The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-27 00:00:00

R AIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

REPORT OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT
OF THE BOARD OF TRADE ON THE
SCHEMES FOR EXTENDING RAILWAY COM-
MUNICATION IN THE SOUTH OF IRELAND.
Railway Department, Board of Trade,
Whitehall, March 20, 1845.
The Board constituted by the minute of the Lords of
the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, for the
transaction of railway business, having had under con-
sideration the different schemes deposited with the Rail-
way Department for extending railway communication
in the south of Ireland, have determined on submitting
the following report thereon for the consideration of Par-
liament. The proposed lines are, the
Great Southern and Western—Extension to Cork and
Branch to Limerick ;
Great South-Western Direct—Cork and Limerick ;
Waterford and Limerick ;
Waterford and Kilkenny ;
Kilkenny Junction ;
Dublin, Carlow, and Wexford ;
Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, and Carlow ;
Dublin and Wicklow ;
Cork and Bandon.
In examining the railway schemes projected in the
south of Ireland, we have had before us the second re-
port of the Commissioners on Railways, from which we
have so frequently quoted in our report on the schemes
projected in the north and north-west of Ireland, and
which, with regard to the requirements for railway com-
munication, and to the means for supporting it, has
afforded us most valuable information. The Commis-
sioners remark :----
" In the southern districts we find a population whose
condition is, in every respect, inferior to that of the
northern ; there habitations are worse ; their food in-
ferior, consisting, at best, of potatoes and milk, without
meal ; the wages of labour are found reduced from one
shilling to eightpence per day ; yet the peasantry are a
robust, active, and athletic race, capable of great exer-
tion ; often exposed to great privations ; ignorant, but
eager for instruction ; and readily trained, under judi-
cious management, to habits of order and steady indus-
try. From this it is evident that so much of the con-
struction of railways in Ireland as only requires manual
labour may be cheaply done, but large profit to the pro-
jectors of these schemes cannot reasonably be expected
as an early result : at the same time we have had full
evidence that many extensive landed proprietors look
more to the general benefits which railway intercommu-
nication will confer on their properties and on the people,
than to receiving any great pecuniary return in the shape
of dividends on railway stock ; and some instances have
come under our notice of individuals offering to give
their land for this purpose for nothing."
We venture to make these remarks of a general cha-
racter, for the purpose of directing particular attention
to the several traffic cases, which we have not had the
means of investigating so fully as to enable us to form
a judgment as to their truth, and which are for the most
part net in accordance with the Commissioners' report.
GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN RAIL-
WAY—EXTENSION TO CORK AND BRANCH
TO LIMERICK.
The Great Southern and Western (or the Dublin and
Cashel) Railway Company, whose Act of incorporation
was passed in the last session of Parliament, and whose
works are in course of construction, propose to continue
their line from Thurles by Charleville and Mallow to
Cork, a distance of 77 miles. The first 42 miles of the
proposed line will be very easy of construction, and upon
it no obstacle of any magnitude is offered to the engi-
neer ; for the next 15 miles the course of the line con-
tinues favourable, but the works are above an average as
to extent ; for the last 20 miles the works are consider-
able, and will be very costly.
As a main trunk line the railway between Dublin and
Cork was deemed by the Commissioners to be most de-
sirable; the subsequent sanction given by Parliament
has established the principle which the Commissioners
laid down ; and the extension proposed is but carrying
into operation the uncompleted portion of the original
plan.
We are-of opinion, therefore, that there are no public
grounals for refusing to sanction the proposed extension
of the Great Southern and Western Railway to Cork.
Objections, however, may be raised to the departure
observable in the course of the proposed line from that
which was suggested by the Commissioners ; the latter
line passing by Cahir and Michelstown to Mallow, the
former going by Tipperary and Charleville to Mallow.
This deviation, which is not a very material one, has
been occasioned partly by a desire to approach nearer to
Limerick at Tipperary, for the purposes of the proposed
branch to Limerick, and partly to serve Tipperary and
Charleville, which are more important places than Cahir
and Michelstown. The north side of the Galtees moun-
tains has therefore been taken instead of the south side.
One line appears to be as good as the other, and as the
projects in the south of Ireland now stand, a greater
aggregate amount of railway communication will be
given by the Great Southern and Western Company
taking the course now proposed, than by following that
which had been suggested by the Commissioners.
The Limerick branch is intended to leave the trunk
line at a point near to Tipperary; its course is direct, its
gradients are easy, the earthworks are inconsiderable,
and the whole may be constructed at a low cost.
We shall revert to this portion of the Great Southern
and Western scheme when speaking of the Waterford
and Limerick Railway project.
GREAT SOUTH-WESTERN DIRECT RAILWAY.
