Knockmore railway station

Knockmore railway station (Irish: Cnoc Mór) was a station on the Belfast–Newry railway line. The station served the suburb of Knockmore in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) opened Knockmore station as a halt in 1932.[1] Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) closed the station on 25 March 2005.

Knockmore
Class 3000 train passing the remains of Knockmore station in 2010
Location	Lisburn, County Antrim Northern Ireland
Line(s)	Belfast-Newry (up line only) Lisburn-Antrim
Platforms	2 (One on Belfast-Newry down line, one on Lisburn-Antrim bi-directional single line.)
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Great Northern Railway of Ireland
Post-grouping	Northern Ireland Railways
Key dates
1841	Lisburn – Lurgan line opened
1863	Banbridge branch opened
1871	Antrim branch opened
1932	First station opened
1933	First station closed
1956	Banbridge branch closed
1974	Station reopened on new site
2005	Station closed

Knockmore station had two platforms. One platform was served by "Up" trains only on the service from Belfast Central via Lisburn to Portadown, while the other platform was served by trains in both directions on the Belfast – Lisburn – Antrim – Derry service. "Down" trains travelling from Portadown to Belfast could not serve Knockmore as it was the middle line with no platform.

History

The remains of the halt as seen from a passing steam special, December 2013.

The station is near Knockmore Junction, which came into service in 1863 for the Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway (BLB) to connect with the Ulster Railway.[1] The junction gained another branch in 1871 when the Dublin and Antrim Junction Railway (D&A, now the Lisburn–Antrim railway line) was opened.[1] The Ulster Railway, BLB and D&A all became part of the GNR by the end of the 1870s.[2] A halt was finally provided at Knockmore Junction in 1932, but it did not last long and was closed a year later. The GNR was nationalised in 1953 as the GNR Board,[3] which closed Banbridge branch on 29 April 1956.[4]

In 1960, the Antrim branch was closed to passenger traffic, although it remained open for freight. By this point, the line was under UTA control; All GNR assets in Northern Ireland having been ceded to the UTA in 1958. In 1968, the UTA was replaced by Northern Ireland Railways, which reopened the Antrim branch and rerouted all Londonderry line services via Knockmore. A new Knockmore halt was built on a different site to the original, slightly closer to Lisburn. Instead of using a crossover as per the original setup, a 3rd line was laid directly from the former junction to Lisburn station. Unfortunately, this required the demolition of Knockmore Junction signal cabin.

In 2001 NIR reopened the more direct Belfast – Antrim route via Whiteabbey. An attempt was made to keep the Antrim – Knockmore line open alongside it using a skeleton service, but this was unsuccessful and NIR withdrew passenger services altogether in 2003. Due to the platform layout, this left Knockmore station with a train service in only one direction: "down" trains from Belfast to Portadown. Unsurprisingly this arrangement was not well-used, and so on 25 March 2005 NIR closed Knockmore station.

The Portadown-bound platform was demolished in 2012, with the branch platform following in 2014.

Proposed

In their corporate plans, NIR included proposals a new Knockmore park and ride station further down the line called Lisburn West. The proposals suggested that the station would serve Portadown line trains in both directions, as well as Antrim branch trains if the line is reopened. So far, Translink has bought and demolished the former Lisburn South Eastern Regional College, which is where Lisburn West is due to be built.

Incidents

• On 28/06/2012, a section of embankment near Knockmore was washed out by heavy rain, leaving a short length of track unsupported in mid-air. Due to the Irish Open, Translink had put on extra trains to Portrush, some of which were scheduled to use the Antrim branch. The first of these specials was not able to stop in time and crossed over the unsupported track, with the leading vehicle coming to a full stop with one bogie on either side of the unsupported section. The train was slowly reversed back to Lisburn station, and nobody was injured.
• On 04/02/2016, a Portadown-bound train collided with an excavator bucket which had been left on the track near Knockmore Junction. The leading vehicle was lifted off the rails, coming to a stop 330m from the point of collision with the bucket lodged under the fuel tank, but all wheels on the rails. It was badly damaged and as of August 2016, has not returned to service. One passenger was injured.[5]

The Great Northern Railway to Banbridge and Newcastle

Knockmore Jct. Signal Cabin in 1977, with a single line token being surrendered to the signalman on a Lisburn-Antrim railway line working from Antrim back to Lisburn.

The station was opened by the Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Railway on 13 July 1863.[6]

Then 30 April 1956 the line via Dromore to Banbridge and Newcastle, County Down was closed under the auspices of the Ulster Transport Authority.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Lisburn		Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Railway Knockmore Junction-Banbridge		Newport

See also

• Lisburn West railway station

References

1. Hajducki, 1974, map 9
2. Hajducki 1974, p. xiii.
3. Baker 1972, pp. 146, 147.
4. Baker 1972, p. 207.
5. "Collision at Knockmore Junction – News stories – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
6. "Hillsborough station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 6 May 2012.

Sources

• Baker, Michael H.C. (1972). Irish Railways since 1916. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0 7110 0282 7.
• Hajducki, S. Maxwell (1974). A Railway Atlas of Ireland. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5167-2.

External links

• Media related to Knockmore Halt railway station at Wikimedia Commons