NORTHERN IRELAND RAILWAYS (NIR)
TRAFFIC AND TRACTION:
■
The three members of the GM 8111 Class have no booked passenger workings and irregular Infrastructure Department duties. However, GM
No. 8112 was active during the period under reviewworking ballast trains from the loading siding at Poyntzpass to and from work locations between Portadown and Lisburn. The ballasting programme, which saw the usual train of five hoppers in use, was carried out overnight and commenced on February 23. It ended on March 7.
On February 25, the 07.35 Dublin Connolly to Belfast Lanyon Place terminated at Dundalk because of a problem with Mk.3 generator van
No. 9606. The passengers of the De Dietrich/Mk.3 train, headed by IR GM
No. 231, were transferred to four-car
IR DMU No. 29x07, which then ran to Portadown. There they transferred to a three-car NIR DMU (which had worked the 10.35 Lanyon Place-Connolly as far as Portadown) for the final section of their journey to Belfast. The NIR DMU’s passengers transferred to unit
No. 29x07, which then returned south. In the meantime, the failed trainwas stabled in the down sidings at Dundalk until it ran empty to Connolly later the same day.
A bridge strike saw the temporary closure of the Antrim to Ballymena section of the Belfast to Londonderry line on February 27. Services resumed later the same day.
A points failure between Lisburn and Belfast Great Victoria Street (GVS)/ City Hospital during the morning of March 5 saw the following services cancelled: 07.53 GVS-Portadown, 08.03 GVS-Lisburn, 08.14 GVS-Whitehead, and 08.26 Lisburn-GVS. The 06.50 Lanyon Place to Connolly was also delayed. Rail tickets were valid on parallel Translink bus services during the period of disruption, and rail services returned to normal later the same day.
A bridge strike at Coleraine on March 16 saw the 08.38 ex-Londonderry terminated at Castlerock. Bustitution was introduced after services on the Coleraine to Londonderry sectionwere suspended until the line was reopened later that morning.
LONDONDERRY:
■ In order to facilitate pile driving on the up (river) side of the station area, most trains on Mondays to Fridays during the period February 19-March 20 used platform 2.
The arrangements initially saw all services between 08.22 and 18.38 scheduled to use that platform, however, on and from February 24 this was altered to between 07.38 and 21.38.
FUNDING:
■ Translink boss Chris Conway stated on March 4 that he was prepared to resort to legal action if an agreement could not be reached with the Government in regard to funding for the financial year 2020/21. He declared his intention during a meeting with civil servants of the Department for Infrastructure and added that he intended to meet with the Northern Ireland Finance Minister to discuss a commitment that would protect the provision of adequate Translinkoperated public transport services in the province.