Lisburn railway station

Lisburn
InterCity Rail & Commuter Rail
Lisburn Station entrance on 7 July, 2007
General information
Location	Lisburn Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54.514054°N 6.045811°W / 54.514054; -6.045811
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Line(s)	Newry/Portadown (1) Dublin-Belfast Mainline
Platforms	3
Tracks	4
Train operators	NI Railways, Iarnród Éireann
Bus routes	23a 51a 103 103b 109 109a 325a 325c 325d 325i 325j 325k 523 525 538 551 551a
Bus stands	1
Bus operators	Ulsterbus
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1839	Opened
Passengers
2022/23	1.069 million
2023/24	1.307 million
NI Railways Translink NI railway stations
Location Lisburn Location within Northern Ireland

Lisburn railway station serves the city of Lisburn in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

History

The station in 1974

The station was opened on 12 August 1839 by the Ulster Railway. The station buildings were rebuilt in 1878 to designed by William Henry Mills, for the then newly formed Great Northern Railway of Ireland (GNRI).

On Wednesday 20 December 1978, there was a fatal collision between two trains. The fire brigade attended and cut out the person killed from the wreckage. Several other people were treated for minor injuries and shock.

Northern Ireland Digital Film Archive

The Northern Ireland Digital Film Archive holds a black and white film clip. It was made in 1897 and was filmed from a moving train going through Lisburn Railway Station from Belfast to Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), Dublin. The station's name can be seen and in addition, the view includes the platform, train carriages, station buildings and large houses along the length of North Circular Road, Lisburn.

Current building

Lisburn Station platform sign

It has been renovated, with a new waiting area on platform 1, new toilets and vending machines. In addition, on platforms 2 and 3, a coffee shop operates on weekday mornings, to accommodate commuters travelling towards Belfast. To make the station more accessible, lifts have been installed on each platform.

Station House

There is a station house built in Great Northern Railway of Ireland (GNR) style. It is now in private ownership.

Services

A NIR Class 3000 'C3K' departs Lisburn

Train Services

The line between Lisburn and Belfast Lanyon Place is temporarily closed due to the Belfast Grand Central enabling works.

Mondays to Saturdays, there is a half-hourly service towards Portadown or Newry in one direction, and to Botanic, Lanyon Place or Bangor in the other. Extra services run at peak times and reduce to hourly operation in the evenings.

Only one Enterprise service call at the station, the Sunday 09:13 to Dublin Connolly.

Certain peak-time trains also run as expresses between here and Belfast Lanyon Place.

On Sundays, there is an hourly NIR service in each direction.

Bus Services

Buses depart from the road outside the station entrance. This stop is served by Ulsterbus, which provides routes to locations such as Belfast, Lisburn City Centre, and Derriaghy.

Additionally, there is currently a bus service from this stop to Great Victoria Street, serving stations along the line from Lisburn to Belfast Lanyon Place, due to the Belfast Grand Central enabling works.

Enterprise connections

The Enterprise 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.

Former services

Until 2003, Lisburn was also a stop on the Belfast-Derry railway line. However, in 2001, the Bleach Green route (via Mossley and Templepatrick) was re-opened, after being closed in 1978. This provided a faster route for Derry~Londonderry Line trains than the Lisburn-Antrim line. A skeleton service was operated on this line until 2003 when passenger services were withdrawn. The other reason the line was cut was because of the congestion on the route, which caused considerable problems with the Enterprise Service for over 20 years. The line itself is still maintained for rolling stock transfers and emergency diversions.

Passengers now wishing to travel to destinations on the Derry~Londonderry Line can no longer travel directly from Lisburn station and must travel to Great Victoria Street to change trains.

Former lines

The Ulster Railway brought trains from Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station to Portadown and Armagh railway station in Armagh. Later the Great Northern Railway of Ireland had a much more extensive system with trains to Omagh, Enniskillen, Bundoran, Strabane and Derry being linked, which in the 1950s and 1960s was closed west of Portadown.

Future lines

The Northern Ireland Executive 2015 Review

There is a possibility of reopening the line to Antrim and possible reopening of the line from Portadown to Armagh railway station in Armagh. The Armagh Line has been listed in proposed plans to reopen the line.

All Island Rail Review

The all-island rail review draft suggested that Portadown become a major interchange between the current Dublin-Belfast Main line, proposed lines such as the single tracked Mullingar-Portadown Line via Armagh, Monaghan, Clones, and Cavan and the dual tracked Derry~Londonderry-Portadown Line via Dungannon, Omagh and Strabane. Portadown would also become an inland freight terminal serving connections to Rosslare Europort, Dublin Port and Larne Harbour.

The All-Island Rail Review draft also includes 29 other recommendations for railways across the Island of Ireland and it is said that it will take a least 25 years to competed. It would cost in the range of €36.8bn/£30.7bn (as of 2023) and be split between both regions. 75% by the Republic of Ireland and 25% by Northern Ireland.

No plans as of May 2024, have gone about implementing this review.

See also

• Lisburn West railway station

External links

• Digital Film Archive – Official web site, provided by Northern Ireland Screen.