Northern Counties Committee

Northern Counties Committee
1926 map of the railway
Class U2 74 Dunluce Castle at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra
Overview
Dates of operation1903 (1903)–1949 (1949)
Predecessors
List of prior companies[1]
  • Belfast and Ballymena Railway (1848–1859)
  • Ballymena, Colraine and Portrush Railway (1855-1861)
  • Londonderry and Colraine Railway (1852-1871)
  • Ballymena, Cushendall and Redbay Railway (1875-1884)
  • Ballymena and Larne Railway (1877-1889)
  • Carrickfergus and Larne Railway (1862-1890)
  • Draperstown Railway (1883-1895)
  • Portstewart Tramway (1882-1897)
  • Derry Central Railway (1880-1901)
  • Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (1860–1902)
  • Limavady and Dungiven Railway (1883-1907)
  • Donegal Railway (Derry to Strabane section) (1900-1906)
  • Ballycastle Railway (1880-1924)
SuccessorUlster Transport Authority
Technical
Track gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
3 ft (914 mm)
Length281 miles 17 chains (452.6 km) (1925)[1]
Track length388 miles 2 chains (624.5 km) (1925)[1]

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 which 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 Northern Ireland. They were able to develop and exploit the advantages of the Larne to Stranraer ferry route between Northern Ireland and Scotland which gained importance in World War II.

  1. ^ a b c The Railway Year Book for 1926. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1926. pp. 245–247.