 the transport act 1947 (c. 49) is an act of the parliament of the united kingdom. under it the railways, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were acquired by the state and handed over to a new british transport commission for operation. the commission was responsible to the ministry of transport for general transport policy, which it exercised principally through financial control of a number of executives set up to manage specified sections of the industry under schemes of delegation. ==overview== the act was part of the nationalisation agenda of clement attlee's labour government, and took effect from 1 january 1948. in northern ireland, the ulster transport authority acted in a similar manner. the government also nationalised other means of transport such as canals, sea and shipping ports, bus companies, and eventually, in the face of much opposition, road haulage. all of these transport modes, including british railways, were brought under the control of a new body, the british transport commission (btc). the btc was a part of a highly ambitious scheme to create a publicly owned, centrally planned, integrated transport system. in theory the btc was to co-ordinate different modes of transport, to co-operate and supplement each other instead of competing. this was to be achieved by means of fare and rate adjustments. in practice, very little integration between modes ever materialised. section 5 of the act provided for the setting up of a number of executives within the btc: the railway executive; the docks and inland waterways executive; the road transport executive; and the london transport executive were to be created immediately, with the hotels executive to be set up at a later
Former_nationalised_industries_of_the_United_Kingdom Nationalisation_in_the_United_Kingdom Railway_Acts Transport_policy_in_the_United_Kingdom United_Kingdom_Acts_of_Parliament_1947