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British Transport Commission

February 16, 2024

The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the separate Ulster Transport Authority). Its general duty under the Transport Act 1947[9] was to provide an efficient, adequate, economical and properly integrated system of public inland transport and port facilities within Great Britain for passengers and goods, excluding transport by air.

British Transport Commission
Company typeStatutory corporation[i]
Founded1 January 1948; 76 years ago (1948-01-01)
Defunct1 January 1964; 60 years ago (1964-01-01)[ii]
FateDissolved
Successor

The BTC came into operation on 1 January 1948. Its first chairman was Lord Hurcomb, with Miles Beevor as Chief Secretary. Its main holdings were the networks and assets of the Big Four national regional railway companies: the Great Western Railway, London and North Eastern Railway, London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. It also took over 55 other railway undertakings, 19 canal undertakings and 246 road haulage firms, as well as the work of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was already publicly owned. The nationalisation package also included the fleets of 'private owner wagons', which industrial concerns had used to transport goods on the railway networks.

Organisation edit

The BTC was one of the largest industrial organisations in the world and it owned a vast number of transport-related assets. The assets owned at its creation included: 52,000 miles (84,000 km) of railway track, 1,260,000 freight and service railway vehicles, 40,000 passenger railway coaches, 20,148 locomotives, 93,000 road vehicles, 2,050 miles (3,300 km) of canals, 122 steamships, 54 hotels and 52,000 houses.[10] In March 1953, it had 877,000 staff.[10]

At first, the Commission did not directly operate transport services, which were the responsibility of the Commission's Executives. These bodies were separately appointed, and operated under what were termed 'schemes of delegation'. The Act provided for five Executives, covering Docks & Inland Waterways, Hotels, London Transport, Railways, and Road Transport.[11] The Railway Executive traded as "British Railways". In 1949, Road Transport was divided into separate Road Haulage and Road Passenger Executives, though the latter proved short-lived.

The Commission's extensive activities included:

  • British Transport Advertising sold space on premises and vehicles.
  • Buses: the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the BTC in September 1948, as did the Red and White Group in 1950. Midland General buses and trolleybuses were transferred by the British Electricity Authority. From the railway companies, the BTC also inherited non-controlling interests in many bus companies in the British Electric Traction Group. It also manufactured buses for its own use, through the subsidiaries Bristol Tramways (from 1955 Bristol Commercial Vehicles) and Eastern Coach Works. In London and the surrounding area, the BTC ran both the (red) London buses and the (green) country buses, including Green Line Coaches.
  • Docks: British Transport Docks (today known as Associated British Ports), comprising 32 ports taken over from the railway companies.
  • Films: the BTC had its own film production company, British Transport Films.
  • Hotels & Catering: the former railway hotels and catering departments initially came under the control of the Railway Executive, but on 1 July 1948 they were transferred to the Hotels Executive. Between 1953 and 1963, they operated as British Transport Hotel and Catering Services; and in 1963 it became the British Transport Hotels.
  • Museums: The BTC inherited the LNER's Railway Museum at York and appointed a Curator of Historical Relics to build up a national collection. Eventually, much of this collection was displayed at the Museum of British Transport at Clapham, south London. This closed in the early 1970s and was superseded by the National Railway Museum at York and the London Transport Museum (now in Covent Garden). The BTC also established the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum.
  • Police: the British Transport Commission Police (BTCP) – see British Transport Police for details and dates – was formed chiefly by the amalgamation of the various railway constabularies.
  • Railways: British Railways, including ancillary activities like engineering workshops, and London Underground. The former LMS lines in Northern Ireland (see Northern Counties Committee) were sold to the Ulster Transport Authority in 1949.
  • Road Haulage: the local road distribution networks of the pre-nationalisation rail companies, plus the removals company Pickfords, which the railways had owned jointly. To these were added numerous smaller independent concerns taken over at nationalisation, comprising all undertakings predominantly engaged in ordinary long-distance work for distances of 40 miles (64 km) or upwards. These networks were later re-organised as British Road Services (BRS).
  • Shipping: the former railway steamer services, primarily to France and Ireland and around the Scottish coast, and investments in Associated Humber Lines and the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company.
  • Tramways: the South London tramways of London Transport, all of which were abandoned by 5 July 1952.
  • Travel & Holidays: the travel agents Thomas Cook & Son.
  • Waterways: canals and navigable rivers, mainly taken over from canal companies, like the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company and Fellows Morton & Clayton, but also including those bought out earlier by the pre-nationalisation railways. The Caledonian Canal was already state-owned. The canals are today run by the Canal and River Trust and Scottish Canals. As well as the canal infrastructure, BTC also managed canal carrying services.

