Newry railway station

Newry Iúr Cinn Trá
Newry station in August 2016
Location	Newry Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°11′19″N 6°21′45″W / 54.1885°N 6.3625°W / 54.1885; -6.3625Coordinates: 54°11′19″N 6°21′45″W / 54.1885°N 6.3625°W / 54.1885; -6.3625
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Platforms	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1855	Opened as Newry Main Line
1942	Closed as Bessbrook
1984	Re-opened as Newry
2009	New station building opened
NI Railways Translink NI railway stations
UK Railways portal

Newry railway station (Irish: Stáisiún Iúr Cinn Trá)^[1] serves Newry and Bessbrook in Northern Ireland. The station is in the northwest of the town (in County Armagh) on the Cross Border line next to the 18-arch, 126 ft (38 m) high Craigmore Viaduct.

The station originally opened in 1855 as Newry Main Line,^[2] renamed Bessbrook & Newry Main Line in 1866, renamed again as Bessbrook in 1880 before closing in 1942. It was re-opened in 1984 as an NIR Intercity station, with basic facilities such as a temporary booking office. These facilities remained in place for over 20 years from the station's opening by which time their condition was declining. In order to improve facilities for passengers a modern new station building was constructed and opened on September 7, 2009

Service

The station is a calling point on the Enterprise express service, which operates between Belfast Central and Dublin Connolly. These trains call at Newry for both destinations at two-hour intervals throughout the day. The station experiences favourable passenger numbers from this service. There are also four trains to and from Bangor, operated by Northern Ireland Railways.

On Sundays there are five Enterprise trains in each direction, and no NIR services at all.

Additionally, one early morning weekday service is operated from Newry by Iarnród Éireann, calling at all Commuter stations between Newry, Dublin Connolly and Bray.

Train frequencies from Newry are likely to improve if plans to introduce an hourly service on the Enterprise become a reality. At this time such plans are merely speculative and it is unclear if such a service would serve Newry every hour, or if they would operate non-stop between Dublin and Belfast.

Preceding station		Northern Ireland Railways		Following station
Portadown		Enterprise Belfast-Dublin		Dundalk
Poyntzpass		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Newry		Terminus
Preceding station		Iarnród Éireann		Following station
Terminus		Commuter Northern Commuter (Once daily)		Dundalk

Connections

The Enterprise 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 and Bray 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.

Gallery

• 
  Newry station in August 2009
• 
  Enterprise train arrives at Newry
• 
  Craigmore Viaduct with the Mournes in the distance, seen from Bessbrook near Newry station.
• 
  Former platform sign at Newry station. The current sign also has the Irish name.

External links

• Northern Ireland Railways page on the Cross Border line
• Northern Ireland Railways page on the Enterprise Service

International railway stations in the United Kingdom
Great Britain (Eurostar and Le Shuttle)	St Pancras International Stratford International* Ebbsfleet International Ashford International Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal
Northern Ireland (Enterprise)	Belfast Central Lisburn Lurgan Portadown Newry
Train/ferry interchange	Fishguard Harbour Harwich International Holyhead Newhaven Harbour Pembroke Dock
* Station is designed for international services, but currently only served by domestic services.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Newry railway station.