Portadown railway station

Portadown
Location	Portadown Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°25′30″N 6°26′46″W / 54.425°N 6.446°WCoordinates: 54°25′30″N 6°26′46″W / 54.425°N 6.446°W
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Platforms	3
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1842	Opened
1848	Moved to present location
1863	Returned to original location
1970	Returned to present location
2013	Refurbished
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Portadown Railway Station serves Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

History

The station, circa 1879.

The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, replacing a temporary station at Seagoe that had opened the preceding year. The Portadown station was moved to the present location in 1848 then reverted to its original site between 1863 and 1970. Goods traffic ceased on 4 January 1965.^[1] The present station opened in 1970, replacing a large and largely redundant station.

At the time (1970) the station was called Portadown - Craigavon West, a title that was quietly dropped after the "new city" Craigavon failed to materialise. The layout of the 1970 station was modified in 1997 to allow bi-directional working on all three platforms. The lines to Cavan via Armagh (closed 1957), and Derry via Dungannon and Omagh (closed 1965) diverged immediately west of the present station.^[2]

Portadown station in 1972.

A C3K at Portadown

In 2012, work began on a major refurbishment of the station. A new, modern building was constructed and a footbridge replaced the subway. The refurbishment was completed in 2013.

Lay-out

The station has three platforms. After the station upgrade being completed in late May 2013 both platform 1,2 and 3 have lifts and have disability access. Platform 3 is usually used for storage of a train but one departs from this platform the odd time

Service

This is the terminus for most services from Bangor or Belfast but there are 4 services which continue to Newry Mondays to Saturdays only. There is a half-hourly service to Great Victoria Street, Belfast Central and Bangor. There is also a two hourly Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly or Belfast Central.

On Sundays there is an hourly service to Bangor and no NIR services at all to Newry, although five Enterprise services still operate between these two stations.

This line can be popular with rugby fans connecting at Dublin Connolly for the DART to Lansdowne Road. The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to Dún Laoghaire for example or travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish Ferries or Stena Line to Holyhead, and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.

Future link to Armagh City

There is a possibility of re-opening of the line from Portadown to Armagh railway station.^[3] Government Minister for the Department for Regional Development, Danny Kennedy MLA indicates railway restoration plans.^[4]

The Armagh railway line has been listed in proposed plans to reopen the line.^[5]

Bus connections

Ulsterbus services operating from Portadown railway station:

• 47-Portadown-Lurgan
• 63-Newry-Portadown
• 75-Dungannon-Portadown
• 75A-Dungannon-Craigavon
• 61-Armagh-Portadown

References

1. "Portadown" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
2. Allen, Jonathan M (2003). 35 Years of N.I.R.: 1967 to 2002. Colourpoint Books.
3. The Ulster Gazette. 16 May 2013
4. "Kennedy has hopes for Armagh line restoration - Portadown Times". Retrieved 2013-08-21.
5. "New lines proposed in Northern Ireland rail plan". railjournal.com. 3 May 2014.

External links

• Photo of a train and platform at the station