Yorkgate railway station

Yorkgate
Yorkgate station in 2009
Location	Belfast Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°36′37″N 5°55′20″W / 54.6104°N 5.9221°WCoordinates: 54°36′37″N 5°55′20″W / 54.6104°N 5.9221°W
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Platforms	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1992	Opened
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Yorkgate railway station serves the north of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The station opened in 1992, replacing the previous York Road railway station nearby.

History

Following the demolition of York Road station in 1992, a new station had to be constructed to serve the in-development Cross Harbour Rail Link.

Yorkgate station was therefore constructed to the side of the original site of York Road station, and served as a temporary terminus for Larne Line services until the completion of the high-level Dargan Bridge, which joined the Larne Line to the rest of the NIR network at Belfast Central, allowing services to run from Yorkgate directly through to the city.

The rest of the site of York Road station is now occupied by Northern Ireland Railways' central maintenance depot, while the old works remain, a few yards to the north and backing on to York Road itself.

Current Service

From Monday to Friday, there is a half-hourly Larne Line service, with the outbound terminus alternating between Whitehead and Larne Harbour every half an hour. All inbound Larne Line services terminate at Great Victoria Street, except for some early morning and late night services which only travel as far as Belfast Central.

Larne Line services on Saturday retain their half-hourly operation, but there are less peak-time trains. On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly operation.^[1]

Weekday services on the Derry~Londonderry Line also call at Yorkgate on an hourly basis. All inbound services operate to Great Victoria Street, with some peak time services terminating at Belfast Central. Outbound trains alternate hourly between services to Londonderry Waterside, and services to Coleraine, most of which continue on to Portrush via the Coleraine-Portrush railway line.

On Saturdays, there is a slightly reduced number of Derry~Londondery Line trains, but remains largely similar. On Sundays, the service reduces to seven trains in each direction operating on a two-hourly basis. All services operate between Great Victoria Street and Londonderry Waterside, except for the final train of the day, which only operates as far as Coleraine.^[2]

Preceding station	Northern Ireland Railways			Following station
Belfast Central		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Derry		Whiteabbey
		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Larne

Port of Belfast

Yorkgate is the nearest station to the Port of Belfast. Sailings travel from here to Cairnryan, where there is a bus link to Stranraer or Ayr.^[3] From here, onward connections can be made along the Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Central.

Preceding station	Northern Ireland Railways			Following station
	Ferry Connections
Port of Belfast (via Metro Service 96)		Stena Line Ferry		Stranraer or Ayr (via bus link from Cairnryan)

References

1. "Timetable: Larne Line" (pdf). Northern Ireland Railways. 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
2. "Timetable: Derry~Londonderry Line" (pdf). Northern Ireland Railways. 2013-03-24. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
3. http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=13006&p=0