Córas Iompair Éireann

Infobox Company
company_name = Córas Iompair Éireann
company_
company_type = Statutory Corporation
foundation = 1945
location_city = Dublin
location_country = Republic of Ireland
area_served = Republic of Ireland
industry = Infrastructure & Public Transportation State Administrator
parent = Minister for Transport
homepage = [http://www.cie.ie/ www.cie.ie]

Córas Iompair Éireann [The accepted translation is "Irish Transport System", and is pronounced CORus UMPer AIRinn.] (IPA-ga|koːɾˠəs ɪmpəɾʲ 'e:rʲən; abbreviated CIÉ) is a statutory authority which is owned by the Irish Government. responsible for the provision of most public transport services in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the Republic and Northern Ireland. .

ervices

Since the enactment of the "Transport (Re-organisation of Córas Iompair Éireann) Act, 1986" CIÉ is the holding company for Bus Éireann - Irish Bus, Bus Átha Cliath - Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail, the three largest internal transport companies in Ireland. It was originally to operate the Luas tram system in Dublin, before responsibility for that project was transferred to the newly created Railway Procurement Agency.

All of CIÉ's services are provided through the three operating companies:

* Dublin Bus provides bus services in the Greater Dublin area, including most bus services operating within Dublin city and the former County Dublin.
* Bus Éireann provides intercity and regional bus services outside Dublin city and county and from Dublin to the rest of the country. It also operates the city bus systems in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Galway as well as a number of other small urban bus systems.
* Iarnród Éireann operates InterCity and Commuter rail services within the Republic of Ireland. Together with NI Railways, it operates the Dublin - Belfast railway line as Enterprise.

CIÉ itself is responsible for the overall strategy of the group. It owns all fixed assets used by the three companies (such as railway lines and stations) which are dealt with through the Group Property division. The holding company also operates the international tour division, CIÉ Tours International. The company's vast amount of advertising sites are organised through Commuter Advertising Network (CAN), though the company has not sold its own advertising since the mid-1990s, instead employing an external company (currently CBS Advertising) to do so. There are also a number of shared services to the three companies provided by CIÉ itself.

Except on the railways, CIÉ is not a complete monopoly, as a number of other operators exist. However, under the Transport Act 1932, such other operators cannot compete directly with CIÉ on route for which it has a licence.

History

Córas Iompair Éireann was originally established to provide road and railway transport, and later water. For most of its existence the company made large year-on-year losses, particularly the railways division, and this caused the public and politicians to demand "make CIÉ pay". Thus, similar to the pattern in many countries, Ireland's railways were rationalised and faced severe cutbacks while the road division was expanded.

Córas Iompair Éireann was formed, as a private company, by the "Transport Act 1944" and incorporated the "Great Southern Railways Company" and "Dublin United Transport Company". At this point CIÉ adopted the logo of the latter company, "the flying snail". Great Southern Railways was incorporated in 1925, having been "Great Southern Railway" since 1924. It was essentially a monopoly on transport as it started to broaden its business interests into road transport. The "Transport Act 1950" amalgamated CIÉ and the "Grand Canal Company" and formally nationalised CIÉ, changing its structure from a private limited company to a board appointed by the Minister for Transport. The Northern Ireland "Great Northern Railway Act, 1958" transferred the lines of "Great Northern Railway Board" south of the border to CIÉ.

Until 1986, CIÉ operated as a single legal entity, although it was internally organised into rail services, and two bus divisions - Dublin City Services and Provincial Services. The vast majority of services were simply branded CIÉ, although long distance provincial buses were branded "Expressway" while the Dublin electric railway service was branded DART. In 1987 CIÉ was reorganised into a holding company and three operating companies. In 1990 it sold its nine Great Southern Hotels to Aer Rianta, the airports authority, including the hotel in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Current government policy is that Córas Iompair Éireann should be abolished with the three individual companies focusing on their own business areas and thus increasing competitiveness. [Statement on Public Transport Reform, Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, November 2002] Despite this, legislation to enact this change has been frequently delayed, and has yet to be published as of 2008. In the meantime, the biggest change to CIÉ's operational structure since 1987 will come into being with the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority, which will have powers over CIÉ's operations in the Greater Dublin Area. The "Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008" also gives the Minister for Transport the power to appoint the directors of the subsidiary companies instead of the chairman of CIÉ.

ee also

* Transportation in Ireland
* Diesel Locomotives of Ireland
* Steam Locomotives of Ireland
* Coaching Stock of Ireland
* Multiple Units of Ireland
* Railway Procurement Agency

References

External links

* [http://www.cie.ie Official site - Córas Iompair Éireann]