Derry breaking rail records

Rail campaigners ‘Into The West’ are celebrating yet another record-breaking year for Derry’s railway station, which has registered its highest ever passenger numbers.

The station also continues to rise up the leaderboard of the North’s busiest stations.

Figures secured from Translink for the 12 months to March 2023 saw a phenomenal 723,776 passengers travel to and from Derry by train across that period. 

This represents an increase of more than a quarter of a million passengers compared to the previous year, which was itself also a record year, and amounts to a 54% year-on-year rise. 

It is also the largest number of passengers that Derry’s railway station has ever carried, and has propelled the city up one place on the leaderboard to become the North’s 8th busiest station. In fact, Derry is close to overtaking Coleraine, which is in 7th place.

Speaking to Derry News, Steve Bradley, chairperson of ‘Into the West’ said the situation was even more remarkable when current passenger numbers were compared to the pre-covid era.

Mr Bradley added: “Of Northern Ireland’s 54 rail stations, only nine carried more passengers in 2022-23 than in the last full year before the pandemic (2018-19). This shows that Northern Ireland’s rail network has still not returned to its pre-covid popularity amid the growth of ‘working from home’. 

“However, not only is Derry among the nine stations to have experienced increased post-pandemic demand, it actually tops that list with a 34% rise. 

“This contrasts sharply with Belfast, where all but one of the city’s eight stations have suffered steep declines in demand since covid. For example, Belfast’s Great Victoria Street remains the busiest station in NI and is currently undergoing a £200m redevelopment, but has lost almost one and a half million passengers since 2019, a 26% fall. 

“Demand for rail continues to grow at a phenomenal rate in Derry, with every year setting new records. Rail is now carrying almost three-quarters of a million people to and from our city annually. 

Steve Bradley, chairperson of ‘Into the West’

“Back in 2016 Derry was only the 17th busiest rail station in NI and had 324,000 users. In the years since then an hourly service to Belfast has been introduced six days a week, and the new station has also opened. These modest changes have helped to transform demand for rail here – to the point where passenger numbers have more than doubled and we’re now the 8th busiest station,” he said.

Mr Bradley added this was proof that investment in Derry’s rail infrastructure delivered tangible results. 

“What is most remarkable about the soaring demand for rail here is that it is bucking the trend almost everywhere else in Northern Ireland since covid,” he said.

“Belfast in particular has seen demand fall by 25% since 2019, with more than 2 million fewer passengers using its eight stations. 

“Derry continues to be the star performer on Northern Ireland’s rail network, with the greatest rise in passengers of all 54 stations since the pandemic. And we are  confident there is room for further growth here, with more record-breaking years ahead. 

“If public money is to be invested where it will secure the greatest impact, then Derry and the north-west should be the number one priority for rail expenditure in Northern Ireland.

“With this in mind ‘Into The West’ is calling on Translink to set a target and identify a strategy to secure one million rail passengers annually here within the next five years. We have identified a plan to achieve this,” said Steve Bradley.

He explained: “Three changes will enable Derry to reach one million rail passengers by 2028, which would place the city in the Top 5 of Northern Ireland’s stations. 

“The first is to end the blatant timetable discrimination against Derry. We currently have fewer trains and a poorer and less frequent quality of service than every station East of the Bann gets on the same line. 

“Tackling this will require an hourly service from Derry every Sunday (currently it is one every two hours) plus an earlier train out of Derry each morning and a later one back every night. These simple changes would finally deliver basic equality of service for Derry’s rail service, and help grow passenger numbers here. 

Secondly, the ‘Phase 3’ track renewal work to the Derry-Coleraine section of the line must be completed on schedule. It was originally supposed to take place in 2013, and is now finally due between 2025-27. There must be no further delays to this essential future-proofing work, which will also reduce journey times to Coleraine by five minutes.

Finally, Derry’s status as the most isolated station on the Northern Ireland railway network must be brought to an end, by opening new halts to the east of the city at Strathfoyle, Derry Airport and Ballykelly,” said Steve Bradley.

Steve Bradley added all of these changes combined would deliver a massive boost to the demand for rail in Derry and the north-west.

“It would also make a target of one million passengers here a reality by 2028,” he added.

“We are therefore calling on Translink and the Department for Infrastructure to publicly commit to achieving this target, and to identify a strategy to achieve it based on the three changes outlined above. 

“It is clear that money invested in improving rail for our city secures a phenomenal response from the travelling public every time – so build it and they will come”.