In the seventeenth century road transport was still at a very rudimentary stage of development, ensuring that on its finalisation the canal was in a position to dominate travel to and from the county.
As the railways offered a far speedier form of transport, their advent inevitably ensured the passing of the canal as the primary means of travel in the country and their initial arrival aroused a great deal of confrontation and bitterness between the canal companies and their new rivals.
This was only barely sustainable in the hey-day of railtransport, but on the coming of independence it was clear that it was not a situation which could be allowed to persist indefinitely.