Northern Ireland Railways

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Northern Ireland Railways (NIR or NI Railways) – formerly, and very briefly, known as Ulster Transport Railways (UTR) – is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. The sole state-owned inter-urban train operator in the UK, it is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, and has a common Board of Management with the other two transport Companies, Ulsterbus and Citybus, trading under the brand name Translink. The rail network in Northern Ireland is separate from the National Rail network of Great Britain.

[edit] History

NIR was formed in 1968 when it took over from the Ulster Transport Authority, which had operated the province's railways since 1948. Much of the railway network closed during the 1950s and 1960s, declining from 1500 km (900 miles) in the 1950s to 330.57 km (206.61 miles) at present.

Fraught by the frequent disruption and damage caused to infrastructure by the Troubles, and choked with a lack of investment from successive political administrations, by the 1960s the NIR network had became badly run down, with old rolling stock and poorly maintained track.

In 1970, NIR used three new locomotives to re-launch the once popular Enterprise between Dublin and Belfast. Despite frequent interuptions of service due to bomb scares, the service has remained a more or less constant feature of the NIR network.

As older trains became obsolete in the 1970s, a new type of diesel-electric multiple unit was introduced to the network, called the 80 class. These units were built by BREL Derby between 1974 & 1977 to MK 2B design with some trailer cars having been rebuilt from hauled stock. The power cars are powered by an English Electric 4SRKT engine and are equipped with 2 English Electric 538 traction motors. These entered service on the suburban lines around Belfast, although increasingly became a stalwart of the whole network. Now a rare sight, a few of these slam-door trains remain in service.

NIR have 3 GM 111 class (111-113) for freight and passanger use and they were built in 1980 (111-112) and 1984 (113) by General Motors, La Grange, Illinois, U.S.A. and the engine is General Motors 12 -cylinder 645 E3B two stroke, turbocharged developing of 1830 kW (2475 h.p.) Gross at 900 rpm with 1675 kW (2250 h.p.) available for traction and electric, 6 axle hung nose suspended general motors D77B traction motors Train Brakes are Air & Vacuum. and they are Multiple Working with all IE & NIR general motors locos.

• • 071 & 111 CLASS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK IN MULTIPLE UNITS ON IE OR NIR!!

During the eighties it was apparent that an additional fleet of trains would be needed. These 9 450 class sets were built on former MK 1 underframes by BREL Derby between 1985 - 1987. The power cars are powered by an English Electric 4SRKT engine recovered from former 70 Class units (exept 457 which uses the engine recovered from 80 Class power car 88) and are equipped with 2 English Electric 538 traction motors and is a three car diesel-electric multiple unit, based on a more modern British design, with air operated sliding doors. Now in the process of a mid-life refurbishment, these trains continue in service.

In 1994, NIR bought two General Motors 208 Class locomotives, similar to Iarnród Éireann's 201 Class. These haul the cross-border Enterprise, dedicated sets of modern carraiges. 206-209 are for the Enterprise 206 and 207 are owned by IE 208 and 209 are owned by NIR Built in 1994-95 by General Motors, London, Ontario, Canada. Engine is General Motors 12-cylinder 710G3B developing 2385 kW (3200 h.p.) at 900rpm with 2230h.p. (3000 h.p.) available for traction . Electric, 6 axle hung nose suspended general motors (D43 traction motors). Train Brakes is Air & Vacuum Train Heating is 380 V a.c. Three-phase Multiple Working with all IE & NIR general motors locos

In 2004/2005, NIR began to receive delivery of 23 3000 class diesel multiple units from CAF of Spain, in an order which totalled £80m. The final unit, 3023, arrived in Belfast Harbour on 18 July 2005. All units had entered service by 24 September 2005, each one having had to complete 2000 miles of fault-free running before doing so. They operate principally between Bangor, Belfast and Portadown and between Derry and Belfast.

[edit] Routes

NIR currently maintains the following railway lines

• Dublin-Belfast railway line
• Belfast-Bangor railway line
• Belfast-Larne railway line
• Belfast-Londonderry railway line
• Coleraine-Portrush railway line
• Belfast-Newry railway line
• Lisburn-Antrim railway line

NIR operates regular passenger services along the following major routes (not all intermedate stops are listed):

• Portadown, Lisburn, Belfast Great Victoria Street, Belfast Central and Bangor
• Belfast Great Victoria Street, Belfast Central and Larne
• Belfast Great Victoria Street, Belfast Central, Antrim, Ballymena, Coleraine and Derry
• Coleraine and Portrush

On the cross-border route between Belfast, Newry, Dundalk and Dublin, NIR operates a joint service of fast trains (the Enterprise) in conjunction with the national railway company of the Republic of Ireland, Iarnród Éireann.

[edit] Suspended Routes

Following the re-opening of the 15-mile Antrim - Bleach Green line in June 2001[1], which had been closed since 1978, NIR ceased passenger operations between Lisburn and Antrim on 29.06.2003. Combined with the newly built Cross-Harbour Rail Link across the River Lagan in Belfast, the Bleach Green route offered faster journey times between Derry, Coleraine Antrim and Belfast.

The infrastructure of the Lisburn-Antrim railway line is still maintained, and occasional crew training operations are performed on the line, but Ballinderry, Glenavy and Crumlin stations have closed. Speculation remains that the route could one day re-open, potentially to offer an alternative Antrim - Lisburn - Belfast service. The line passes very close to Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove, although the airport is unlikely to ever handle the volume of passengers necessary to justify the construction of a new station.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Collection of Google Earth locations of NI Railways stations (Requires Google Earth software) from the Google Earth Community forum.

Categories: Rail transport in Northern Ireland | Railway companies of the United Kingdom