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 NIRs last steam locomotives were withdrawn in 1970, in 1970, NIR re-launched the once-popular Enterprise between Dublin and Belfast with three new NIR Class 101 diesel locomotives built by Hunslet in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.
Newtownabbey
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Newtownabbey is a large settlement north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill, at the 2001 Census, Newtownabbey Urban Area had a population of 62,056, making it the fourth largest settlement in Northern Ireland. It is part of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, largely a residential area, Newtownabbey is also home to many engineering and computer industries. The main campus for the University of Ulster is based in the Jordanstown area of Newtownabbey, although the Jordanstown campus of the University of Ulster is due to merge with the current Belfast campus which is due to be completed by 2018. Newtownabbey was formed by the merging of seven villages, Carnmoney, Glengormley, Jordanstown, Monkstown, Whiteabbey, Whitehouse and it was formally brought into being on 1 April 1958. Before its inception the expanse fell under the jurisdiction of the Belfast Rural District Council, the timeline of the local government authority is, Newtownabbey Urban District Council, Newtownabbey District Council, Newtownabbey Borough Council and Antrim & Newtownabbey District Council. This name is still to be confirmed, for more information see The Troubles in Newtownabbey, which includes a list of incidents in Newtownabbey during The Troubles resulting in two or more deaths. Below is a list of townlands that are within Newtownabbeys urban area, however, from 2014 it has operated as a larger Council after merging with Antrim to create Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. On Census day there were 85,139 people living in Newtownabbey,3. 8% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed. C. FC Whiteabbey Mossley Young Men F. C. Nortel F. C. Rathfern Rangers F. C. U. U. J. Connecting trains run on the Belfast-Derry railway line from Mossley West, Northbound to, Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Castlerock, Bellarena, and Southbound to Yorkgate, Belfast Central, Botanic, City Hospital, Belfast Great Victoria Street and onwards. And heading Southbound the same stations as listed above apply, bus services are provided by Metro. Newtownabbey is linked to the M2 motorway and the M5 motorway
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.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
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
7.
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
8.
County Antrim
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County Antrim ) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland and one of the nine counties of the province of Ulster, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,046 square kilometres and has a population of about 618,000, County Antrim has a population density of 203 people per square kilometer /526 people per square mile. The majority of Belfast, the city of Northern Ireland, is in County Antrim. It is currently one of two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Down to the south, a large portion of Antrim is hilly, especially in the east, where the highest elevations are attained. The range runs north and south, and, following this direction, the most remarkable cliffs are those formed of perpendicular basaltic columns, extending for many miles, and most strikingly displayed in Fair Head and the celebrated Giants Causeway. From the eastern coast the hills rise instantly but less abruptly, all are somewhat exposed to the easterly winds prevalent in spring. It is partially arable, and supports a small population, islandmagee is a peninsula separating Larne Lough from the North Channel. The valleys of the Bann and Lagan, with the shores of Lough Neagh. These two rivers, both rising in County Down, are the ones of importance. The latter flows to Belfast Lough, the former drains Lough Neagh, the fisheries of the Bann and of Lough Neagh are of value both commercially and to sportsmen, the small town of Toome, at the outflow of the river, being the centre. Immediately below this point lies Lough Beg, the Small Lake, County Antrim has a number of air, rail and sea links. Northern Irelands main airport, Belfast International Airport, at Aldergrove is in County Antrim, Belfast International shares its runways with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities. It is the fifth-largest regional air cargo centre in the UK, there are regular services to Great Britain, Europe and North America. The region is served by George Best Belfast City Airport, a mile east of Belfast city centre on the County Down side of the city. Two of Northern Irelands main ports are in County Antrim, Larne, ferries sail from Larne Harbour to destinations including Cairnryan and Troon in Scotland, and Fleetwood in England. The Port of Belfast is Northern Irelands principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and it is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two-thirds of Northern Irelands seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port, the population of County Antrim was 615,384 according to recent census information, making it the most populous county in Northern Ireland
9.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles
10.
Whiteabbey railway station
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Whiteabbey railway station serves Whiteabbey in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. The station was opened by the Belfast and Ballymena Railway on 11 April 1848, the station buildings were erected in 1863-1864, and the waiting room on the down platform was built in the 1890s. These buildings have since demolished and replaced with basic shelters. After Whiteabbey, the station down the Larne line used to be Bleach Green Halt. It is the first station outside Belfast on the Larne Line, on weekdays, there is a half-hourly service to Great Victoria Street with extra trains at peak times. In the other direction, there is a service with the terminus alternating between Whitehead and Larne Harbour every half an hour, with extra services to Carrickfergus at peak times. On Saturdays, there are fewer trains, but the service remains half-hourly. On Sundays, there is an hourly Larne Line service, no other Belfast-Derry services call at Whiteabbey outside of special circumstances
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