Editing Ulster Transport Authority (section)

==Branch railway closures==
In January 1950 the UTA closed almost the entire BCDR network except the [[Belfast–Bangor line|Bangor]] branch line.{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=207}}{{sfn|Hajducki|1974|page=39}} In the same year it closed the {{rws|Macfin}} – {{rws|Kilrea}} section of the former NCC's [[Derry Central Railway]] and the freight-only branches to [[Draperstown Railway|Draperstown]] and from [[Limavady Railway|Limavady to Dungiven]].{{sfn|Hajducki|1974|page=39}} It also withdrew passenger services from the former NCC branch lines to [[Cookstown railway station (NCC)|Cookstown]], Limavady and the {{rws|Magherafelt}} – Kilrea section of the Derry Central.{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=207}} That summer it also closed Northern Ireland's last {{RailGauge|3ft|lk=on}} narrow gauge lines: the [[Ballycastle Railway]] and the [[Ballymena and Larne Railway]].{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=207}}

In 1954 seven [[UTA MED|6-coach diesel units]] were put on the Belfast-Bangor line, making it the first completely dieselised passenger service in Ireland.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=The Railway Magazine |date=June 1954 |page=409 |editor-first=B.W.C. |editor-last=Cooke |publisher=Tothill Press |location=Westminster |number=638 |volume=100 |title=Diesel Progress in Ireland }}</ref>

In 1955 the UTA closed the (by then freight-only) branches to Cookstown and Limavady, and the line between [[Castlewellan]] and [[Newcastle, County Down]] (which was still worked by the GNR).{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=207}}

In 1957 the Northern Ireland Government made the [[Great Northern Railway (Ireland)|Great Northern Railway Board]] close much of its network in the province.{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=207}} This left no railways in many rural areas, including the whole of [[County Fermanagh]].{{sfn|Hajducki|1974|page=39}} By 1958 the GNR main line was the only remaining railway across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In that year what was left of the GNRB was dissolved and split between [[CIÉ|Córas Iompair Éireann]] (the [[Republic of Ireland]]'s nationalised transport company) and the UTA.

In 1959 the UTA closed the (by then freight only) remaining Magherafelt – Kilrea section of the Derry Central and the former GNR (by then freight only) branch from {{rws|Dungannon}} to Cookstown north of {{rws|Coalisland}}.{{sfn|Hajducki|1974|page=39}} The UTA also took over the [[Londonderry Port|Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners]]' [[dual gauge]] railway that linked [[Derry]]'s four railway termini, and in 1962 the UTA closed this railway as well.{{sfn|Baker|1972|page=209}}