78 



RAILWAYS. 



mails. A curious feature is that these two competing routes will be worked 

 in Ireland by the one Company — the Great Southern and Western. The 

 locomotives and rolling- stock have been greatly improved of late, possibly 

 in view of the danger of American passengers deserting the Irish route in 

 favour of Southampton or Plymouth. 



A noticeable feature of all the Irish railways mentioned is the attention 

 they devote to the tourist traffic. Thus the northern railways offer special 

 facilities for transit to Carlingford Lough, the Giant's Causeway, and Port- 

 rush ; the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford exploit the famous Wicklow 

 scenery ; the Midland Great Western carry large numbers to Achill and 

 the district about Recess, whilst the Great Southern and Western have 

 special services to Killarney, and besides offering cheap fares the Companies 

 have of late built a number of hotels where the accommodation was pre- 

 viously bad or insufficient. The following figures, taken from the latest 

 Banking and Railway Statistics, issued by the Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland, will help to show the present position 

 ot Irish Railways as compared with thirty years ago : — 



Irish Railway Receipts per Mile for Passenger and Goods Traffic 

 in 1871 compared with 1900. 



Gross Receipts of Irish Railways in 1871 compared with 1900. 



