London Brighton and South Coast Railway suburban system. The electrification work itself was to cost about a quarter of the sum. A 4 MW power station would have been provided at Newport. The scheme included a number of line extensions and other improvements which inflated the cost; a frequent passenger service was planned. The Electric Railways Syndicate did not bring any capital to the scheme; they needed others, including the Local Authorities, to provide that. No one else saw any advantage for the necessary outlay and in the first half of 1910 the scheme was abandoned. World War I During World War I the railways were taken under Government control; the owning companies were to be compensated, but in practice the money failed to address the deterioration of the physical assets. In December 1919 the IoWR reverted to its own control, and it was urgently necessary to modernise; the IoWR did not have much cash available for the purpose, and it was not possible to carry out all that was necessary. The Island continued to enjoy an increase in visitor numbers, and the railway benefited but was unable to cary the traffic with the desired level of efficiency; goods traffic had fallen off during the war and continued to fall afterwards, as road transport proved competitive over the short distances on the island. Grouping The Railways Act 1921 directed that the main line railways of Great Britain were to be "grouped" into four large companies; the new Southern Railway was to be created, and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway were to be constituents of it. The Isle of Wight lines were to be absorbed into it. Negotiations began over the terms so far as the IoWR was concerned; they were led by Sir Herbert Walker, General Manager of the LSWR. The IoWR claimed that it would be able to make significant savings in operating costs in the larger group. However it was obvious that radical economies would be necessary, and the IoWR lacked any reserve fund to pay for renewals. In fact the Isle of Wight Railway, in common with some other small lines, was absorbed by the LSWR on 31 December 1922, immediately before the LSWR was itself taken into the SR on the following day. Finally a settlement was agreed in which shareholders would receive Southern Railway dividends at