Ballymacarrett Junction
| Ballymacarrett Junction | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Locale |
Ballymacarrett, Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland 54°36′06″N 5°54′30″W / 54.601559°N 5.908207°WCoordinates: 54°36′06″N 5°54′30″W / 54.601559°N 5.908207°W |
| Connecting lines |
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| Operation | |
| Opened | 1850 |
| Closed | 1994 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) |
Ballymacarrett Junction was an important railway switching point on the Belfast and County Down Railway in the Ballymacarrett area of eastern Belfast, in modern-day Northern Ireland. It was located near the present-day Titanic Quarter railway station.
The first track, built around 1848, was not a junction, running from Belfast Queen's Quay to Holywood. A few years later, on 6 May 1850, the area became a junction, curving southeast to Dundonald which became the main line of the BCDR. In 1871, another spur came in from the south to the west end of the junction, constituting the Belfast Central Railway connection. On 13 May that year, while the junction was under construction, an accident occurred, killing two. The junction continued with this basic configuration for nearly 80 years.
On 10 January 1945, an accident took place on the Bangor line, about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) east of the junction resulting in 22 fatalities and 27 injuries. The accident is considered to be the result of a combination of excess speed and poor visibility and resulted in rear collision and derailment.
On 22 April 1950, the main line spur to the east was closed for revenue service, and in the same year, the Newcastle route was closed.
On 10 April 1976, revenue service ceased at Queen's Quay. Instead, services ran from the new Belfast Central station to Bangor. Today, this route from Belfast to Bangor is the only existing operative line over what used to be the Belfast and County Down Railway.
The Titanic Quarter stop was added 9 May 1977, known at the time as Bridge End.
Finally, in 1994, the original northern entrance on the west end that connected to Queen's Quay was removed due to the decommissioning of its maintenance area. This is the configuration of the area today.
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Wikipedia