Portadown railway station

Portadown Railway Station serves the town of Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The station is located on the Belfast-Dublin railway line. The original station opened in 1842, and the present station opened in 1970. It is currently County Armagh's busiest station and Northern Ireland's 6th busiest station with over 1 million passengers in the 2024/25 financial year ^[10]

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 that had opened the preceding year. The Portadown station was moved to the present location in 1848 then reverted to its original site between 1863 and 1970. Goods traffic ceased on 4 January 1965.

The present station opened in 1970, replacing a large and largely redundant station. At the time (1970) the station was called Portadown - Craigavon West, a title that was quietly dropped after the "new city" Craigavon failed to materialise. The layout of the 1970 station was modified in 1997 to allow bi-directional working on all three platforms. The lines to Cavan via Armagh (closed 1957), and Derry via Dungannon and Omagh (closed 1965) diverged immediately west of the present station.^[11]

In 2012, work began on a major refurbishment of the station. A new, modern building was constructed and a footbridge replaced the subway. The refurbishment was completed in 2013.^[12]

The station has three platforms, which are all fully accessible via lifts, and a footbridge connects platform 1 with platforms 2 and 3. The modern station building features ticket machines as well as a ticket office, departure boards, a shop and plenty of seating both in the station's main concourse and on the platforms. There are automatic ticket barriers at the entrance to the platforms from the station concourse. Platform 1 is used mostly for Southbound Enterprise services and terminating Translink N.I. Railways services from Belfast, platform 2 is used mostly for northbound Enterprise services and platform 3 is used for terminating Translink N.I. Railways services from Newry or Belfast, and sometimes empty trains are stored at platform 3 as well. There are two sidings South of platform 1 sometimes used for storing track machinery e.g. tampers.

This is the terminus for most services on the Belfast-Newry railway line. Four services operate beyond here to Newry on weekdays and Saturdays. There is a half-hourly service to Belfast Grand Central in the other direction. On Sundays, this service reduces to hourly toward Belfast Grand Central, with no NIR services to Newry.

An hourly Enterprise service runs to Dublin Connolly or Belfast Grand Central every weekday and Saturday, while a bi-hourly service operates on Sundays.

This line can be popular with rugby fans connecting at Dublin Connolly for the DART to Lansdowne Road. The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to Dún Laoghaire for example or travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish Ferries or Stena Line to Holyhead, and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.

There is a possibility of re-opening of the line from Portadown to Armagh railway station.^[13] Government Minister for the Department for Regional Development, Danny Kennedy MLA indicates railway restoration plans.^[14]

The Armagh railway line has been listed in proposed plans to reopen the line.^[15]

The all-island rail review draft suggested that Portadown once again become a major interchange between the current Dublin-Belfast Main line, proposed lines such as the single tracked Mullingar-Portadown Line via Armagh, Monaghan, Clones, and Cavan and the dual tracked Derry~Londonderry-Portadown Line via Dungannon, Omagh and Strabane. Portadown would also become an inland freight terminal serving connections to Rosslare Europort, Dublin Port and Larne Harbour.

The All-Island Rail Review draft also includes 29 other recommendations for railways across the Island of Ireland and it is said that it will take at least 25 years to complete. It would cost in the range of €36.8bn/£30.7bn (as of 2023) and be split between both regions. 75% by the Republic of Ireland and 25% by Northern Ireland. ^[16][17]

No plans as of May 2024, have gone about implementing this review.

Translink's Ulsterbus and Goldliner services operating from just outside Portadown railway station:^[18]

• Class 3000 awaiting departure to Bangor 9 May 2012
• Cross Border Mail Train in Portadown 15 July 1972
• The Enterprise Train approaching Portadown from Dublin on the 15 April 2014
• Portadown Platform 1 and Car Park 28 August 2015
• Entrance to Portadown Station May 2016
• The Enterprise Train arriving into Portadown (Craigavon West) from Dublin on 10 June 1972
• NIR extended 4017 on test after receiving 3 additional intermediate carriages.