Aldergrove railway station

Aldergrove
Aldergrove
General information
Location	Aldergrove, County Antrim; Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°38′44″N 6°14′29″W / 54.6455°N 6.2413°W
Other information
Status	Disused
Key dates
12 November 1871	Station opened
12 September 1960	Station closed

Aldergrove railway station is a former

RAF Aldergrove and Belfast International Airport

.

History

The station was opened in 1871 by the

Dublin and Antrim Junction Railway, which in 1879 became part of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). In 1958 it passed to the Ulster Transport Authority

, which withdrew passenger services from the line and closed the station in 1960.

Proposals

As of 2014, it was proposed that Aldergrove railway station could be reopened to serve

Lisburn–Antrim railway line is closed, plans for a station to serve the airport (a few hundred yards away) are aspirational. The Department for Regional Development Railway Investment Prioritisation Strategy stated in 2014 that a "re-opened Antrim to Knockmore/Lisburn line could also present an opportunity to establish a rail link to Belfast International Airport (BIA), although such investment is less likely to be economically viable until airport passengers grow to at least 10 million. Passenger throughput in 2013 was just 4 million. Given the important role of BIA as a gateway into Northern Ireland for tourism and inward investment, a feasibility study should be undertaken to consider investment in a rail link if passenger numbers grow towards 10 million by 2030 as predicted by the airport operator."^[1] By 2019, passenger numbers had grown to 6,278,563,^[2] before dropping to 4,818,214 in 2022.^[3]