Nationalisation, Centenary and Sale
On 1 January 1948, the LMS was nationalised and passed to the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission. The NCC became known as the Railway Executive (NCC) and was operationally part of the London Midland Region of British Railways.
The NCC celebrated the centenary of the opening of the Belfast and Ballymena Railway on 11 April 1948 with a minor flourish. An illustrated booklet was printed and distributed to customers and staff. It included a chronology of the NCC and its predecessors, a history of the steamer services, a route description of the Main Line and a map of the system. The BBC Northern Ireland Home Service broadcast a centenary programme on 12 April; it was narrated by John D. Stewart, the writer and dramatist.
Under the provisions of The Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1948, the Northern Ireland Government purchased the NCC in 1949 for £2,668,000, and the NCC became part of the Ulster Transport Authority from 1 April 1949.
Today (2007) the former NCC main line from Belfast to Londonderry, the Larne line and the Portrush branch remain open and are operated by Northern Ireland Railways.
The upgrading of the Belfast to Londonderry by Northern Ireland Railways will give faster more frequent trains with better permanent way and signalling as part of the strategic investment in the network.
Read more about this topic: Northern Counties Committee
Famous quotes containing the word sale:
“I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship, or the sale of goods through pretending that they sell, or power through making believe you are powerful, or through a packed jury or caucus, bribery and “repeating” votes, or wealth by fraud.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)