Influences on the role of law for railways in Ireland

Abstract

The thesis traces influences on the development of the role of law for railways in Ireland. A focus on their place in the milieu of infrastructure, technology, enterprise and administration was used as a framework. The wider boundaries show practices of road and coach travel and earlier law as primary influences on the early development of railways. The use of the corporate structure for organisation resembled that of canals and earlier specialised roads of the pre-modem railways serving industry. It marked a break with legal tradition of the public domain towards private profit. The trust form first applied by Parliament to infrastructure in turnpike trusts for trunk or main roads had serious drawbacks in linking maintenance to tolls.