NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of two publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the other being Direct Rail Services. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro (formerly Citybus). The rail network in Northern Ireland is not part of the National Rail network of Great Britain,
Image details
Contributor:
Paul McErlane / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
MPA5PWFile size:
63.3 MB (1.4 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
5760 x 3840 px | 48.8 x 32.5 cm | 19.2 x 12.8 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
21 May 2018Location:
Belfast, UKMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of two publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the other being Direct Rail Services. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro (formerly Citybus). The rail network in Northern Ireland is not part of the National Rail network of Great Britain, nor does it use Standard Gauge; instead using Irish Gauge in common with the rest of the island of Ireland. Also, NIR is the only commercial non-heritage passenger operator in the United Kingdom to operate a vertical integration model, with responsibility of all aspects of the network including running trains, maintaining rolling stock and infrastructure, and pricing. NIR jointly runs the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin with Iarnród Éireann. There is no link to the rail system in Great Britain, although proposals have been made, though allowances would have to be made for the different rail gauge (standard gauge) in use in Britain and Ireland (Irish gauge). From the early 20th century until 1948, the three main railway companies in Northern Ireland were the Great Northern Railway Ireland (GNRI), which had around one half of its network north of the border; the Northern Counties Committee (NCC), owned by the Midland Railway of England and later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); and the small Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR). The Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1948 created the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA), which took over the BCDR later that year, followed by the NCC in 1949. In 1958, the GNRI was dissolved and its lines north of the border were also taken over by the UTA. Under the UTA's management, the railway network of Northern I