Ulster Transport Authority : Great Northern Railway Board : Coras Iompair Éireann : Erne Bus Service : withdrawal of rail services and time table of alternative road services from 14 October 1957

            The 1950s saw the savage closure programme to the railways of Ireland, particularly in the Northern state under the direction of the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA). The UTA had been formed in 1948 and acquired the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board and the Belfast & County Down Railway; the latter was to be soon, for the most, sacrificed. South of the Border in the Republic, the creation of Coras Iompair Éireann in 1945, saw the consolidation of road and rail operators with one exception. This was the cross-Border Great Northern Railway of Ireland, the GNR(I). 

By 1951 the GNR(I) was in dire financial straights and, when threating the main Belfast - Dublin main line with closure, both Governments stepped in and created the Great Northern Railway Board in 1953. This, ostensibly, allowed the GNRB to make plans to modernise services especially with regards to the dieselisation of services. However, in 1956 the tensions between both Governments regarding rail policy became apparent when the Northern Ireland Government demanded that the GNRB close Omagh to Newtownbutler, Bundoran Junction to Belleek,
Portadown to Tynan and the Fintona branch. The Board and the Government of the Republic were opposed to these closures but they took place with bus replacement occurring on Tuesday, 1 October 1957. This left the connected services into the Republic stranded and so on Monday 14 October the Dundalk to Clones, Cavan to Glasslough and the Carrickmacross and Belturbet branches also closed; these two events effectively removed rail travel from the south western areas of Ulster and severed the "Derry Road" from Dublin.

This is the cover of the booklet from 14 October 1957, two weeks after the first round of closures "north of the Border" that saw the withdrawal of the remainders of the lines towards and in the Republic. By the following year, 1958, the GNRB had been dissolved and the various assets split between the UTA in the north and CIÉ in the south.

Taken on: April 22, 2025

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Mike Ashworth Collection

Ireland

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Monday 14 October 1957

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Sets appears in: • Ireland - both North & South • Railway publicity

Groups appears in: • Public Transportation • That Old Timey Feeling more » • Transport Timetables Leaflet and Ticket SCANS. • Public Transport Around the World • Transport in Ireland • European Buses , Trolleybuses and Tramways • Classic Transport • PLANET EARTH TRANSPORTATION • Bus/Rail Ireland Republic Coras Iompair Eireann • PLANET EARTH BACK IN THE DAY • Vintage Railway Publicity, pre-1980 • UK Railway Memorabilia • CIÉ - Córas Iompair Éireann « less

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