The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) but later acquired a number of 914 mm (3 ft) narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened to traffic on 11 April 1848.
The NCC itself was formed on 1 July 1903 as the result of the Midland Railway of England taking over the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), which the Belfast and Ballymena Railway had become. At the 1923 Grouping of British railway companies, the Committee became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the NCC was briefly part of the British Transport Commission, which sold it to the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1949.
The BNCR and its successors recognised the potential value of tourism and were influential in its development throughout the north of Ireland. They were able to develop and exploit the advantages of the Larne – Stranraer ferry route between Ireland and Scotland which gained importance in World War II.
Read more about Northern Counties Committee: Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee), London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee), Nationalisation, Centenary and Sale, Signalling, Coaching Stock, Preserved Vehicles
Famous quotes containing the words northern and/or committee:
“That we can come here today and in the presence of thousands and tens of thousands of the survivors of the gallant army of Northern Virginia and their descendants, establish such an enduring monument by their hospitable welcome and acclaim, is conclusive proof of the uniting of the sections, and a universal confession that all that was done was well done, that the battle had to be fought, that the sections had to be tried, but that in the end, the result has inured to the common benefit of all.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“What are men celebrating? They are all on a committee of arrangements, and hourly expect a speech from somebody. God is only the president of the day, and Webster is his orator.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)