The Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway was an

Irish gauge Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Australia, Brazil and Ireland. History 600 BC :The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved pave ...

() railway in Ireland linking

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

with

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road (Northern Ireland), A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, c ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. It was built in the 19th century. The line between Knockmore and Banbridge was closed in 1956.

History

The Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway (BLB) through Dromore opened in 1863. Its line was a branch that joined the

Ulster Railway The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). History The Ulster Railway was auth ...

main line Knockmore Junction, giving Dromore a direct link to and . In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the new Great Northern Railway, which took over the BLB company in 1877. In 1953 the railway was nationalised as the GNR Board, which closed the line through Dromore on 29 April 1956. The main engineering feature on the line was

Dromore Viaduct The Dromore Viaduct is an abandoned railway viaduct in Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland. Design The viaduct crosses the River Lagan. It is roughly 101m long and 6m wide, having been built to carry only a single track. The viaduct consist ...

Gallery

File:Dromore Bypass June 2011.jpg, Dromore Bypass June 2011. The disused viaduct of the BLB can be seen on the left File:Dromore Station (2).jpeg, The remnants of the platform at Dromore Station on the Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway Closed railways in Ireland Railway lines opened in 1863 Closed railways in Northern Ireland Transport in Belfast Transport in County Down Defunct railway companies of Ireland Irish gauge railways Railway lines closed in 1956 1863 establishments in Ireland 1956 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Defunct transport companies of Northern Ireland