The Belfast to Bangor line is a railway line in Northern Ireland, originally part of the Belfast & County Down Railway. All services are operated by NI Railways, the only operator for Northern Ireland (NI). Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, no railway in NI is part of the National Rail network and none is owned by Network Rail. Services run every half-hour, with up to six trains per hour in each direction at peak times.
NI Railways Class 3000 approaching Seahill.
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways, is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of eight publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the others being Direct Rail Services, Northern Trains, Transport for Wales Rail, Southeastern, LNER, ScotRail, and TransPennine Express. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro.
Class 3000 trains at Castlerock
NI Railways Class 4000 (left) and Class 3000 (right); side by side at Great Victoria Street Station, Belfast, October 2022.
Extended train 4017 at Portadown.
Track ballasting on the NIR system.