In 1906 a light railway was opened to Pandharpur from Barsi Road on the Great Indian Peninsula railway.
The Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties railway connects with the Great Northern at Enniskillen, and the Clogher Valley light railway connects southern county Tyrone with the Great Northern at Maguiresbridge.
Since the passing of the Light Railways Act of 1896, which did not apply to Ireland, it is possible to give a formal definition by saying that a light railway is one constructed under the provisions of that act; but it must be noted that the commissioners appointed under that act have authorized many lines which in their physical characteristics are indistinguishable from street tramways constructed under the Tramways Act, and to these the term light railways would certainly not be applied in ordinary parlance.
It should be mentioned that the act provided that the Treasury might advance a portion of the money required for a line in cases where the council of any county, borough or district had agreed to do the same, and might also make a special advance in aid of a light railway which was certified by the Board of Agriculture to be beneficial to agriculture in any cultivated district, or by the Board of Trade to furnish a means of communication between a fishing-harbour and a market in a district where it would not be constructed without special assistance from the s' ate.
It provided that the powers of the light railway commissioners should continue until determined by parliament, and also provided, inter alia, that in cases where the Board of Trade thought, under section (9) subsection (3) of the original act, that a proposal should be submitted to parliament, the Board of Trade itself might submit the proposals to parliament by bringing in a bill for the confirmation of the light railway order, with a special report upon it.
