1.
NI Railways
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NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways, is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. It has a common Board of Management with the two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro. NIR jointly runs the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin with Iarnród Éireann. There is no link to the system in Great Britain, although proposals have been made, though allowances would have to be made for the different rail gauge in use in Britain. NIR was formed in 1968 when it took over from the Ulster Transport Authority, much of the network closed during the 1950s and 1960s, declining from 900 miles to 206.61 miles at present. NIRs last steam locomotives were withdrawn in 1970, in 1970, NIR re-launched the once-popular Enterprise between Dublin and Belfast with three new NIR Class 101 diesel locomotives built by Hunslet in England and Mark 2B carriages built by BREL. Despite frequent interruptions due to bomb scares, the service has remained a more or less constant feature of the NIR network, as older trains became obsolete in the 1970s, the Class 80 slam-door diesel-electric multiple unit was introduced. BREL built these units between 1974 and 1977 to British Rails Mk 2B design with some trailer cars rebuilt from hauled stock, the power cars are powered by an English Electric 4SRKT engine, nicknamed Thumpers due to their characteristic sound, and have two English Electric 538 traction motors. These entered service on the lines around Belfast, becoming a stalwart on the whole network. They remained in service until 2012, latterly primarily on the Larne-Belfast line, in the early 1980s, NIR purchased one of the prototype LEV Railbuses built to test the railbus concept. This was intended for the Coleraine-Portrush branch, but was due to the capacity constraints of a single car. A plan was mooted to use it on the Lisburn-Antrim line to prevent it from being closed and this proposal failed, again because of the limited capacity. NIR has three EMD class 111 locomotives, 111–113, for freight and passenger use, built in 1980 and 1984, during the eighties it was apparent that additional trains would be needed. BREL built nine 450 Class sets on former Mk 1 underframes between 1985 and 1987, the power cars had an English Electric 4SRKT engine recovered from former 70 Class units and had two English Electric 538 traction motors. The sets were three-car diesel-electric multiple units, based on a more modern British design and they were withdrawn from service in 2012 and replaced by new 4000 class diesel multiple units. In 1994, NIR bought two EMD208 Class locomotives identical to Iarnród Éireanns 201 Class and these haul the cross-border Enterprise dedicated trains of modern carriages. In 2004/2005, NIR received 23 Class 3000 diesel multiple units from CAF of Spain in an £80m order, the final unit,3023, arrived in Belfast Harbour on 18 July 2005. All units had entered service by 24 September 2005 and they operate principally between Bangor, Portadown and Londonderry and Belfast
2.
Bangor, County Down
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Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough. In 2007 the town was voted by UTV viewers as the most desirable place to live in Northern Ireland. It functions as a town for the Greater Belfast area, which it is linked to by the A2 road. Bangor is situated 13.6 miles east from the heart of Belfast, Bangor is part of the North Down area. The largest plot of land in the area, the Clandeboye Estate. Bangor hosts the Royal Ulster and Ballyholme Yacht clubs, Bangor Marina is one of the largest in both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status. The town is twinned with Bregenz in Austria and Virginia Beach in the United States, the town was originally called Inver Beg after the stream which ran past the abbey. The name Bangor is derived from the Irish word Beannchor meaning a horned or peaked curve or perhaps a staked enclosure and it may also be linked to Beanna, the Irish for cliffs. The area was known as The Vale of Angels, as Saint Patrick once rested there and is said to have had a vision filled with angels. The shield is emblazoned with two ships, which feature the Red Hand of Ulster on their sails, denoting that Bangor is in the province of Ulster, the blue and white stripes on the shield show that Bangor is a seaside town. Supporting the shield are two sharks, signifying Bangors links with the sea, each is charged with a gold roundle, the left featuring a shamrock to represent Ireland, and the right featuring a bulls head, possibly in reference to the derivation of the towns name. The arms are crested by a haloed St Comgall, founder of the towns abbey, the motto reads Beannchor, the archaic form of the towns name in Irish. The town has prospered as an important port, a centre of production. Today it is a retail centre and a commuter town for Belfast. The monastery had such influence that the town is one of only four places in Ireland to be named in the Hereford Mappa Mundi in 1300. Saint Malachy was elected Abbot of the monastery in 1123, a year before being consecrated Bishop of Connor, Bangors founder, Comgall, was born in Antrim in 517. Originally a soldier, he took monastic vows and was educated for his new life
3.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
Townland
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A townland is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin, pre-dating the Norman invasion, however, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey. The total number of inhabited townlands was 60,679 in 1911, the total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands. In Ireland a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, the term townland in English is derived from the Old English word tun, denoting an enclosure. The term describes the smallest unit of division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division. The term baile, anglicised as bally, is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names, today the term bally denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation. The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn, the term fearainn means land, territory, quarter. Throughout most of Ulster townlands were known as ballyboes, and represented an area of economic value. In County Cavan similar units were called polls, and in Counties Fermanagh and these names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600. In modern townland names the prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, in County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol-, some should probably be better translated as the poll of. In County Tyrone the following hierarchy of divisions was used, ballybetagh, ballyboe, sessiagh, gort. In County Fermanagh the divisions were ballybetagh, quarter and tate, further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as gallons, pottles and pints. In Ulster the ballybetagh was the unit controlled by an Irish sept. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, one of these fragmented units, the quarter, representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608. In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These termon lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders, other units of land division used throughout Ireland include, In County Tipperary, capell lands and quatermeers. A capell land consisted of around 20 great acres, in the province of Connacht, quarters and cartrons, a quarter being reckoned as four cartrons, and each cartron being 30 acres. The quarter has also been anglicised as carrow, carhoo or caracute, in County Clare, as in Connacht, quarters, half-quarters, cartrons and sessiagh
6.
