Downpatrick railway station

Downpatrick
General information
Location	County Down
Owned by	Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
Managed by	Belfast and County Down Railway
Line(s)	Belfast and County Down Railway
Platforms	2
Key dates
23 March 1859	Station opens
24 April 1950	Station closes
1990	Station Reopened by DCDR (On a new site)

Downpatrick and County Down Railway
Belfast & County Down Railway to Belfast Inch Abbey Quoile Bridge (River Quoile) Downpatrick Downpatrick Loop Platform King Magnus' Halt Ardglass Line Ballynoe Killough Coney Island Ardglass Ballydugan (proposed) Belfast & County Down Railway to Newcastle

Downpatrick railway station was on the Belfast and County Down Railway, which ran its longest route from Belfast to Downpatrick in Northern Ireland.

History

It was opened by the Belfast and County Down Railway. The station closed to passengers in 1950, by which time it had been taken over by the Ulster Transport Authority.

Today

The site today is occupied by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. The station yard, which is on a different site to the original BCDR station, consists of two locomotive sheds, a carriage workshop, a carriage museum, the station itself, various sidings and other structures.

The station building was moved from across the street to its present location in the 1990s. Its previous role was that of the Gas Manager's House. The ground floor hosts the ticket office, shop, model railway room and toilets, the latter two of which are accessed from the platform. The first floor is home to a museum of BCDR railwayana. Downpatrick Station currently only has one operational platform, with a second, slightly shorter one, to be reinstated in the near future. At the north end of the platform, a signal cabin is under construction. At the south end is a water tower.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
King's Bridge Halt		Belfast and County Down Railway Belfast-Newcastle		Tullymurry
Terminus		Downpatrick, Killough and Ardglass Railway Downpatrick-Ardglass		Downpatrick Loop Platform

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.