Endings

Like many rural narrow gauge railways, the end came slowly and against declining hope. The motor car did not help, especially in the form of the public bus and changing holiday patterns and desires.

The end came in March 1932, when the financial burden became too great. That Easter, for the first time in many years, no public service ran. Despite this, in 1933 trains did run to transport sugar beet to the main line head. By 1933 a full bus service was running from Quend-Plage and Fort Mahon to Quend mainline station, rendering the tramway obsolete. The journey time by bus was about 20 minutes, compared to 30 to 40 minutes by the tramway.

Interestingly, it appears that a section from Monchaux to the standard gauge line was re-leased for carting sugar beet until April 1945. In the light of WWII, traffic on this small remnant almost certainly ceased well before then.