Portadown railway station

Portadown Railway Station serves the town of Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The station is located on the Belfast-Dublin railway line. The original station opened in 1842, and the present station opened in 1970. It is currently NI Railways 6th busiest station with over 1.1 million passengers in the 2023/24 financial year

History
The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, replacing a temporary station at Seagoe that had opened the preceding year. The Portadown station was moved to the present location in 1848 then reverted to its original site between 1863 and 1970. Goods traffic ceased on 4 January 1965. The present station opened in 1970, replacing a large and largely redundant station.

At the time (1970) the station was called Portadown - Craigavon West, a title that was quietly dropped after the "new city" Craigavon failed to materialise. The layout of the 1970 station was modified in 1997 to allow bi-directional working on all three platforms. The lines to Cavan via Armagh (closed 1957), and Derry via Dungannon and Omagh (closed 1965) diverged immediately west of the present station. In 2012, work began on a major refurbishment of the station. A new, modern building was constructed and a footbridge replaced the subway. The refurbishment was completed in 2013.

Layout
The station has three platforms. After the station upgrade being completed in late May 2013 both platforms 1, 2 and 3 have lifts and have disability access. Platform 3 is usually used for storage of a NIR train but one departs from this platform occasionally towards Belfast. Platform 1 is for all trains south, to destinations such Dublin Connolly, Dundalk Clarke and Newry while Platform 2 and 3 are used for Belfast & Bangor bound services, both express and stopppers.

Service
This is the terminus for most services from Bangor or Belfast but there are 4 services which continue to Newry Mondays to Saturdays only. There is a half-hourly service to Belfast  and. There is a two hourly Enterprise service to or Belfast Lanyon Place. On Sundays there is an hourly service to Bangor and no NIR services at all to Newry, although five Enterprise services still operate between these two stations.

This line can be popular with rugby fans connecting at for the DART to Lansdowne Road. The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to Dún Laoghaire for example or travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish Ferries or Stena Line to Holyhead, and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.

Link to Armagh City
There is a possibility of re-opening of the line from Portadown to Armagh railway station. Government Minister for the Department for Regional Development, Danny Kennedy MLA indicates railway restoration plans.

The Armagh railway line has been listed in proposed plans to reopen the line.

All-Island Rail Review
The all-island rail review draft suggested that Portadown become a major interchange between the current Dublin-Belfast Main line, proposed lines such as the single tracked Mullingar-Portadown Line via Armagh, Monaghan, Clones, and Cavan and the dual tracked Derry~Londonderry-Portadown Line via Dungannon, Omagh and Strabane. Portadown would also become an inland freight terminal serving connections to Rosslare Europort, Dublin Port and Larne Harbour.

The All-Island Rail Review draft also includes 29 other recommendations for railways across the Island of Ireland and it is said that it will take a least 25 years to competed. It would cost in the range of €36.8bn/£30.7bn (as of 2023) and be split between both regions. 75% by the Republic of Ireland and 25% by Northern Ireland.

No plans as of May 2024, have gone about implementing this review.

Bus connections
Translink's Ulsterbus and Goldliner services operating from just outside Portadown railway station: