York Road railway station (also referred to as Belfast York Road) served the north of
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 ...
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 ...
.
It was formerly one of the three terminus
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 pre ...
s in Belfast. The others were
Great Victoria Street, and
Queen's Quay.
History
Early history
York Road station was opened on 11 April 1848 by the
Belfast & Ballymena Railway. Originally, it acted as
terminus
Terminus may refer to:
* Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination
* Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination
Geography
*Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...
for rail services between Belfast and
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
. Later this was extended to
Derry Waterside by the
Londonderry and Coleraine Railway
The Londonderry & Coleraine Railway is a Rail transport, railway line between the cities of Derry and Coleraine in County Londonderry, built by the Londonderry & Coleraine Railway Company (L&CR). The company operated the line independently for s ...
via a route to
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
(opened in 1855 by the
Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway
The Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway was an Irish gauge () in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
History
The railway was established under the chairmanship of the Rt Hon Hugh Seymour, with an authorised capital of £2 ...
). A branch was also opened to
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
(1848, BBR) and
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...
(1862,
Carrickfergus & Larne Railway
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
).
The station building was initially a modest structure dating from 1848. The station roof was erected by Richard Turner, Dublin. The station was extended in 1873–1875, and again in the 1890s when the building work was under the control of
Berkeley Deane Wise
Berkeley Deane Wise (2 October 1855, New Ross – 5 May 1909, Portrush) was an Irish people, Irish civil engineer who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in Northern Ireland.
Early years
Berkeley ...
. The 1890s rebuilding resulted in the erection of the clock tower, concourse, tramway canopy, hotel, freight offices and goods store.
[The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. William Alan McCutcheon, Northern Ireland. Department of the Environment. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1984]
The company became known as the
Belfast and Northern Counties Railway
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 t ...
. It was taken over by the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
in 1903, becoming the "Midland Railway, Northern Counties Committee". After the
grouping
Grouping may refer to:
* Muenchian grouping
* Principles of grouping
* Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system
* Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm
See also ...
of 1923, it became the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
,
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 ...
. Following a very brief period, from 1 January 1948, in the ownership of the British Government's
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...
as the "
Railway Executive
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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
, Northern Counties Committee", 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 (NIRTB ...
took over the "NCC" on 1 April 1949 and, during the 1950s, set about closing much of the network.
For a short time in the 1930s, some passenger services were run by 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 ...
, between York Road and
Donegall Quay
Donegall Quay is a public park and Urban open space, greenspace located in Belfast. It borders with Obel Tower and the River Lagan.http://www.futurebelfast.com/property/donegall-quay/ FF
References
Parks in Belfast
{{Belfast-geo-stub ...
, where
LMS LMS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique
* Learning management system, education software
* Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error
* Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer
* Lenz ...
steamers operated to
Heysham
Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations.
Demogra ...
. However, navigation through the Harbour Commissioner's lines in the docks was difficult. Trains had to proceed from the yard in Whitla Street, along Prince's Dock Street, then across the Clarendon Dock via a swing bridge, and then along both Albert and Donegall Quays. Coaches had to be specially adapted for this purpose. Wooden steps were provided to allow passengers to climb into the carriages from the paved area outside Donegall Quay's transit sheds.
Additionally, some rolling stock of limited height and length could proceed further past Donegall Quay and through a tunnel under the western end of the
Queen's Bridge, known as the Queen's Bridge subway to Queen's Bridge goods station (now Oxford Street bus station). Until June 1963, this was the only available (if impractical) way of transferring rail vehicles through the city from York Road. This tunnel was closed in 1966 and converted into a pedestrian subway, thus completely isolating York Road from the rest of Belfast. The tunnel itself stayed open as a pedestrian subway until 2002 when it was demolished and its remnants used to carry cables.
Post-war history
The station and adjacent works were very badly damaged in an air raid, in April 1941. The Midland Hotel, on the Whitla Street side of the complex, was destroyed, along with the covered tram terminus next door. The two large overall semi-circular glass roofs which covered the platforms of York Road station at the concourse end were also destroyed. The damage was so severe that, in 1944, town planners proposed, in the first area plan for Belfast, that the entire station should be moved several blocks to the south, but this proposal was never implemented.
Although the hotel was re-built (in much-simplified form) and the station was revamped on two occasions (notably in 1966), it never regained its pre-war grandeur. A terrorist attack, in the early days of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
, damaged it further. In 1968, the successor of 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 (NIRTB ...
,
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 ...
drew up ambitious plans for a brand new station and office block at York Road, in a style similar to that employed for London's
Euston station
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
, which was remodelled between 1963 and 1968. These plans, copies of which were uncovered in 1999 by the
Irish Railway Record Society, were soon shelved. Instead, what remained of the old station was demolished and a small, brown-brick structure built. This was opened in 1975, with the main entrance in York Road itself, at what had been the side of the old station. Parts of the site were sold at that time, and commercial premises were constructed.
Modern history
Services to
Derry/Londonderry and intermediate locations continued to run until 1978 when the Belfast terminus was transferred to
Belfast Central station
Belfast Lanyon Place (formerly Belfast Central, and known colloquially as Central Station) is a railway station serving the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Located on Bridge Street in the Laganside area of central Belfast, it is one of four ...
, which had opened two years previously. Services on the
Belfast–Derry railway line were then run through a new spur that accessed the former
Antrim branch of the
GNRI via
Lisburn station, rendering the York Road-Antrim branch redundant.
With no direct rail link to the rest of the network in Belfast, York Road was relegated to being a fairly quiet terminus for services on the
Belfast–Larne railway line between 1978 and 1992, apart from some brief excursion trains, and a short resumption of York Road-Antrim stopping services in 1980.
The station was finally closed in 1992 in preparation for the construction of the Cross Harbour Rail Link connecting the
Belfast–Larne railway line to . It was replaced by the nearby station which served as a temporary terminus for the Larne line until the completion of the rail link over the
Dargan Bridge when through services began to operate to Belfast Central. No traces of the station remain today, apart from the nearby maintenance depot, which is still in use.
References
{{Coord, 54.611078, N, 5.921841, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title
Disused railway stations in Belfast
Railway stations closed in 1992
Railway stations opened in 1848
Former NI Railways stations
Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1848