Aldergrove railway station is a former

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

which served the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Aldergrove in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It was south of Antrim, near

RAF Aldergrove Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove or more simply JHC FS Aldergrove is located south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Alde ...

and Belfast International Airport.

History

The station was opened in 1871 by the

Dublin and Antrim Junction Railway Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

, which in 1879 became part of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). In 1958 it passed to the

Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRT ...

, which withdrew passenger services from the line and closed the station in 1960.

Proposals

As of 2014, it was proposed that Aldergrove railway station could be reopened to serve Belfast International Airport. As the Lisburn–Antrim railway line is closed, plans for a station to serve the airport (a few hundred yards away) are aspirational. The Department for Regional Development Railway Investment Prioritisation Strategy stated in 2014 that a "re-opened Antrim to Knockmore/Lisburn line could also present an opportunity to establish a rail link to Belfast International Airport (BIA), although such investment is less likely to be economically viable until airport passengers grow to at least 10 million. Passenger throughput in 2013 was just 4 million. Given the important role of BIA as a gateway into Northern Ireland for tourism and inward investment, a feasibility study should be undertaken to consider investment in a rail link if passenger numbers grow towards 10 million by 2030 as predicted by the airport operator." By 2019, passenger numbers had grown to 6,278,563.CAA Annual Airport Data 2019 - Table 09 - Terminal and Transit Passengers
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References

* * Disused railway stations in County Antrim Railway stations opened in 1871 Railway stations closed in 1960 1871 establishments in Ireland 1960 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in the 19th century {{NorthernIreland-railstation-stub