For ten years I had now been manager of the Midland Great Western
Railway, and busy and interesting years they were. In that period Irish
railways, considering that the population of the country was diminishing,
had made remarkable progress, and effected astonishing improvements.
Whilst the population of England during the decade had _increased_ by
9.13 per cent., and Scotland by 4.69, that of Ireland had _decreased_ by
4.29 per cent! Yet, notwithstanding this, the railway traffic in
Ireland, measured by receipts, had increased by 22 per cent., against
England 31 and Scotland 36. In the number of passengers carried the
increase in Ireland was 29 per cent. In the same period the increase in
the number of engines and vehicles in Ireland was 22, in England 30, and
Scotland 33 per cent., whilst the number of train miles run (which is the
real measure of the usefulness of railways to the public) had advanced 27
per cent. in Ireland, compared with 28 in England, and 30 in Scotland.
These figures indicate what Irish railways had accomplished in the decade
ending with December, 1900, and betoken, I venture to affirm, a keen
spirit of enterprise.
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