Whitehead railway station

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Whitehead
Two NIR Class 450 trains at Whitehead.
General information
Location	Whitehead Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°45′10″N5°42′34″W / 54.75278°N 5.70944°W / 54.75278; -5.70944
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Line(s)	Larne
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1863	Station opened
2008	Station refurbished
Passengers
2022/23	238,056 [1]
Route map (Click to expand) Show NI Railways Network map Legend Year closed Great Victoria Street 2024 Belfast Grand Central Belfast-Dublin line to Portadown, Newry and Dublin Connolly City Hospital Windsor 1885 Botanic Ormeau 1885 Lanyon Place Queen's Bridge 1885 Lagan Railway Bridge over River Lagan Belfast-Bangor line to Bangor Dargan Bridge over River Lagan York Street Yorkgate 2024 York Road depot York Road 1992 Greencastle 1954 Whitehouse 1954 Whiteabbey Belfast–Derry railway line to Derry~Londonderry Bleach Green 1977 Jordanstown Belfast–Derry railway line via Monkstown 1963 Greenisland Trooperslane Mount 1977 Harbour branch line to Carrickfergus Harbour Clipperstown Carrickfergus Barn 1977 Downshire Eden 1977 Kilroot 1977 Whitehead Whitehead Excursion RPSI depot Ballycarry Magheramorne Glynn Larne Town Ballymena and Larne Railway to Kilwaughter, Ballyclare and Ballymena Larne Harbour This diagram: view talk edit Show Larne line route diagram
Location Whitehead Location within Northern Ireland Show map of Northern Ireland Whitehead Location on the island of Ireland Show map of island of Ireland

Whitehead railway station serves Whitehead in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

NIR 8068 at Whitehead

The station has two platforms with a waiting room on each and the station is signalled in both directions and remains staffed during commuter hours by a Senior Porter, a fully trained signalman, capable of fixing points and signalling issues when they arise.

Previously the line was double towards Belfast and Whitehead was where the track narrowed to the single track section to Larne. However, in the 1990s the up line was removed from here to Kilroot due to safety reasons, leaving the line at Whitehead Station as a passing loop.

Whitehead actually comprises two stations, due to its history as a railway excursion town. The through station is still part of the Northern Ireland Railways network, whilst the terminus Whitehead Excursion Station is the headquarters of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

Whitehead station was originally opened on 1 May 1863 and the Whitehead Excursion Platform was opened on 10 July 1907. The present station was opened in 1877 and is the third station to serve the town. It has been modernised, but unlike many stations on the NIR network still retains much of its Victorian character. ^[3]

Service

On Mondays to Fridays, there is a half-hourly service from Belfast Grand Central. These trains alternate every half an hour between terminating here at Whitehead, and continuing on to Larne Harbour. In the other direction, there is a half-hourly service to Belfast Grand Central, with the trains alternating between being through services from Larne, or starting at Whitehead.

On Saturdays, the service still runs half-hourly in the same alternating manner, but with less peak trains.

On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly operation in each direction. Services alternate each hour between terminating here, and continuing on to Larne Harbour. ^[4]

Preceding station		NI Railways		Following station
Downshire		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Larne Line		Terminus or Ballycarry
	Historical railways
Kilroot Line open, station closed		Northern Counties Committee Belfast-Larne		Ballycarry Line and station open

Incidents

On 26 September 2008, part of the platform collapsed, blocking the Larne bound line. It is not clear whether this was a result of the recent construction work which had been carried out at this station,. ^[5] according to NI Railways nobody was hurt in the incident.

References

1. "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2223.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
2. "FOI Footfall 2023 2024 figures PDF.pdf". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
3. "Whitehead (Antrim)" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
4. "Larne Line NIRailways / Larne Line". translink.co.uk. 13 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
5. "Platform collapse delaying trains". BBC News. 26 September 2008.