The Crumlin Viaduct is a railway bridge in Crumlin, County Antrim. It has the distinction of being the only place in Ireland where a train, plane, car, and boat can theoretically cross paths, due to its unique status of being a railway bridge straddling a road bridge across a river, with Belfast International Airport two kilometres to the north. [1]
The railway line through Crumlin opened in 1871, crossing the Crumlin River by means of a simple lattice girder bridge. This was replaced in 1915 with the current structure, a Pratt truss. The original was reused at Adelaide railway station in Belfast. [2] The current viaduct was designed and built by James Findlay & Co. of Motherwell, Scotland.
Passenger traffic ceased in 1960.
The bridge was reinforced in the early 1970s [3] to prepare for the reintroduction of passenger traffic, in 1974. It then carried trains between Derry, Antrim, Lisburn and Belfast until 2003, when the passenger service ceased once again.
The viaduct, along with the rest of the Lisburn - Antrim line, has lain mothballed since 2003, though both are maintained to an operational level and used for engineering trains, driver training, and diversionary passenger services when the line between Belfast and Antrim via Whiteabbey is closed. The possibility of the line, and thus the viaduct, being brought back into regular use for a circular Belfast - Antrim - Lisburn passenger service has been considered for some years.[ citation needed ]
It appeared in the BBC series 'Walk The Line' in 2015. [4]
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ; and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of seven publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the others being Direct Rail Services, Northern Trains, Transport for Wales Rail, Southeastern, LNER, and ScotRail. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro.
Belfast International Airport is an airport 11.5 NM northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, and is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as Aldergrove Airport, after the nearby village of Aldergrove in County Antrim. In 2018, over 6.2 million passengers travelled through the airport, a 7.4% increase compared with 2017. The majority of flights from Belfast International are operated by easyJet, Northern Ireland's biggest airline. It features flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations.
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink. It is led by CEO Chris Conway.
Crumlin is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Belfast Lanyon Place is a railway station serving the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Located on Bridge Street in the Laganside area of central Belfast, it is one of four stations in the city centre, the others being Great Victoria Street, City Hospital and Botanic. Lanyon Place is the northern terminus of the cross-border Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly. It is also served by Northern Ireland Railways, which operates routes to other locations in Northern Ireland, including Derry, Bangor, Portadown and Larne.
Derry ~ Londonderry railway station, also known as Waterside railway station, is a railway terminus in Derry, Northern Ireland, on the east bank of the River Foyle, operated by Northern Ireland Railways. It is on the Belfast–Derry railway line, terminating at Belfast Great Victoria Street.
The Belfast–Newry line operates from Lanyon Place station in County Antrim to Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland. The manager for this line is based at Portadown railway station, although the line extends to the border to include the Scarva and Poyntzpass halts and Newry. Newry is on the fringe of the network, being the last stop before the border with the Republic of Ireland. The line follows the route of the northern half of the main Dublin–Belfast line, with the exception of calling at Belfast Great Victoria Street.
Antrim railway station opened 1848 and serves the town of Antrim in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The Belfast–Larne line, or Larne line, is a railway line in Northern Ireland, operated by Northern Ireland Railways. It runs as double track along the majority of its route north along the scenic east Antrim coastline from Belfast to the coastal seaport town of Larne, serving commuters and ferry passengers.
The Belfast–Derry line runs from Belfast to Derry in Northern Ireland. The line is double-track on the short section it shares with the Belfast–Larne line, but is composed primarily of single track from Monkstown to Derry with passing points at Templepatrick, Antrim, Magherabeg, Ballymena, Killagan, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Bellarena. The line is the busiest single track railway line in the United Kingdom, carrying 3 million passengers per annum, the Derry-Londonderry Line has also been described by Michael Palin as “one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world”.
Portrush railway station is the terminus of the Coleraine-Portrush railway line and serves the seaside town of Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Crumlin railway station served Crumlin in County Antrim, Northern Ireland but is now closed to passengers.
Ballinderry railway station served Upper Ballinderry in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is currently closed to passengers.
Knockmore railway station was a station on the Belfast–Newry railway line. The station served the suburb of Knockmore in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) opened Knockmore station as a halt in 1932. Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) closed the station on 25 March 2005.
Dunmurry is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council.
The Lisburn–Antrim line is a 20-mile (32 km) railway line of Northern Ireland Railways. It links Knockmore Junction on the Belfast–Newry line with Antrim on the Belfast–Derry line. It has been closed to passenger services since 2003.
Transportation systems in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, include road, air, rail, and sea. It is still a relatively car-dependent city; however, it is also served by a comprehensive rail and bus network. Belfast also ran electric trams prior to 1954. The city has two major airports, and the Port of Belfast is the busiest ferry port on the island of Ireland.
Glider is a bus rapid transit system in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed to improve the efficiency of mass transit in the city by connecting East and West Belfast and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre. The service is operated by Translink.
The Dromore Viaduct is an abandoned railway viaduct in Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland.