The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo) is a government-owned body which was established in 1967 to take over the railway and bus services of the Ulster Transport Authority

Ulster Transport Authority

The Ulster Transport Authority ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966.-Formation and consolidation:The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board and the Belfast and County Down Railway...

 (UTA), namely Northern Ireland Railways

Northern Ireland Railways

NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period of time, Ulster Transport Railways , is the railway operator in Northern Ireland...

 (NIR) and Ulsterbus

Ulsterbus

Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink , which also includes Northern Ireland Railways, Metro Belfast and Flexibus.-Services:Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the province-wide bus...

. The company was established by the Transport Act (NI) 1967.

In 1973, Citybus took over the bus services of the Belfast Corporation

Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

 Transport Department.

Between 1971 and 1994, NITHCo ran Belfast International Airport

Belfast International Airport

Belfast International Airport is a major airport located northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was formerly known and is still referred to as Aldergrove Airport, after the village of the same name lying immediately to the west of the airport. Belfast International shares its runways with...

 through its subsidiary Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 Airports Limited (NIAL). In 1994, the government created Belfast International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which was sold to Belfast International Airport Holdings Ltd, a management/employee buy-out vehicle.

In 1996, the Translink

Translink (Northern Ireland)

Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink....

brand name was created to integrate the services of Ulsterbus, NIR, and Citybus.