British Transport Commission

British Transport Commission
Company typeStatutory corporation[i]
Founded1 January 1948; 76 years ago (1948-01-01)
Defunct1 January 1964; 60 years ago (1964-01-01)[ii]
FateDissolved
Successor

The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the separate Ulster Transport Authority). Its general duty under the Transport Act 1947[9] was to provide an efficient, adequate, economical and properly integrated system of public inland transport and port facilities within Great Britain for passengers and goods, excluding transport by air.

The BTC came into operation on 1 January 1948. Its first chairman was Lord Hurcomb, with Miles Beevor as Chief Secretary. Its main holdings were the networks and assets of the Big Four national regional railway companies: the Great Western Railway, London and North Eastern Railway, London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. It also took over 55 other railway undertakings, 19 canal undertakings and 246 road haulage firms, as well as the work of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was already publicly owned. The nationalisation package also included the fleets of 'private owner wagons', which industrial concerns had used to transport goods on the railway networks.

  1. ^ Transport Act 1947, section 1(1) (as originally enacted). Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 November 2022.
  2. ^ Transport Act 1947, section 1(9) and the First Schedule. Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 November 2022.
  3. ^ The Transport Act 1962 (Vesting Date) Order 1962, paragraph 1. Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 3 November 2022.
  4. ^ The Transport Act 1962, section 80 (as originally enacted). Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 7 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation) Order 1962". The London Gazette. No. 42867. 25 December 1962. pp. 10075–10076.
  6. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 2) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 42955. 29 March 1963. p. 2835.
  7. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 3) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 43045. 2 July 1963. p. 5653.
  8. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 4) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 43111. 20 September 1963. p. 7752.
  9. ^ "Transport Act, 1947" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2017.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-roman> tags or {{efn-lr}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} template or {{notelist-lr}} template (see the help page).