when the Portstewart Tramway ceased operating on 31 January 1926 due to continuing losses, deferred maintenance and obsolete equipment. The NCC sponsored a replacement bus service. York Road station, Belfast was resignalled with colour light signalling. The installation, which was brought into use in 1926, was the first of its kind in Ireland and among the earliest large installations in the United Kingdom. During the 1920s, the railways began to face increasing competition from road transport operators. The NCC responded by taking over competing bus services and running its own bus network. Statistics – 1932 In 1932 the Committee owned 73 locomotives, of which 14 were tank engines; 190 passenger carriages; 150 other coaching vehicles and 2389 goods vehicles. The company's locomotives ran a total of 1 941 407 engine miles of which 1 213 336 were loaded train miles. Carried 2 682 291 passengers; 99 053 head of livestock and 549 087 tons of goods traffic. The Committee owned 115 buses and 36 goods and parcels road vehicles. The Committee owned the Midland Station Hotel, Belfast; Northern Counties Hotel, Portrush; and the Laharna Hotel, Larne All details in this section are from London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (Northern Counties Committee) Financial Accounts and Statistical Returns. Year 1932. Developments in the 1930s Although the NCC had dealt with the issue of competing passenger road transport by running its own bus services, competition from unregistered road freight operators remained a problem. A number of innovations were introduced during the 1930s with the intention of bringing about greater economies or improving services to retain existing customers and attract new ones. On the single line sections of the Main Line north-west of Ballymena and on the Larne Line north of Whitehead, crossing loops were relaid in the 1930s to provide one completely straight or "fast" line to allow the passage of express trains at high speed in both directions. Greenisland Loop Line It had long been recognised that the need for Main Line trains to reverse at Greenisland was undesirable. Various plans for a direct line bypassing Greenisland had been proposed over the years but the engineering problems faced by having to cross Valentine's Glen near Whiteabbey and surmount Mossley Col had precluded these. However, construction started on such a scheme on 1 January 1931. This involved creating a new junction at Bleach Green where the Larne and Loop Lines diverged. The