Moira railway station serves Moira in County Down, Northern Ireland. Despite the station serving the County Down town, the station itself is located 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 ...

, the neighbouring

Lagan Canal The Lagan Canal was a canal built to connect Belfast to Lough Neagh. The first section, which is a river navigation, was opened in 1763, and linked Belfast to Lisburn. The second section from Lisburn to Lough Neagh includes a small amount o ...

being the boundary. Moira station is the oldest building on the

NI 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 (Northern Ire ...

network today having been opened on 18 November 1841.http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/moirastationeng.pdf The old, now redundant, signal box stands over the station on the Southbound side. Situated near the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

, the station is popular amongst commuters from the surrounding area. In March 2014, NIR started construction of a new footbridge at the Portadown end of the station. The footbridge was completed in August 2014.

Station Buildings

There is a station building and signal cabin on the 'down' platform. Off site, away from the platforms, there is a station master's house. NIR have included in their corporate plans for a new footbridge to be constructed at Moira. The signal cabin was recently repainted. During the construction of the station and the railway thousands of skeletons were unearthed, leading to a greater understanding of the

Battle of Moira The Battle of Moira, also known as the Battle of Magh Rath, was fought in the summer of 637 by the High King of Ireland, Domnall II, against his foster son Congal Cáech, King of Ulaid, supported by his ally Domnall Brecc, King of Dál Riata. ...

, the largest battle in the

history of Ireland The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaterna ...

, which had occurred in 637 and the previous details of which were much less well known.

Lines in the Past

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 ...

brought trains from

Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station Great Victoria Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two major stations in the city, along with , and is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Lanyon Place ...

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

and

Armagh railway station Armagh railway station was a railway station that served Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Development The Ulster Railway opened Armagh station in 1848, linking the city with Belfast. The Ulster Railway was extended from Armagh to Mon ...

in Armagh. Later the Great Northern Railway of Ireland had a much more extensive system with trains to

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

Bundoran Bundoran () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The town is located near the N15 road near Ballyshannon, and is the most southerly town in Donegal. The town is a tourist seaside resort, and tourism has been at the heart of the local economy s ...

, Strabane and Derry/Londonderry being linked, which in the 1950s and 1960s was closed west of

Lines in the Present

The station is now part of NIR's

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

- Bangor service. The station is also passed through by the

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

intercity service from to on the Belfast-Dublin railway line.

Service

Mondays to Saturdays there is a half-hourly service towards in one direction, with some trains continuing on to ; and to in the other direction, with some trains terminating at . Extra trains operate at peak times, and the service reduces to hourly operation in the evenings. Although on the Belfast-Dublin line, Enterprise services do not call at Moira station. On Sundays, the service is hourly in each direction. Canal bridge (road) at Moira - geograph

Future Link to Armagh City

There is a possible future railway reopening from

Portadown railway station Portadown Railway Station serves Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, replacing a temporary station at Seagoe th ...

to Armagh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moira Railway Station Railway stations in County Antrim Railway stations served by NI Railways Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1841