County Down
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County Down is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the southeast shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,448 km² and has a population of about 531,665 and it is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland and is within the province of Ulster. The county was archaically called Downshire and it borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east and south, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest. In the east of the county is Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula, the largest town is Bangor, on the northeast coast. Three other large towns and cities are on its border, Newry lies on the border with County Armagh, while Lisburn. Down contains both the southernmost point of Northern Ireland and the easternmost point of Ireland and it is currently one of only two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Antrim to the north, during the Williamite War in Ireland the county was a centre of Protestant rebellion against the rule of the Catholic James II. After forming a force the Protestants were defeated by the Irish Army at the Break of Dromore and forced to retreat. Later the same year Marshal Schombergs large Williamite expedition arrived in Belfast Lough, after laying siege to Carrickfergus Schomberg marched south to Dundalk Camp, clearing County Down and much of the rest of East Ulster of Jacobite troops. Down contains two significant peninsulas, Ards Peninsula and Lecale peninsula, the county has a coastline along Belfast Lough to the north and Carlingford Lough to the south. Strangford Lough lies between the Ards Peninsula and the mainland, down also contains part of the shore of Lough Neagh. Smaller loughs include Lough Island Reavy, the River Lagan forms most of the border with County Antrim. The River Bann also flows through the areas of the county. Other rivers include the Clanrye and Quoile, there are several islands off the Down coast, Mew Island, Light House Island and the Copeland Islands, all of which lie to the north of the Ards Peninsula. Gunn Island lies off the Lecale coast, in addition there are a large number of small islands in Strangford Lough. County Down is where, in the words of the song by Percy French, The mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. Slieve Donard, at 849 m, is the highest peak in the Mournes, in Northern Ireland, another important peak is Slieve Croob, at 534 m, the source of the River Lagan. An area of County Down is known as the Brontë Homeland, after Patrick Brontë, father of Anne, Charlotte, Emily, Patrick Brontë was born in this region
7.
Belfast and County Down Railway
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The Belfast and County Down Railway was an Irish gauge railway in Ireland linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948, all but the line between Belfast and Bangor was closed in the 1950s, although some of it has been restored near Downpatrick by a heritage line, the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. The company was incorporated on 26 June 1846 with the first section of line from Belfast to Holywood opening for traffic on 2 August 1848. The line was extended to Bangor by the Belfast, Holywood and Bangor Railway, opening on 1 May 1865. The line to Downpatrick was opened on 25 March 1859, the line from Downpatrick to Newcastle was built by the Downpatrick, Dundrum and Newcastle Railway, opening on 25 March 1869 and absorbed by BCDR on 14 July 1884. The railways first chief engineer was Sir John Macneill, who was responsible for allowing the railway to cross the marshy River Quoile, a branch to Ballynahinch was opened in 1858 via Ballynahinch Junction. A branch line from Downpatrick to Ardglass was opened in 1892, thanks to the triangular layout, trains were still capable of operating directly from the main Downpatrick station to Belfast or Newcastle. The branch from Newcastle to Castlewellan was opened on 24 March 1906, the company operated 80 miles of track exclusively in County Down, with its longest route being from Belfast to Castlewellan, a distance of 41 miles. All locomotives were constructed by Beyer, Peacock, except No,2, which was from Harland and Wolff. By 1948 the company had 29 locomotives, two steam railcars from Kitson & Co. were acquired in 1905. The locomotive works were at Belfast Queens Quay railway station and closed in 1950, new carriage works had been opened in 1886, with the last carriage being built in 1923. The BH&BR did not exercise power, but several years after it had been taken over by the B&CDR the latter company started running scheduled passenger steamship services on the route. The B&CDR took advice from the Glasgow and South Western Railway, for the 1893 season the G&SWR had ordered a new ship, PS Minerva, to be built by J&G Thomson at Clydebank. The two railways then ordered from Thomsons two sister ships of a revised design, PS Glen Rosa for the G&SWR and PS Slieve Donard for the B&CDR. Thomsons launched Slieve Donard on 20 May 1893 and she entered service between Belfasts Donegall Quay and Bangor on 20 June and she was named after Slieve Donard, the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains in County Down. In October 1893 the B&CDR ordered a slightly larger paddle steamer, PS Slieve Bearnagh, named after Slieve Bearnagh and she made her first voyage on Belfast Lough on 1 May 1894. Donard and Bearnagh worked between Donegall Quay and Bangor, between them providing six sailings per day from Mondays to Saturdays and five on Sundays, from Mondays to Saturdays one mid-afternoon sailing per day extended around the coast to Donaghadee. On Saturday afternoons other sailings continued from Bangor across Belfast Lough to Larne and these ships were older and smaller than those that Thomson had supplied, and the B&CDR seems to have made little use of them
8.
