2007

J3979 : Holywood Railway Station [2]

taken 17 years ago, near to Holywood, Co Down, Northern Ireland

Holywood Railway Station [2]
Holywood Railway Station [2]
I've never liked this place - many an evening I spent over an hour waiting for a train in the dark, frozen to my bones.
The Belfast – Bangor railway line

The Belfast & County Down Railway (BCDR) opened its railway line from Belfast (Queen’s Quay) to Holywood on 2 August 1845. This line was extended to the seaside resort of Bangor by the Belfast Holywood & Bangor Railway (BHBR), which opened on 18 May 1865. The BCDR absorbed the BHBR in 1884.

While double-track throughout, the BCDR always regarded its Bangor line as a branch off the main line to Newcastle. However, creation of the nationalised Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in 1948 changed matters somewhat as only the Belfast – Bangor line survived the mass closures implemented by the UTA in 1950. The old BCDR Bangor line received a further blow in 1965 when it was isolated from the rest of the Irish railway system by closure of the Belfast Central Railway line from Ballymacarrett Junction (east of Queen’s Quay station) to Central Junction, just west of the former GNR(I) Great Victoria Street station (see: Link ). However, on a positive note, introduction of UTA built MED railcars gave Belfast – Bangor the distinction of being the first main railway line in the British Isles to be operated solely by diesel traction.

In 1976, the Belfast Central Railway reopened as part of a project to replace both the GNR(I) Great Victoria Street station and the BCDR Queen’s Quay with a “central” station situated in east Belfast. Today (2013), Belfast – Bangor is an important part of the Northern Ireland Railways’ system, with services to Bangor originating from Portadown or the reinstated Great Victoria Street station. While diesel locomotives may occasionally visit with engineer’s trains, all passenger services are in the hands of Spanish built 3000 or 4000 class railcars.

For photographs of the former line to Newcastle, please see: Link . For photographs at Queen's Quay station and Central Services Depot, please go to: Link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rossographer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Category: Railway station
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Holywood Station [40] · Holywood Railway Station [23] · Train at Holywood [18] ·
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J3979, 343 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rossographer   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 24 July, 2007   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 24 July, 2007
Subject Location
Irish: geotagged! J 39 79 [1000m precision]
WGS84: 54:38.6612N 5:50.3904W
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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