Coleraine–Portrush railway line

Coleraine to Portrush line
Dhu Varren station.
Overview
Type	Regional rail and Heavy rail
System	NI Railways
Status	Operational
Locale	Northern Ireland
Termini	Coleraine Portrush
Operation
Operator(s)	NI Railways
Character	Branch Line
Rolling stock	Class 450 Class 3000 "C3K"
Technical
No. of tracks	One
Track gauge	Irish gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	Un-electrified

Coleraine-Portrush Line
Legend Portrush Glenmanus Dhu Varren Portstewart University Belfast-Derry line to Derry Coleraine Belfast-Derry line to Belfast Central

The Coleraine-Portrush line is a short branch railway line in Northern Ireland between the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry and the seaside resort of Portrush in County Antrim. The line, which is operated by Northern Ireland Railways, now has two intermediate stopping places and connects to the main Belfast-Derry line at Coleraine.

Services

On weekdays (including Saturday) services run every hour between Coleraine and Portrush during off peak hours and during peak hours a few extra services start and end at Great Victoria Street in Belfast. On Sundays there is a reduced service running every two hours between Coleraine and Portrush.

The route has long been used by diesel multiple units and currently the weekday services are operated by the NIR 450 Class apart from through services to and from Belfast. On Weekends the newer NIR 3000 Class operate on the line as there is a spare set that fills in for the 450 Class set.

History

The line was built as part of the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway, authorised in 1853. The engineer was Charles Lanyon and the contractor and major sponsor of the line was William Dargan. It was opened in 1855. In 1860 a junction with the Derry line was made at Coleraine, leaving the line from there to the terminus at Portrush as a branch.^[1]

Winter services were suspended from 1960, but opening of the New University of Ulster near Coleraine saw them restored, together with the addition of new halts at University (1968) and Dhu Varren (1969), to cater for student travel.

The intermediate station for Portstewart (via the Portstewart Tramway) was located at Cromore and closed in 1964. It also reopened in 1968 but closed again in 1988.^[2]

References

1. ^ Currie, J. R. L. (1973). The Northern Counties Railway, vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5934-7. 
2. ^ Rowledge, J. W. P. (1995). A regional history of railways, vol. 16 – Ireland. Penryn: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-906899-63-X.