The Commission was permitted to "secure the provision" of road passenger services, although it did not have the general powers of compulsory purchase of bus operators. To obtain specific powers of acquisition it had first to draw up, and get approval for, a 'Road Scheme', area by area. Only one was published, the North East Area Road Scheme, though work began on a second scheme, covering East Anglia. The NEARS was never confirmed, as it was fiercely opposed by private and municipal operators.

The quasi-federal structure of Commission and Executives proved to be an obstacle to integration and was largely abolished by the Conservative government with effect from 1 October 1953 (the London Transport Executive alone survived). On 1 January 1955, the railways were re-organised on the basis of six Area Railway Boards, which had a wide measure of operational autonomy under the Commission's overall supervision. The Commission took direct charge of the remaining assets, though these were significantly reduced by the Conservatives de-nationalising much of the road haulage sector. On 1 January 1955, separate managements were also set up for road haulage, hotels, docks and inland waterways.

Abolition edit

By the late 1950s the BTC was in serious financial difficulties, largely due to the economic performance of the railways. It was criticised as an overly bureaucratic system of administering transport services and had failed to develop an integrated transport system (such as integrated ticketing and timetabling). It was abolished by Harold Macmillan's Conservative government under the Transport Act 1962 and replaced by five successor bodies:[12]

These changes took effect on 1 January 1963.[ii] Notwithstanding the abolition of the BTC, the British Transport Police continues to exist, and the BTC heraldic shield is still displayed on the force's badge.

Chairmen edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The British Transport Commission was created by the Transport Act 1947 (i.e. a statute),[1] which provided that it was "body corporate with perpetual succession".[2]
  2. ^ a b Section 80 of the Transport Act 1962 provide that the British Transport Commission was to be dissolved on the "vesting date", which was defined as 1 January 1963 by paragraph 1 of the Transport Act 1962 (Vesting Date) Order 1962,[3] unless it appeared to the Minister of Transport that more time was required to effect the transfer of property and rights to its successor entities.[4] To give more time to effect the transfer of property and rights belonging to the British Transport Commission outside Great Britain to its successor entities, the dissolution date was postponed four times by statutory instrument to 1 April 1963,[5] 1 July 1963,[6] 1 October 1963,[7] and finally to 1 January 1964,[8] the date on which it was dissolved.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Transport Act 1947, section 1(1) (as originally enacted). Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 November 2022.
  2. ^ Transport Act 1947, section 1(9) and the First Schedule. Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 November 2022.
  3. ^ The Transport Act 1962 (Vesting Date) Order 1962, paragraph 1. Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 3 November 2022.
  4. ^ The Transport Act 1962, section 80 (as originally enacted). Available from legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 7 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation) Order 1962". The London Gazette. No. 42867. 25 December 1962. pp. 10075–10076.
  6. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 2) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 42955. 29 March 1963. p. 2835.
  7. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 3) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 43045. 2 July 1963. p. 5653.
  8. ^ "Ministry of Transport: The British Transport Commission (Continuation No. 4) Order 1963". The London Gazette. No. 43111. 20 September 1963. p. 7752.
  9. ^ "Transport Act, 1947" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  10. ^ a b Directory of Railway Officials & Year Book 1956-1957. London: Tothill Press Limited. 1956. p. 34.
  11. ^ Wragg, David (2009). The Historical Dictionary of Railways in the British Isles. London: Wharncliffe Publishing. p. 264. ISBN 978-1844680474.
  12. ^ "Transport Act 1962" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2017.

