Belfast-Newry railway line

The Belfast–Newry railway line operates from Belfast Central railway station in County Antrim to Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland. The manager for this line is based at Portadown railway station, although the line extends to the border to include the Scarva and Poyntzpass halts and Newry. Newry is on the fringe of the network, being the last stop before the border with the Republic of Ireland. The line follows the route of the northern half of the Belfast-Dublin Main Line, with the exception of calling at Belfast Great Victoria Street.

Northern Ireland Railways operates an intensive local service on this line between Belfast and Lisburn, with other services operating to and from Portadown. Local services are operated with C3K trains, constructed by CAF, Spain. A less intensive local service operates from Newry, with only four local services a day operating from there.

The station does, however, adequately meet passenger demand as a calling point on the popular Enterprise express service, which operates between Belfast Central and Dublin Connolly. These trains call at Newry and Portadown stations at two hour intervals throughout the day. The Enterprise also serves Lurgan, Lisburn and Botanic at scheduled frequencies on Sundays. This service is operated in partnerhip with Iarnród Éireann .

Translink announced in March 2006 that planning permission was sought from Newry and Mourne District Council to construct a new railway station to the east of the existing station at Newry. Platform improvement and extension is proposed, as are replacement canopies, a track maintenance building and a new 'Park and Ride' facility. Alongside this, a major upgrade is currently taking place to refurbish all the stations on this line with the exception of Bangor, Central and Great Victoria Street. This project is estimated to cost £7 million

External links

* [http://www.nirailways.co.uk/NIRailwaysPortadownLine.asp Northern Ireland Railways page on Belfast-Newry line]
* [http://www.nirailways.co.uk/NIRailwaysCrossBorderLine.asp Northern Ireland Railways page on Cross Border (Enterprise) line]
* [http://www.translink.co.uk/enterpriseservices.asp Northern Ireland Railways page on the Enterprise Service to Dublin Connolly]