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Northern Ireland Road Transport Board 1935 to 1939 (by Shane Conway)

Last updated on 19 August 2024

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1935-1939 1940-1948

By the end of the 1920s road passenger and freight transport services in Northern Ireland were being provided by a large number of small companies, many of them family businesses established by returning ex service men from World War 1. Alongside these were the municipal trams of Belfast Corporation, the rail services provided by the Belfast and County Down Railway, Great Northern Railway and the Northern Counties Committee, and two larger bus operators, the Belfast Omnibus Company and H. M. S. Catherwood Ltd. Gradually the rail companies moved into the bus business too, and expansion in this area was made possible by the passing of the Railways (Road Vehicles) Act (NI) of May 1927. Six months earlier, in November 1926, the Motor Vehicles (Traffic and Regulation) Act (NI) had been introduced to control standards of vehicles and services, and from 1928 routes, vehicles, drivers and conductors had to be licensed, and bus stops and on street termini required authorisation.

During 1932, the three railway companies mentioned above made a formal request to the Belfast Government to create a monopoly covering road transport throughout Northern Ireland. The proposals contained in a report prepared by Sir Felix J. Pole, (who had previously been the manager of the Great Western Railway in England) regarding the integration of road and rail transport in Northern Ireland, were accepted by the Government, and this led to the Road and Railway Transport Act of July 1935. Exempt from this were Belfast Corporation, Clements of Belfast (who operated a joint service with the Corporation), freight operators trading solely within the city boundaries of Belfast and Derry, and those companies which operated cross-border services. The one exception to the latter was the Great Northern Railway, which surrendered only its routes north of the border, and the vehicles to service these. The remainder of the G. N. R. road transport business continued for a further 23 years until the company was absorbed by C. I. E.

On October 1st 1935, the new Northern Ireland Road Transport Board came into being and absorbed 434 buses and coaches from the three railway companies, the B. O. C., and Catherwoods. Of these 434 vehicles, 61 were withdrawn immediately and sold for scrap. The N. I. R. T. B. then commenced the takeover of other operators, from November 1935 to January 1936, this added 254 buses to the fleet, of which 103 were not used. For a more detailed insight into one of the smaller companies absorbed by the N. I. R. T. B, check out the Henry's Coastal Tours website.

A couple of later takeovers (in June 1936 and in 1938) added a further nine vehicles. Absorption of freight vehicles was more prolonged, with an estimated total of 1,650 vehicles, mainly acquired in 1937 and 1938. This combined fleet of 2,338 was quickly reduced, by introducing a building programme for new buses, by buying larger trucks, and by eliminating un-necessary duplication. By September 1939 the lorry fleet had been reduced to 1,130.

Almost as soon as the takeover of operators and vehicles had been completed, the Board commenced a building programme for new buses. By the end of 1939 a total of 195 vehicles had been placed in service, with orders going to Dennis, Leyland and AEC. Bodywork was supplied by English Electric, Cowieson, Harkness and Leyland. Of the 195 vehicles, 78 were Dennis Lancet, 59 were AEC (Regent and Regal) and the remaining 58 were Leyland Titans or Lions. All 25 of the 1939 built vehicles received bodywork built in the Board's new premises at Duncrue Street in Belfast.

Included in the vehicles acquired during 1935 and 1936 were several Leyland Tiger TS5s. So far as is known the model did not exist officially in Leyland's range, and it appears to be 1932 Leyland TS3s with chassis numbers in the TS4 series. At this stage the TS3 had already gone out of production. If anyone can throw any further light on the TS5, please do so.

Fleet list

Note: Unless stated otherwise, it can be assumed that the acquired vehicles were new to the operator from whom they were taken over. Where other previous owners are known, these are listed in italics after the date new. All photographs used on this page are official N. I. R. T. B. ones, and are reproduced from Colourpoint Books' Buses in Ulster volume 1, the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board, with permission of Norman Johnston.

1935

AZ 9171 was the only Dennis Lancet owned by the Belfast Omnibus Company, whose fleet at the time of the takeover comprised a total of 116 vehicles. This bus, new in June 1932, remained in service until 1944.

Seen travelling through the streets of Larne, Co. Antrim, is ex Northern Counties Committee M409 (CZ 4808), a 1934 Leyland Tiger TS6. Two others of this batch served with a Co. Cork operator into the early 1960s, one of which is now preserved.

The first double decker to be repainted by the N. I. R. T. B. was ex Catherwood, fleet number M423. The short-lived London Transport style logo can be seen on the side panels, this being dropped later as a result of complaints from L. T.

Also ex Catherwood is this 1934 Leyland TS6, one of six such buses purchased. Again it was the first single decker to be repainted by the N. I. R. T. B.

BZ 2458 was one of a pair of Dennis Lancets purchased by J. McCartney of Newtownards in 1934. The other bus was BZ 2459 and both had Service Motor Works bodies.

Michael McRitchie very kindly sent me this glorious picture from his collection.

Michael said "this was a 1927 Reo operated by Lawther Bros. of Carrowdore parked in Montgomery Street, Belfast. The picture came from Tom Lawther, whose family ran another service around the Ards peninsula on the east coast of County Down. Tom's father and mother met through her catching the bus in Carrowdore on her way to work in Newtownards. Northern Ireland Transport was nationalised in 1935, so Tom and his brother Dennis started a motor business and Tom became a well-known specialist in rally car preparation." HOWEVER - John Bennett emailed to say that this isn't a Reo at all - it's an Albion PMB28

Thanks very much to Michael for the fine photo, and John for the update.

1936

H460 was new in 1930 to Stewart, Belfast and it was the last Leyland Lion to remain in service, being withdrawn in 1948. The photo was taken at The Mall in Armagh close to the end of its working life.

Summary of dates and totals of vehicles taken over by the NIRTB between 1/10/1935 and 1/1/1936

Oct 1st 1935 Nov 1st 1935

 Nov 19th 1935 Dec 3rd 1935 Jan 1st 1936 Total
ADC 104 7 111
AEC 50 1 1 52
Commer 6 12 9 4 1 32
Daimler 7 3 10
Chevrolet 8 1 9
Bedford 2 5 9 1 17
Dennis 27 10 10 20 21 88
Leyland 157 20 3 4 20 204
Guy 12 2 3 2 19
Albion 52 3 1 56
Other 19 10 18 24 19 90
Total 434 54 59 65 76 688

From 1936 onwards the N. I. R. T. B. commenced a programme of fleet replacement. Fifteen double deckers, all lowbridge Leyland TD4s were included in the first batch.

1937

1938

The 1938 orders included ten Leyland Lion LT7s with locally built Harkness bodywork. All ten of these buses completed 17 years service.

1939

Deliveries of new buses in 1939 comprised just 25 vehicles from three manufacturers, but all were bodied by the operator in their new workshops at Duncrue Street. This Dennis Lancet (FZ 5372) was one such example.

Total fleet = 892 with one survivor (M402).

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