Rails to Rosslare

The latest title from railway expert, Mike Hitches, charting the history of the mail route to Ireland as GWR celebrates its 175th year.

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The Great Western Railway route from Paddington to Fishguard was the company's attempt to compete with the London & North Western Railway's Irish route between Euston and Holyhead and to compete for mail traffic to Dublin. While the GWR failed to take the mail contract for Dublin, the company did win mail contracts for the south of Ireland and were involved in developments of the railways there, not least the Great Southern & Western Railway, which ran anywhere between Rosslare, Waterford, Cork, and Dublin. While the port at Fishguard was not as successful as that at Holyhead, it did attract Cunard ocean liners, like the Mauretania and ill-fated Lusitania, as they returned from New York before the outbreak of the First World War. Special trains were run in connection with the capital making quick time, beating timings from the liners' home port at Liverpool. GWR Irish services brought welcome revenue to the Paddington company, and as the company see its 175th year, it is important to tell the story of this much neglected route.