Coleraine–Portrush line

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Portrush line
Dhu Varren station
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Northern Ireland
Termini	Coleraine Portrush
Stations	4
Service
Type	Regional rail Heavy rail
System	NI Railways
Route number	NIR Service 4
Operator(s)	NI Railways
Rolling stock	Class 3000 "C3K" Class 4000 "C4K"
History
Opened	1855
Technical
Number of tracks	Single track
Character	Branch line
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Irish gauge
Operating speed	70 mph (110 km/h)
Route map (Click to expand) Show map Legend Portrush Dhu Varren Cromore University Belfast–Derry line to Derry ~ Londonderry Coleraine Belfast–Derry line to Lanyon Place This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

The Coleraine–Portrush line is a short railway branch line in Northern Ireland between the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry and the seaside resort of Portrush in County Antrim. The line, which is operated by NI Railways, has two intermediate halts and connects to the main Belfast–Derry line at Coleraine.

Monday to Friday, first 2 trains from Portrush are through trains to Belfast Grand Central then the rest of the day an hourly service operates to Coleraine and Portrush.

On Saturdays the first train from Portrush is a through train to Belfast Grand Central; then the rest of the day an hourly service operates to Coleraine and Portrush.

On Sunday, there is an hourly service to Portrush and Coleraine, and with the service extending to Belfast Grand Central every two hours.

Monday to Sunday all passengers for Castlerock, Belarena and Derry~Londonderry Waterside must change at Coleraine.

The line was built as part of the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway, authorised in 1853. The engineer was Charles Lanyon and the contractor and major sponsor of the line was William Dargan. It was opened in 1855. In 1860, a junction with the Derry line was made at Coleraine, leaving the line from there to the terminus at Portrush as a branch.^{[1][page needed]}

Winter services were suspended from 1960, but opening of the New University of Ulster near Coleraine saw them restored, together with the addition of new halts at University (1968) and Dhu Varren (1969), to cater for student travel.^{[citation needed]}

The intermediate station for Portstewart (via the Portstewart Tramway) was located at Cromore and closed in 1964. This station then reopened in 1968 but closed again in 1988.^{[2][page needed]}