NORTHERN IRELAND RAILWAYS (NIR)
■ TRAFFIC AND TRACTION:
Signalling problems continued to affect Londonderry line services. On April 1, the 18.10 Belfast GVS-Londonderry ran to Portrush after being delayed en route. Disruption to services in the Coleraine/Ballymoney area occurred on April 4, while the 07.45 Coleraine to Portrush was cancelled on the 6th. The 22.40 GVS-Coleraine later the same day worked by a two x three-car formation was delayed after a fallen tree blocked the line near Antrim.
The ‘trainbow’ NHS tribute vinyls that one DMSO of unit No. 3006 had carried for around two years, were removed on April 12. On the 13th, GM No. 8208 and a De Dietrich/
Mk.3 train working a cross border service, was diverted to GVS as the line between Central Junction/ Westlink Junction and Lanyon Place was temporarily closed because of an operational issue.
The popular ‘Easter Family Train’ from Belfast to Portrush and return was reinstated after a two-year break because of Covid-19. Increased from a one-day operation to two, the 09.50 Lanyon Place-Portrush, 17.37 return to
GVS, ran on April 18 and 19 with the trains on both days sold out. Six-car 4000 Class unit No. 4017 worked the 09.50 on the 18th. This day also saw heavy demand for travel on the Belfast to Londonderry/Portrush route, with a 11.10 Antrim-Lanyon Place relief planned at short notice. The Easter period saw the temporary closure, as required, of University and Dhu Varren halts on the Portrush branch because of the use of six-car formations.
■ NEWS IN BRIEF:
On April 7 Translink announced that the new Belfast public transport hub is to be called Belfast Grand Central Station. The name Belfast Central was used for the city’s main rail station from its opening in April 1976 until September 2018, when it was renamed Lanyon Place following major refurbishment. Three new CAF built 4000 Class intermediate cars were delivered to York Road on March 29. Limited catering was reintroduced on some cross border services from mid-March. The upgrade of the gated pedestrian crossing at Whitehead station to a barrier type has been completed.
■ PRESERVATION:
The RPSI’s Whitehead based ex-CIE/Irish Rail ‘Small’ GM No. B142 has recently received extensive attention to its power unit and braking system and will receive a full repaint into an authentic livery in due course. While the locomotive has been returned to working order it remains restricted to the society’s base as it has not yet been fitted with monitoring equipment and other in-cab features which would allow it to be certified to operate on the main line once again.
Ex-BR Mk.3 sleeper No. 10651, which the RPSI purchased in 2004, has been scrapped after being considered surplus to requirements. After being acquired it was reliveried into an LMS NCC maroon livery and numbered 26 in an NCC numbering sequence. The vehicle was used as a static dormitory coach at the Whitehead base. While the accommodation it offered for society workers was initially popular, the coach gradually became obsolete and its fate was sealed after it failed a fire assessment test. Disposal was carried out by Hamills of Ahoghill.