Belfast–Bangor line

The Belfast to Bangor line (known simply as the Bangor line by NI Railways^[1]) is a railway line in Northern Ireland, originally part of the Belfast & County Down Railway. All services are operated by NI Railways, the only operator for Northern Ireland (NI). Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, no railway in NI is part of the National Rail network and none is owned by Network Rail. Services run every half-hour, with up to six trains per hour in each direction (3 express and 3 stopping services) at peak times.^[2]

Bangor line
NI Railways Class 3000 approaching Seahill.
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Northern Ireland
Termini	Grand Central Bangor
Stations	14
Service
Type	Commuter rail Regional rail Heavy rail
System	NI Railways
Services	Belfast-Bangor
Operator(s)	NI Railways
Rolling stock	Class 3000 "C3K" Class 4000 "C4K"
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	Un-electrified
Operating speed	70 mph (110 km/h)
Route map (Click to expand) Show map Legend Year closed Great Victoria Street 2024 Belfast Grand Central Belfast-Dublin line to Portadown, Newry, Dublin Connolly City Hospital Botanic Tunnel Botanic Lanyon Place Lagan Railway Bridge over River Lagan Belfast-Larne railway line & Belfast-Derry railway line Titanic Quarter (Bridge End) Queen's Quay 1976 Belfast and County Down Railway to Comber, Ardglass, Newcastle 1950 Ballymacarrett 1976 Victoria Park 1981 Sydenham Tillysburn 1945 Kinnegar 1957 Holywood Marino Cultra Craigavad 1957 Seahill Helen's Bay Crawfordsburn 1997 Carnalea Bangor West Bangor This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

All NIR services on this line terminate at Belfast Grand Central stopping at stations in between.

Until 2024, trains operated as through services between Bangor and Portadown or Newry via Lanyon Place and Great Victoria Street. Since the opening of Grand Central station, Bangor Line trains now terminate and start back from Grand Central, with services to Portadown and Newry operating separately from Grand Central.^[3][2][4]

Rail Air Link

The Belfast-Bangor Line is part of the key link into Belfast city centre. Trains run from Lanyon Place to Sydenham for planes from George Best Belfast City Airport.

Museum rail access

The Bangor Line serves important museums including the Ulster Museum, where passengers can alight at Botanic and for the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum alight at Cultra.

There is a private rail siding at Cultra^[5] which is used occasionally for access by the museum to the main rail network, but is not used by passenger services.

The Odyssey & Titanic Quarter

Passengers can alight at Titanic Quarter station for the Odyssey Arena and the Titanic Quarter.

References

1. "NI Railways Route Map" (PDF). Translink. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
2. "Bangor-Portadown Line Timetable". Translink. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
3. "Bangor Line Timetable From Sunday 13 October 2024 - To Sunday 08 December 2024". translink.co.uk. Translink. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
4. "BGCS Works". translink.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
5. "Northern Ireland Railways Network Statement 2025" (PDF). Translink. 31 January 2024. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024. There are some connections to private sidings at Whitehead and Cultra.