February 16, 2024
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources British Transport Commission news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The British Transport Commission BTC was created by Clement Attlee s post war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme to oversee railways canals and road freight transport in Great Britain Northern Ireland had the separate Ulster Transport Authority Its general duty under the Transport Act 1947 9 was to provide an efficient adequate economical and properly integrated system of public inland transport and port facilities within Great Britain for passengers and goods excluding transport by air British Transport CommissionCompany typeStatutory corporation i Founded1 January 1948 76 years ago 1948 01 01 Defunct1 January 1964 60 years ago 1964 01 01 ii FateDissolvedSuccessorBritish Railways BoardBritish Transport Docks BoardBritish Waterways BoardLondon Transport BoardTransport Holding CompanyThe BTC came into operation on 1 January 1948 Its first chairman was Lord Hurcomb with Miles Beevor as Chief Secretary Its main holdings were the networks and assets of the Big Four national regional railway companies the Great Western Railway London and North Eastern Railway London Midland and Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway It also took over 55 other railway undertakings 19 canal undertakings and 246 road haulage firms as well as the work of the London Passenger Transport Board which was already publicly owned The nationalisation package also included the fleets of private owner wagons which industrial concerns had used to transport goods on the railway networks Contents 1 Organisation 2 Abolition 3 Chairmen 4 Notes 5 See also 6 ReferencesOrganisation editThe BTC was one of the largest industrial organisations in the world and it owned a vast number of transport related assets The assets owned at its creation included 52 000 miles 84 000 km of railway track 1 260 000 freight and service railway vehicles 40 000 passenger railway coaches 20 148 locomotives 93 000 road vehicles 2 050 miles 3 300 km of canals 122 steamships 54 hotels and 52 000 houses 10 In March 1953 it had 877 000 staff 10 At first the Commission did not directly operate transport services which were the responsibility of the Commission s Executives These bodies were separately appointed and operated under what were termed schemes of delegation The Act provided for five Executives covering Docks amp Inland Waterways Hotels London Transport Railways and Road Transport 11 The Railway Executive traded as British Railways In 1949 Road Transport was divided into separate Road Haulage and Road Passenger Executives though the latter proved short lived The Commission s extensive activities included British Transport Advertising sold space on premises and vehicles Buses the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the BTC in September 1948 as did the Red and White Group in 1950 Midland General buses and trolleybuses were transferred by the British Electricity Authority From the railway companies the BTC also inherited non controlling interests in many bus companies in the British Electric Traction Group It also manufactured buses for its own use through the subsidiaries Bristol Tramways from 1955 Bristol Commercial Vehicles and Eastern Coach Works In London and the surrounding area the BTC ran both the red London buses and the green country buses including Green Line Coaches Docks British Transport Docks today known as Associated British Ports comprising 32 ports taken over from the railway companies Films the BTC had its own film production company British Transport Films Hotels amp Catering the former railway hotels and catering departments initially came under the control of the Railway Executive but on 1 July 1948 they were transferred to the Hotels Executive Between 1953 and 1963 they operated as British Transport Hotel and Catering Services and in 1963 it became the British Transport Hotels Museums The BTC inherited the LNER s Railway Museum at York and appointed a Curator of Historical Relics to build up a national collection Eventually much of this collection was displayed at the Museum of British Transport at Clapham south London This closed in the early 1970s and was superseded by the National Railway Museum at York and the London Transport Museum now in Covent Garden The BTC also established the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum Police the British Transport Commission Police BTCP see British Transport Police for details and dates was formed chiefly by the amalgamation of the various railway constabularies Railways British Railways including ancillary activities like engineering workshops and London Underground The former LMS lines in Northern Ireland see Northern Counties Committee were sold to the Ulster Transport Authority in 1949 Road Haulage the local road distribution networks of the pre nationalisation rail companies plus the removals company Pickfords which the railways had owned jointly To these were added numerous smaller independent concerns taken over at nationalisation comprising all undertakings predominantly engaged in ordinary long distance work for distances of 40 miles 64 km or upwards These networks were later re organised as British Road Services BRS Shipping the former railway steamer services primarily to France and Ireland and around the Scottish coast and investments in