Great Northern Railway (Ireland)

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This article is about the Irish railway. For other railways with the same name, see Great Northern Railway.

Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
1926 map of GNR(I)
Overview
Dates of operation1876–1958
Predecessor
Successor
Technical
Track gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Length617 miles 13 chains (993.2 km) (1925)[1]
Track length926 miles 25 chains (1,490.8 km) (1925)[1]

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland jointly nationalised the company in 1953, and the company was liquidated in 1958: assets were split on national lines between the Ulster Transport Authority and Córas Iompair Éireann.

Foundation

The Ulster, D&D and D&BJct railways together formed the main line between

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, and both this and the Dundalk route gave connections between Derry and Dublin. These main lines supported the development of an extensive branch network serving the southwest half of Ulster and northern counties of Leinster
. The GNRI became Ireland's most prosperous railway company and second largest railway network.

In its early years the GNR(I) closely imitated the image of its English namesake, adopting an apple green livery for its steam locomotives and a varnished teak finish for its passenger coaches. Later the company adopted its famous pale blue livery for locomotives (from 1932), with the frames and running gear picked out in scarlet. Passenger vehicles were painted brown, instead of varnished. On 12 June 1889, a significant rail accident occurred when a passenger train stalled between Armagh and Newry. The train was divided, but during the uncoupling operation ten carriages ran away and collided with another passenger train. A total of 80 people were killed and 260 were injured in what was then the deadliest railway accident to have occurred in Europe. The accident remains the deadliest ever to have occurred on the island of Ireland.

Growth and partition

In the early 20th century increasing traffic led the GNRI to consider introducing larger locomotives. The

Southern Railway
in England in 1930.

The

Dublin Amiens Street and Belfast Great Victoria Street
stations.

Nationalisation and division

GNR loco sheds at Adelaide, 1959

A combination of the increasing road competition facing all railways and a change in patterns of economic activity caused by the

railbuses for use on sections of the rural network.[2] Nevertheless, by the 1950s the GNRI had ceased to be profitable and in 1953 the company was jointly nationalised by the governments of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
. The two governments ran the railway jointly under a Great Northern Railway Board until 1958.

Preserved GNRI Class S no. 171 Slieve Gullion at Lisburn

In May 1958, the

Government of Northern Ireland's wish to close many lines led to the GNR(I) Board being dissolved and the assets divided between the two territories. At midnight on 30 September 1958, all lines entirely within Northern Ireland were transferred to the (nationalised) Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) and all lines entirely within the Republic of Ireland were transferred to Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). CIÉ had been formed as a private company in 1945 but had been nationalised in 1950. In an attempt at fairness, all classes of locomotive and rolling stock were also divided equally between the transport operators of the two new owners.[3]
: 184–185  Most classes of GNRI locomotive had been built in small classes, so this division left both railways with an operational and maintenance difficulty of many different designs all in small numbers.

The Government of Northern Ireland, which had a very anti-rail policy, rapidly closed most of the GNR(I) lines in Northern Ireland.[4][note 1] Exceptions were the Belfast–Dundalk and Portadown–Derry main lines and the Newry–Warrenpoint and Lisburn–Antrim branches. It made the Lisburn–Antrim branch freight-only from 1960 and closed the Portadown–Derry and Newry–Warrenpoint lines to all traffic in 1965.[4] The Republic of Ireland government tried briefly to maintain services on lines closed at the border by the Northern Ireland government, but this was impractical, and the Republic had to follow suit in closing most GNR(I) lines within the Republic. Since 1963, the Drogheda–Navan branch has survived for freight traffic only.

The Fintona horse tram circa 1930

The GNR's north western main line between Dundalk and Derry bypassed the small County Tyrone town of Fintona, which was instead served by a 1 mile (1.6 km) branch line from Fintona Junction station. The service was operated by the double-deck Fintona horse tram until the line's closure in 1957. CIÉ also acquired the Hill of Howth Tramway, in the northern suburbs of Dublin, in the 1958 dissolution of the GNRI Board. CIÉ closed the tramway about a year later.

Today, the remaining GNR routes consist of the main line from Dublin to Belfast, the Howth branch, electrified for Dublin commuter services since 1984, the Drogheda - Navan (Tara Mine) line, which carries only freight traffic associated with that mine, passenger traffic having ceased with the closure of the line beyond there to Oldcastle in 1963, and the Lisburn to Antrim branch, now mothballed but retained in operational order for the time being.

Preservation

Rolling stock

No.85 taking on water on the former Northern Counties Committee line at Ballymena railway station.

Four GNRI steam locomotives are preserved. The

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra
.

Some of its coaching stock has also been preserved. 1938 built dining car No.88 still sees use as part of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland's Dublin-based "heritage set" of coaches. Also operating in this set is a 1954 built brake coach No.9, although it currently carries the number 1949.[5] The Downpatrick and County Down Railway also has an example of a third-class GNR six-wheeled carriage, in an unrestored condition.[6]

Buildings

Malahide station illustrates the Polychrome brickwork style adopted by civil engineer Mills

There are a number of historic buildings built by the GNRI such as

Signal Cabin from Bundoran Junction arrived at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. The cabin was installed on the platform at Downpatrick railway station
in October 2015, where it is to be restored to working order.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The closures started several years before the Beeching cuts, which implemented widespread rationalisations of the railway network in Britain.

References

  1. ^ a b The Railway Year Book for 1926. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1926. pp. 235–239.
  2. ^ "Rail buses developed at Dundalk GNR Works". The Argus. 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  3. ISBN 0711002827
    .
  4. ^ a b "Closure of the 'Derry Road' a great loss to Ireland". Derry Journal. 20 February 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Heritage Carriages (Dublin)". The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  6. ^ "GNRI Six-wheeler (body only)". Cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org. Railway Heritage Register. Retrieved 11 August 2011.

Further reading

External links

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