Write a commentRail services from Newry Train Station seem the 'poor relation' when compared to neighbouring Portadown and Dundalk services with 45 daily services from Portadown to Belfast and 15 from Dundalk to Dublin, Monday to Friday with only 9 direct from Newry in both directions (10 if you include a train where you change in Portadown)!
In 1959 Newry had the same number - 9 daily train services from Belfast while Portadown had 23, almost half of what they have today.
Today the last train from Belfast to Newry is at 8.05pm Monday to Saturday and a ridiculous 7.05pm on Sundays, almost three hours before the last train from Belfast to Portadown, Monday to Saturday at 10.59pm and 9.59pm on Sundays!
From Dublin to Newry it's only a little better with the last train at 8.50pm seven days a week, while the last train from Dublin to our nearest station Dundalk, from Monday to Friday is at 10.37pm while Saturdays and Sundays gets an even later service at 11.30pm, making it a potential proposition to take in a show and then travel home!
If you work daily in Belfast the first train from Newry to Belfast at 7.15am requires a change in Portadown with the first direct train at 8.48am.
In the three and a half hour period between 6.45am and 10.15am Portadown has the luxury of 8 train services to Belfast while Newry has 1.
Speaking earlier this year at Stormont Newry and Armagh MLA, Justin McNulty commented "Over the past number of years, we have seen rail services between Belfast and Newry become less frequent and more expensive. There are 46 trains from Portadown to Belfast every day and only 10 from Newry. The last train leaves Belfast for Portadown at 11.00 pm, while the last train to Newry leaves at 8.00 pm. Many of us, including one of your party colleagues, Conor Murphy, have supported a petition that highlights the inequality in rail provision. Now that you are in a position to stop that inequality, what do you intend to do about it? You mentioned the congestion in and around Belfast. Ms Palmer mentioned that it is bumper-to-bumper from Loughbrickland in the morning. Thousands upon thousands of people in my constituency get in their car every morning to travel to Belfast because there is inadequate rail provision. What do you intend to do to address that inequality?"
Rail Services across the island
Following the reopening of Phoenix Park Tunnel Mr McNulty has additionally called for a plan to develop rail services across the island which could provide a direct rail service from Belfast to Cork for the first time in generations.
He said: “The reopening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel line offers an opportunity to really think about integrating rail services across the island for the first time in generations.
“This development means that we could now run rail services from Belfast right through to Cork for the first time in over 60 years. Given the particular challenges facing the island in terms of border uncertainty in the wake of Brexit, it’s critical that we commit to connecting people and places across Ireland as effectively as possible.
“Developing better rail links will also drive investment across the island. Transport infrastructure in rural communities particularly is a high level determining factor in investment decisions. The lines that lie abandoned are the manifestation of the government’s dereliction of communities across the North. That must come to an immediate halt.
“Cork has been incredibly successful at attracting investment from global IT firms like Apple, Amazon, IBM and others. Creating better links between Ireland’s second and third largest cities can only be a positive development for our economy. The Executive must begin discussions with the Irish Government immediately.”
A petition by Gemma McCann on the Change.org Website calls for a better Service from Newry. Feel free to sign it at www.change.org
