| Yorkgate | |
|---|---|
| Yorkgate station | |
| Location | |
| Place | Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast City |
| Operations | |
| Platforms in use | 2 |
| History | |
| 1992 | Opened |
| NI Railways - Translink - NI railway stations | |
Yorkgate railway station serves the north of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The station opened in 1992, replacing the previous York Road station nearby.
Contents |
York Road was formerly one of the three main railway stations in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The others were Great Victoria Street, and Queen's Quay.
York Road station was opened on 11 April 1848[1] by the Belfast & Ballymena Railway. Originally, it acted as terminus for rail services between Belfast and Ballymena. Later this was extended to Derry Waterside by the Londonderry and Coleraine Railway via a route to Coleraine (opened in 1855 by the Belfast, Ballymena, Coleraine & Portrush Junction Railway). A branch was also opened to Carrickfergus (1848, BBR) and Larne (1862, Carrickfergus & Larne Railway).
The company became known as the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway. It was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1903, becoming the "Midland Railway, Northern Counties Committee". After the grouping of 1923, it became the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, Northern Counties Committee. Following a very brief period, from 1 January 1948, in the ownership of the British Government's British Transport Commission as the "Railway Executive, Northern Counties Committee", the Ulster Transport Authority 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, between York Road and Donegall Quay, where LMS steamers operated to Heysham. 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, 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.
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 over-all 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, damaged it further. In 1968, the successor of the Ulster Transport Authority, Northern Ireland Railways 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, 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 constructed.
Services to Derry/Londonderry and intermediate locations continued to run until 1978, when the Belfast terminus was transferred to Belfast Central station, 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.
In 1993, the railway at York Road was finally linked via the high-level Dargan Bridge to the rest of the network at Belfast Central. This necessitated the construction of a new station at York Road, and so a new two-platform station (named Yorkgate) was constructed beside the site of the former York Road terminus (the terminus itself having been demolished to make way for a new maintenance depot), and for the first time since its creation, services on the Belfast-Larne line could now run directly through to the city centre.
The rest of the site of York Road station is now occupied by Northern Ireland Railways' central maintenance depot, while the (cramped) old works remain, a few yards to the north and backing on to York Road itself.
From Monday to Friday, there is a half-hourly Larne Line service, with the outbound terminus alternating between Carrickfergus and Larne Harbour every half an hour. All inbound Larne Line services terminate at Belfast Central, except for some peak-time services which continue through to Great Victoria Street.
Larne Line services on Saturday are much the same, except that all inbound trains terminate at Great Victoria Street rather than Belfast Central except for a few early morning or late night services which terminate at Belfast Central. On Sundays, the service runs every hour and a half each way between Larne Harbour and Great Victoria Street.[2]
Weekday services on the Belfast-Derry Line also call at Yorkgate on a bi-hourly basis. Most Derry Line trains run from Waterside Station to Great Victoria Street and vice versa, however some outbound services run to Portrush instead, and some early morning inbound services only run to Belfast Central. Some extra services run to and from Ballymena at peak times.
On Saturdays, there is a slightly reduced number of trains, however the Derry Line service remains largely similar. On Sundays, only five Derry Line trains run in each direction, terminating at Waterside Station or Great Victoria Street respectively.[3]
| Preceding station | Northern Ireland Railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast Central | Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Derry |
Whiteabbey | ||
| Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Larne |
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