Associated Humber Lines and the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company Tramways the South London tramways of London Transport all of which were abandoned by 5 July 1952 Travel amp Holidays the travel agents Thomas Cook amp Son Waterways canals and navigable rivers mainly taken over from canal companies like the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company and Fellows Morton amp Clayton but also including those bought out earlier by the pre nationalisation railways The Caledonian Canal was already state owned The canals are today run by the Canal and River Trust and Scottish Canals As well as the canal infrastructure BTC also managed canal carrying services The Commission was permitted to secure the provision of road passenger services although it did not have the general powers of compulsory purchase of bus operators To obtain specific powers of acquisition it had first to draw up and get approval for a Road Scheme area by area Only one was published the North East Area Road Scheme though work began on a second scheme covering East Anglia The NEARS was never confirmed as it was fiercely opposed by private and municipal operators The quasi federal structure of Commission and Executives proved to be an obstacle to integration and was largely abolished by the Conservative government with effect from 1 October 1953 the London Transport Executive alone survived On 1 January 1955 the railways were re organised on the basis of six Area Railway Boards which had a wide measure of operational autonomy under the Commission s overall supervision The Commission took direct charge of the remaining assets though these were significantly reduced by the Conservatives de nationalising much of the road haulage sector On 1 January 1955 separate managements were also set up for road haulage hotels docks and inland waterways Abolition editBy the late 1950s the BTC was in serious financial difficulties largely due to the economic performance of the railways It was criticised as an overly bureaucratic system of administering transport services and had failed to develop an integrated transport system such as integrated ticketing and timetabling It was abolished by Harold Macmillan s Conservative government under the Transport Act 1962 and replaced by five successor bodies 12 British Railways Board railways hotels and some shipping British Transport Docks Board docks British Waterways Board inland waterways London Transport Board London buses and the London Underground Transport Holding Company remaining interests in shipping travel and road transport These changes took effect on 1 January 1963 ii Notwithstanding the abolition of the BTC the British Transport Police continues to exist and the BTC heraldic shield is still displayed on the force s badge Chairmen edit1947 1953 Sir Cyril Hurcomb 1953 1961 Gen Sir Brian Robertson Bt 1961 1965 Dr Richard BeechingNotes edit The British Transport Commission was created by the Transport Act 1947 i e a statute 1 which provided that it was body corporate with perpetual succession 2 a b Section 80 of the Transport Act 1962 provide that the British Transport Commission was to be dissolved on the vesting date which was defined as 1 January 1963 by paragraph 1 of the Transport Act 1962 Vesting Date Order 1962 3 unless it appeared to the Minister of Transport that more time was required to effect the transfer of property and rights to its successor entities 4 To give more time to effect the transfer of property and rights belonging to the British Transport Commission outside Great Britain to its successor entities the dissolution date was postponed four times by statutory instrument to 1 April 1963 5 1 July 1963 6 1 October 1963 7 and finally to 1 January 1964 8 the date on which it was dissolved See also edit nbsp United Kingdom portal nbsp Transport portalCanals of the United Kingdom History of the British canal system Independent Transport CommissionReferences edit Transport Act 1947 section 1 1 as originally enacted Available from legislation gov uk Accessed 5 November 2022 Transport Act 1947 section 1 9 and the First Schedule Available from legislation gov uk Accessed 5 November 2022 The Transport Act 1962 Vesting Date Order 1962 paragraph 1 Available from legislation gov uk Accessed 3 November 2022 The Transport Act 1962 section 80 as originally enacted Available from legislation gov uk Accessed 7 November 2022 Ministry of Transport The British Transport Commission Continuation Order 1962 The London Gazette No 42867 25 December 1962 pp 10075 10076 Ministry of Transport The British Transport Commission Continuation No 2 Order 1963 The London Gazette No 42955 29 March 1963 p 2835 Ministry of Transport The British Transport Commission Continuation No 3 Order 1963 The London Gazette No 43045 2 July 1963 p 5653 Ministry of Transport The British Transport Commission Continuation No 4 Order 1963 The London Gazette No 43111 20 September 1963 p 7752 Transport Act 1947 PDF legislation gov uk Retrieved 10 May 2017 a b Directory of Railway Officials amp Year Book 1956 1957 London Tothill Press Limited 1956 p 34 Wragg David 2009 The Historical Dictionary of Railways in the British Isles London Wharncliffe Publishing p 264 ISBN 978 1844680474 Transport Act 1962 PDF legislation gov uk Retrieved 10 May 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title British Transport Commission amp oldid 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