Worst part of Gt Britain on rail loss

[rjhowie]

I often have short breaks in Ulster from my home here in Scotland as well as in earlier times family holidays. The railways got a raw deal over there from the government. In 1948 when railways in Britain were nationalised a parallel situation happened in the Province. The Breat Northern (Ireland), Northern Counties Committee (of the LMS) and the wonderful smaller, Belfast & County Down were all merged into the new UTA - Ulster Transport Authority and the buses were included. It has often been said that the new management were bus orienated and much of them did come from that interest it seems. This was to prove immediately hostile to the rail side of the UTA. The government in Belfast was obviously no great supporter of rail either as within a short pace of time wholesale closures came heavily.

In County Down for example every line was abandoned leaving only the short 12 mile suburban route from Belfast to Bangor. Even the main line to Newcastle was chopped. The same happened in each of the other 5 Counties. Later one of the 2 routes to Londonderry via Omagh was cut. Much later the UTA was scrapped and Ulsterbus and Notrhern Ireland Railways became the replacements. The NIR was left with a minor system and little support.From a track mileage in the North of just under 900 miles today the place is left with around 220 miles. One line is actually mothballed but maintained hopefully for the future if funds ever become available. Now both Ulsterbus and N.Ireland Railways are still there but under the umbrella of 'Translink' The NIR is the only State railway operating in Britain. Just a few short years ago it was being mooted in circles to reduce what was left to just the cross border Belfast-Dublin Enterprise Express route and Bagor with maybe part of the Londonderry run kept as far as Ballymena. However people committees were set up and a fight back then ensured that the present system would remain and not be reduced any further. Large parts of the Province especially in the far West are totally devoid of rail and attempts to get support for a return is usually brushed asidedue to cost.

Over the Border the old CIE did scrap all the branchlines back in the fifties and to be fair the loss of th Great Northern helped that situation. When rail was nationalised on both sides of the Border the GNR crossed it in more than one place. It was nationalised an a new company set up jointly bt the 2 governments but the closures in the North meant in the South lines running north to go nowhere.The South has been greatly helped by EEC funding to modernise what is now the IR and maintains a much wider rail network than North. However to give the NIR it's due it has done great things with funding giving many modern trains to replace clanking old has beens as well as track replenishment. The modernisation and improved stock gives better timetables and passenger numbers soared to great levels. The lowest recorded at one point was the Larne route at 17% (!) but the new CAFs for there will make for better service and numbers expected to go up. The Londonderry Line is being re-tracked north of Coleraine Junction and the NIR is moving towards having an train every hour between Ulster's two main cities.

I miss the lines I recall as a wee lad but pleased that nothing else is to be reduced. Populations have moved and grown and places like Armagh had no railway for over half a century. The mothballed Crumlin is kept extant and occasionally used for driver training and an alternative to Londonderry should it be required. In the long run the NIR would like t eventually get it re-instated for a circular service with Belfast. The line actually skirts the boundary fence of one of Ulster's 2 airports the International near Antrim and a short spur for a service into Belfast would be brilliant but again - no money! So of the 4 home nations over the Irish Sea got the worst deal on it's railways from petty minded people but just about 2 years ago the NIR won the prize in Britain for a good rail.way.