerhill station, which was built against a cliff face and so could never be extended, meant that it was struggling to cope with the nearly 40 daily train movements which passed along its single rail line.

The opening of a new main line station on the Glanmire Road in 1893 led to the end of the Summerhill terminus. The Water Street Junction was constructed to the east of the main station, to connect with the Youghal line while the Queenstown lines were realigned in 1896 to allow trains to travel more swiftly from Cork.

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