[4] The impoverishment of the population in Connemara rose dramatically and calls for a rail link as a structural measure were loud, the project even described as "a matter of national importance".

The majority of the population, around 60,000 people, lived along the coast and since there was an urgent need to open up better markets for local fisheries, a coastal route was preferred from Oughterard.

[8] The most likely assumption is that the owner of Ballynahinch Castle made a large amount of land available free of charge for the construction of the railway and thus significantly influenced the decision.

[11] In July 1892, the railway company withdrew the project from Braddock and handed it over to TH Faulkner, under whom the work was now reliably, but no longer as planned in 1893, due to the previous strikes.

On 1 July 1895, the remainder of the line to Clifden was put into operation,[13] though the stations at Maam Cross and Ballynahinch where not felt sufficiently completed to be initially opened to the public.

[14] Due to the distance from the coast, the freight traffic did not take on the originally desired extent but brought the developed region the hoped-for reliable connection to the provincial capital Galway and more distant sales markets.

At the end of the 19th century, the wild and romantic loneliness of Connemara was already enjoying a certain popularity as a summer destination with the aristocracy and the upper classes.

Starting in 1903, the Midland Great Western Railway ran direct express trains with dining cars from Dublin to Clifden during the summer season, and an upscale hotel was built at Recess station.

Celebrities and members of the aristocracy who owned summer houses in Connemara or came on fishing holidays aroused the interest of the general public in the region as a travel destination.

[15] The tracks and the steel bridge over the River Corrib were subsequently removed and sold to a German scrap metal company for a mere £10.

[18] While the railway line in the city of Galway is no longer recognizable due to construction activity, the tunnel under Prospect Hill and the pillars of the bridge over the Corrib are still there.

[citation needed] From the city limits, the route including numerous bridges and culverts has remained largely unobstructed and can be clearly seen in the landscape.