Templepatrick railway station served the village of

Templepatrick Templepatrick (; ) is a village and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim. It is also close to Belfas ...

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 ...

on the Belfast-Derry railway line.

History

The station was opened in 1848 as part of the Belfast & Ballymena Railway, which would ultimately become part of the

Northern Counties Committee The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened to ...

group of lines owned by the LMS. Following the nationalisation of the railways, traffic on the line was reduced until eventually the route between Belfast and Londonderry was diverted via the Lisburn-Antrim railway line, with the stations on the old route, including Templepatrick, closed. Templepatrick was closed in 1981.

Proposals

In 1994,

Northern Ireland Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent ...

gained funding approval for the restoration of the Bleach Green section of the Derry line, which would allow more direct services into the centre of Belfast. As part of this project, NIR planned to recommission two new stations, and Templepatrick. Mossley West opened in 2001, but there was no movement for a station at Templepatrick. However,

Translink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

, the public company responsible for public transport in

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 ...

, proposed to build a major

transport interchange A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bu ...

, featuring both a bus and railway station beside the M2 at Templepatrick. As of 2006 it was reported that this could potentially serve as a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

for towns and villages in the area of South Antrim.

References

{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom Disused railway stations in County Antrim Railway stations opened in 1848 Railway stations closed in 1981 Proposed railway stations in Northern Ireland Grade B1 listed buildings 1848 establishments in Ireland 1981 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1848