NI Railways on track for service changes

NIR train on the Bangor lineTranslink

Passengers took 15.8m train journeys in Northern Ireland last year

There will be more peak-time trains and extra Saturday night services under changes being made by Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) from Sunday 8 December.

NIR hopes to address increased demand from commuters and weekend revellers.

Last year, passengers took 15.8m journeys on Translink NI Railways, an increase of 6% on the previous year and the highest in its 50-year history.

The new timetables are available on the Translink website and the journey planner app.

Here are more details on the changes:

Larne Line

Translink

  • Additional peak morning trains are being introduced to Belfast, leaving Whitehead at 06:45 and Carrickfergus at 07:20

  • The 06:30 service from Whitehead will now start from Larne Harbour at 06:05 (Monday-Friday)

  • A new night-time service is being introduced on the Belfast-to-Larne Harbour Line each Monday to Saturday at 22:15

Bangor Line

Translink

  • A new Bangor-Belfast service departs Bangor at 06:57, calling at all stops to Lanyon Place

  • The 06:45 departure to Portadown is being replaced by the 06:51 Bangor to Great Victoria St service.

  • There are two new additional evening commuter "express" services departing Lanyon Place at 18:30 and 18:50

  • A new "all-stops" service from Lanyon Place to Bangor at 18:35 replaces the previous through-service from Portadown (ie which left Lanyon Place at 18:42)

Portadown Line

  • The 06:20 weekday departure from Portadown will continue through to Derry-Londonderry, serving University of Ulster students at Coleraine and Magee campuses

  • The 06:40 Portadown-to-Great Victoria St service will run as an "express" from Lisburn (Monday-Friday)

  • A new 07.06 Lisburn to Great Victoria St service will stop at each station

  • The 18.21 service from Great Victoria St station will now terminate at Portadown (Monday-Friday)

  • Saturday services: there will be a new 22.22 service from Lanyon Place to Newry. The 22:11 departure from Great Victoria St will terminate at Lisburn A 21.22 departure from Belfast, Lanyon Place, will operate to Lisburn, Moira, Lurgan and Portadown

Derry-Londonderry Line

The new North West Transport Hub at Londonderry's old railway station opened in October

  • Weekend services will be operated by six-carriage trains, increasing passenger capacity

  • The 05:50 service from Coleraine to Belfast will terminate at Lanyon Place station

More on this story