Táilte Tours is to mark the centenary of the formation of Ireland‘s Great Southern Railway by running a special centennial railtour from Dublin to Killarney on Saturday 16 November.

The voluntary group and railway heritage promoter will run the tour with a Class 201 locomotive, which has been in service for thirty years, and an Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail mkIV carriage set. 

The Great Southern Railway Centennial tour will take a diversion from the Dublin-to-Killarney route from Limerick Junction to Limerick Check. This will be the first time that a mkIV carriage carrying passengers will be set into Limerick.

The carriages were based at Limerick for trial runs when they were first delivered, but have never worked a passenger service over the route, which was previously known as the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway route.

The Great Southern Railway was formed through the November 1924 merger of the Great Southern & Western Railway, the Midland Great Western Railway and Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway.

The following year, the Dublin & South Eastern Railway and several narrow gauge lines joined the new body, which became the Great Southern Railways (plural).  

The Class 201 GM locomotives entered traffic with Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) in 1994. They only work scheduled journeys between Dublin and Belfast and between Dublin and Cork. 

The railtour will provide a rare chance to travel in the mkIV set over the Kerry branch line, and Táilte Tours has requested several unusual loops to be included in the itinerary. The Class 201s have seldom visited Limerick and Killarney since Intercity Railcar sets took over these routes fifteen years ago, in 2009. 

On arrival at Killarney, passengers will have ample time to explore the iconic Irish town and do some pre-Christmas shopping. An at-seat catering trolley service will be available on the train. 

Táilte Tours is named after one of Ireland’s largest steam locomotives.

The operator runs railtours and other railway-themed events throughout Ireland. This will be its first trip out of County Cork. 

Several seating classes are available and the operator expects demand to be high. Tickets for this tour must be booked in advance online at the Táilte Tours website. The tour operator offers discounted fares to RailAdvent Plus members.

“The Great Southern Railway was one of the most innovative mainline railway companies, embracing all sorts of developments from the famous Drumm battery trains to offering the only Irish Pullman car service to building Ireland’s largest steam locomotives to having to run trains powered by turf during the Emergency period, as WWII was known in Ireland, the last of which our group is named after. Not only are they an ancestor of Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail, but also of the state bus operator, Bus Éireann. We feel their centenary and impact on Irish transport is an occasion to be celebrated”. 

Niall Kelly, Marketing Officer, Táilte Tours