[4] Bundoran Junction was triangular,[5] giving the branch access northwards to Omagh and Derry as well as southwards to Enniskillen and Dundalk.

A direct link to Sligo would have benefitted not only Bundoran and Ballyshannon but also the considerable pilgrim traffic to Pettigo, the nearest station for St Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Derg.

It would also have enabled the E&BR to carry substantial cattle traffic from the west of Ireland to the north-east, both for domestic consumption in and around Belfast and for export to Scotland and England.

[1] The SL&NCR adopted as its company seal a picture of two steam locomotives colliding, with one derailed and the other remaining on the track.

Partition also imposed a border crossing on the SL&NCR[9] — a fate that would not have befallen the E&BR's proposed line between Bundoran and Sligo if it had been built.

Stops for customs examinations delayed trains for unpredictable lengths of time, which added to the E&B line's existing disadvantage of circuitous connections to the centres of trade and population on Ireland's east coast.

[11][12] The train ran non-stop between Clones and Pettigo, which allowed it to pass through Northern Ireland without stopping for customs checks.

[13] Closure of these lines and the Northern Ireland government's withdrawal of grant aid gave the SL&NCR no option but to close as well.

In 1958 the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland dissolved the GNR Board and divided its assets between Córas Iompair Éireann and the Ulster Transport Authority.