Belfast Central railway station
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Belfast Central is a railway station serving the city of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is one of the four located in Belfast City Centre. Located on East Bridge Street in the city, Central is the terminus of the cross border Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly. As well as service, Central is also served by Northern Ireland Railways. Regular services also operate between Central and the other main station, Great Victoria Street. Intending passengers travelling to and from Central are at present, upon presentation of a rail ticket. Despite the name of the station, it is further from Belfast city centre than Great Victoria Street station. Contrary to popular belief, Central Station is in fact so named because it is on the trackbed of the Belfast Central Railway. The station itself was opened on 26 April 1976, the first Station Manager was Mr John Johnston. By the 1990s, it clear that the facilities at Central were in need of upgrading. A major refurbishment programme started in 2000 and was completed in 2003, there are two Island Platforms at Belfast Central, capable of accommodating trains up to 9 coaches long. Platform 1 is used by trains from Derry or Portrush on their way to Great Victoria Street. Platform 2 tends to be used for Enterprise services to Dublin, from Monday to Saturday, there is a half hourly service from Bangor to Portadown, with some trains continuing on to Newry. During peak times there are up to 6 trains per hour operating to Bangor with 3 being express services, the service is reduced to hourly operation in the evenings. Some early morning trains in either direction will terminate at or start from Great Victoria Street rather than continuing on through Belfast to the respective outlying terminus, on Sundays, the service is hourly operating between Bangor and Portadown. There are no local calling at stations between Portadown and Newry on Sundays. Inbound Larne Line services run half-hourly to Great Victoria Street, outbound services run half-hourly on an alternating basis to either Whitehead or on to Larne Harbour. Extra services at times run to Carrickfergus, and some early morning
9.
Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station
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Belfast Great Victoria Street is a major railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two stations in the city, along with Belfast Central, and is one of the four stations located in the city centre. It is near Great Victoria Street, one of Belfasts premier commercial zones and it is in a more central position than Belfast Central, with the Europa Hotel, Grand Opera House and The Crown Liquor Saloon all nearby. The station is on the site of a linen mill. The Ulster Railway opened the first station on 12 August 1839, a new terminal building, probably designed by Ulster Railway engineer John Godwin, was completed in 1848. Godwin later founded the School of Civil Engineering at Queens College, the station was Belfasts first railway terminus, and as such was called just Belfast until 1852. By then two other companies had opened termini in Belfast, so the Ulster Railway renamed its terminus Belfast Victoria Street for clarity. In 1855 the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway was completed, making Victoria Street the terminus for one of the most important main lines in Ireland, the Ulster Railway changed the station name again to Great Victoria Street in 1856. In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the Great Northern Railway, making Great Victoria Street the terminus for a network that extended south to Dublin and west to Derry, express passenger traffic to and from Dublin Connolly station was always Great Victoria Streets most prestigious traffic. The GNR upgraded its expresses over the decades and in 1947 introduced the Enterprise non-stop service between the two capitals, as Belfast suburbs grew, commuter traffic also grew in volume. In 1958, the Ulster Transport Authority took over Northern Irelands bus, three years later Great Victoria Street station was modernised, and a bus centre incorporated into the facility. Then in 1968, a section of the 1848 terminal building was demolished to make way for the development of the Europa Hotel. In April 1976 Northern Ireland Railways closed both Great Victoria Street and the Belfast Queens Quay terminus of the Bangor line and replaced both with a new Belfast Central station. The remainder of Great Victoria Street station was demolished, after a feasibility study was commissioned in 1986 it was agreed that a new development on the site, incorporating the reintroduction of the Great Northern Railway, was viable. The Great Northern Tower was built on the site of the old station terminus in 1992, and it is only yards from the site of its predecessor. The current station has two island platforms providing a total of four platform faces, platforms 2 and 3 run the full length of the site and open onto the stations main concourse. Platforms 1 and 4 are half the length and are accessible by walking down the other platforms, Great Victoria Street is the hub of Northern Irelands suburban rail services, with Bangor line, Derry~Londonderry line, Newry line and weekend Larne Line trains all terminating there. On Mondays to Saturdays, there are services to Bangor or Portadown on the Bangor and Portadown Lines
10.
