Great Southern Railways

Formation

Provision for the creation of the company was made by the Railways Act 1924, which mandated the amalgamation (in the case of the four major railway companies) and absorption (of the 22 smaller companies) of all railways wholly within the Irish Free State. Only cross-border railways, most notably the Great Northern Railway (GNR), remained outside its control.^[1]:13-14

The Great Southern and Western Railway Company, the Midland Great Western Railway Company of Ireland and the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway Company agreed to terms for amalgamation, forming the Great Southern Railway Company by way of the Railways (Great Southern) Preliminary Amalgamation Scheme of 12 November 1924 (SI no. 31 of that year).^[1]:13-15

The Great Southern Railways Company was formed when the fourth major company, the Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), joined these companies under the Great Southern Railways Amalgamation Scheme of 1 January 1925 (SI no. 1 of that year) and the Great Southern Railways Supplemental Amalgamation Scheme, also 1925. The DSER was substantially British owned and had wished to merge with the GNR but was overruled.^[1]:13-15

The smaller companies were absorbed under several successive statutory instruments.^[1]:13-15

Buses and hotels

From 1929, when it acquired a stake in the Irish Omnibus Company, the company also ran bus services. These operations became the responsibility from 1 January 1934 of the Great Southern Railways Omnibus Department. In 1990 the hotel group was transferred from Córas Iompair Éireann to Aer Rianta where it remained until 2006. The hotel group formed by the company, Great Southern Hotels, continued to bear the company's name until its privatisation in 2006. Only the Sligo hotel continues to use the Great Southern name as of 2016.

Rosslare

CIÉ previously maintained a full online list of the twenty five companies which constituted the Great Southern Railways in 1925.^[2] This is not entirely accurate, as it includes the Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbours Company which still exists today, although GSR took over 50% of its shares upon its creation, the other 50% being held by the UK Great Western Railway. The respective shareholdings in the company, now essentially a shelf company, are held today by Iarnród Éireann and Stena Line.

Transfer to CIÉ

The Transport Act 1944 dissolved the Company and transferred its assets, together with those of the Dublin United Transport Company to Córas Iompair Éireann, from 1 January 1945.

Locomotives

A wide variety of locomotives and rolling stock was inherited from the constituent companies. 1925 records show 526 broad and 41 narrow gauge steam locomotives remaining inherited from the originating companies.^[1]:350 Locomotives were renumbered into the GSR class number scheme whereby the lowest numbered engine in the class was used as the class identity. There was a parallel Inchicore scheme that used a letter to indicate the axle layout and a number to designate different groups within the class.

When the GSR passed into CIÉ at the end of 1944 the total number of broad gauge steam locomotives was about 475 of which 58 had been built by GSR. About 28 narrow gauge steam locomotives remained.^[1]:350

Rolling Stock

The total number of passenger vehicles including post office, parcel, and brakes vans was 1670 in 1925, reducing to 1337 by 1944.^[1]:343

Railcars

The GSR introduced four Sentinel steam railcars in 1928 with the power unit similar to the GSR Class 280, operating range of over 150 miles (240 km) and a passenger capacity for 55. All were withdrawn in the early 1940s. A subsequent order from Claytons in 1928 were less successful and withdrawn in 1932, a model exists in the Fry railway collection. Four Drewry petrol powered railcars of which two were narrow gauge were also introduced around 1927, with all four also being withdrawn by the mid 1940s.^{[1]:298—307,380}. The innovative Drumm Battery Train was successfully operated on the Dublin—Bray route from 1932.