The object of the promoters of this scheme is to carry
a line of railway in nearly a straight direction from Cork
to Limerick, and from Limerick to Thurles, which would
compete with the proposed extension f the Great
Southern and Western to Cork for the Cork and
Limerick traffic, and with the same Company's branch
to Limerick (or that portion of the Waterford and
Limerick scheme which is comprised between Limerick
and Tipperary) for the Limerick and Dublin, and the
Limerick and Waterford traffic. That is to say, from
Cork goods and passengers are proposed to be taken by
this line by Charleville direct to Limerick, instead of
being taken by Charleville and Tipperary;—to Dublin
by Charleville, Limerick, and Thurles;—to Clonmel and
Waterford also by Charleville, Limerick, and Thurles,
instead of being taken by Charleville and Tipperary.
The subject will at once be understood on reference
to the accompanying map.
The plans and sections which have been deposited by
the projectors of this line by no means correspond: they
are singularly defective in many particulars which are
essentially necessary to enable a sound opinion to be
formed of it in an engineering point of view, and the
whole project has the appearance of being immature and
ill-considered.
There is, however, enough to prove, that if it were car-
ried into execution, its cost must be great.
Its terminus at Cork is close to the river, and the
buildings and building-ground through which it is pro-
posed to be carried :near its terminus would have to be
purchased at a great outlay.
From Cork to Charleville, this line and the Great
Southern and Western Extension take nearly the same
course. The latter would be less expensive in its forma-
tion than the former; but supposing that in every parti-
cular they were equally good between Charleville and
Cork, we are of opinion that with regard to the forma-
tion, preference should be given to the Great Southern
and Western Company, who could, in connexion with
their old line, afford to work over the distance in a more
convenient and satisfactory manner, and at a cheaper
rate than could the Cork and Limerick Company.
From Charleville to Limerick the line could be carried
at a moderate cost, and about nineteen miles in distance
would be saved between Cork and Limerick by it, over
the Great Southern and Western Extension line, as the
latter, leaving Charleville, diverges to the north-east to-
wards Tipperary, in the neighbourhood of which it
meets the Waterford and Limerick line, from whence
passengers would be conveyed in a north-west direction
to Limerick, either by the Great Southern and Western
branch, or by the Waterford and Limerick line, which-
ever of the two may be made.
The question then is, can Limerick support two out-
lets to the south ? and if not, which of the two is the
best ?
The report of the railway Commissioners on this point
is conclusive. They recommended that the main trunk
line should be made from Dublin to Cork ; and that a
branch should be " thrown off," near Thurles, to run
through " the rich district of the Golden Vale to Li-
merick." Even if the evidence of the Commissioners' re-
port were not before us, the traffic tables of the Great
Southern and Western and the Waterford and Limerick
Companies would show the traffic to be insufficient to
maintain two lines towards the south.
The plans, therefore, of the projectors being so lama-
tured, the line itself at its southern terminus so costly,
the portion between Cork and Charleville being better
supplied by another company, and the portion between
Charleville and. Limerick being unnecessary, we are of
opinion that public reasons exist why the Great South-
Western Direct Cork and Limerick Railway scheme
should not be sanctioned.
WATERFORD AND LIMERICK RAILWAY.
The object of this line is to afford railway communi-
cation from Waterford by the towns of Carrick-on-Snir,
Clonmel, Cahir, and Tipperary, to Limerick, its length
being seventy-seven miles.
This line appears to have been originally laid out by
the" celebrated engineer Nimmo ; and subsequently, the
principle of establishing railway communication between
Waterford and Limerick was recognised by the Commis-
sioners, who recommended that a branch from the main
line should be thrown off to each place, which branches
were proposed to pass very nearly over the ground now
intended to be taken by the Waterford and Limerick
Company.
We see no public grounds of objection to the general
character of the undertaking, but there are portions of it
which require particular notice.
In the first place, that portion of the line between Tip-
perary and Limerick is in direct competition with the
proposed branch to Limerick from the Great Southern
and Western Railway. They are so nearly identical,
that it is impossible to both can be made. The termini
in Limerick are, however, different. That of the Water-
ford and Limerick Company goes furthest into the town,
and nearest to the river, and is more conveniently si-
tuated to accommodate the county of Clare, than the
terminus of the branch, which is placed ratherl at the
outskirts of the town. The former, too, is in a better
position to accommodate a direct line towards Cork,
should one be made at a future period. There is not
much advantage either way ; not so much at any rate as
to induce us greatly to prefer one to the other ; but
there are other circumstances on which we ground a
preference. The passenger traffic has hitherto been di-
rected more towards Dublin than to Waterford ; but if
the South Wales Railway should receive the sanction of
Parliament, and be placed in connexion with steamers
to Wexford or to Waterford, a portion of the Limerick
passenger traffic will be diverted from Dublin in the di-
rection of Waterford, as giving the readiest route to Bris-
tol, and a convenient route to London. The goods traffic
will undoubtedly take the line to Waterford rather than
to Dublin, Waterford being the more convenient seaport.