Portadown railway station
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Portadown Railway Station serves Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, 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 the station was called Portadown - Craigavon West, 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, and Derry via Dungannon, 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. 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 train but one departs from this platform occasionally towards Great Victoria Street. This is the terminus for most services from Bangor or Belfast, there is a half-hourly service to Great Victoria Street, Belfast Central and Bangor. There is a two hourly Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly or Belfast Central, 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 Dublin Connolly for the DART to Lansdowne Road, 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
11.
Newry railway station
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Newry railway station serves Newry and Bessbrook in Northern Ireland. The station is in the northwest of the town on the Cross Border line next to the 18-arch,126 ft high Craigmore Viaduct. The station originally opened in 1855 as Newry Main Line, renamed Bessbrook & Newry Main Line in 1866 and it was re-opened in 1984 as an NIR Intercity station, with basic facilities such as a temporary booking office. These facilities remained in place for over 20 years from the opening by which time their condition was declining. These trains call at Newry for both destinations at two-hour intervals throughout the day, the station experiences favourable passenger numbers from this service. There are also four trains to and from Bangor, operated by Northern Ireland Railways, on Sundays there are five Enterprise trains in each direction, and no NIR services at all. Additionally, one early morning service is operated from Newry by Iarnród Éireann. Train frequencies from Newry are likely to improve if plans to introduce a service on the Enterprise become a reality. At this time such plans are merely speculative and it is if such a service would serve Newry every hour. The Enterprise can be popular with rugby fans connecting at Dublin Connolly for the DART to Lansdowne Road, Northern Ireland Railways page on the Cross Border line Northern Ireland Railways page on the Enterprise Service
12.
Translink (Northern Ireland)
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Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink, Translink provides services all over Northern Ireland and also to Dublin, in a partnership deal with its counterpart in the Republic of Ireland. It also provides bus services in many towns and cities all over Northern Ireland including Bangor, Derry, Ballymena, Omagh, Craigavon. The Metro service operates throughout Belfast, right out to the suburbs, nITHCo was established in 1967 to take over the railway and bus services of the Ulster Transport Authority, namely Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus. In 1996 the Translink organization was created to integrate the services of the Ulster Transport Authority as well as Citybus Limited, Citybus is now known as Metro. Northern Ireland Railways, formerly and briefly called Ulster Transport Railways, is responsible for running the network in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland railway network is currently 330.58 km, the main passenger line operates from Portadown to Bangor. Also operated are services to Larne and Portrush, which is a branch off the Belfast-Derry railway line, by 2015 Translink hope to have a service operating from Belfast International Airport to Belfast city centre. Translink are in talks with the airport about reopening the Lisburn-Antrim railway line, the Lisburn-Antrim passes Belfast International Airport and could be used to provide services to it. Ulsterbus is responsible for most of the bus services in Northern Ireland, Ulsterbus is charged with transporting over 65,000 children per day to school. There are also a number of cross channel services to Great Britain, Ulsterbus operate Day Tours to other parts of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland mainly shopping and to some tourist attractions. The Translink Metro service operates bus services within the Greater Belfast Area, Metro operates 12 bus corridors in Belfast, plus a number of additional routes. The service began as the Belfast Corporation Transport Department, in 1973, these services were transferred to the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company as Citybus Limited, becoming part of the Translink integrated network in 1995. In 2004, Translink/NITHC announced that Citybus would be completely rebranded & reorganised into 12 QBCs, Citybus was re-branded as Metro on 7 February 2005.2. They also operate 100 single deckers in the fleet,30 - Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Mk.233 - Scania L94UB/Wrightbus Solar, Metro also have a group of ten exUlsterbus Goldliner coaches for use on private hire. These are Volvo B10M/Plaxton Excaliburs, new in 1999 & painted in a pink livery. Total -275 Ulsterbus Foyle is a division of Translink that operates bus services in Derry, the new service was opened in September 2006 following an update of the citys bus routes and replacing some of the older buses. Ulsterbus Foyle is similar to Metro that operates buses in Belfast and these services were the first to carrying letters within their service number
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