Yorkgate
Yorkgate station in 2009
General information
Location	Belfast Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°36′38″N 5°55′20″W / 54.6105°N 5.9223°W / 54.6105; -5.9223
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1992	Opened
NI Railways Translink NI railway stations
Location
Yorkgate Location within Northern Ireland

Yorkgate railway station serves the north of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The station opened in 1992, replacing the previous York Road railway station nearby. As at May 2021 there are plans to rebuild Yorkgate.^[1]

History

Following the demolition of York Road station in 1992, a new station had to be constructed to serve the in-development Cross Harbour Rail Link.

Yorkgate station was therefore constructed to the side of the original site of York Road station and served as a temporary terminus for Larne Line services until the completion of the high-level Dargan Bridge, which joined the Larne Line to the rest of the NIR network at Lanyon Place, allowing services to run from Yorkgate directly through to the city.

The rest of the site of York Road station is now occupied by Northern Ireland Railways' central maintenance depot, while the old works remain, a few yards to the north and backing onto York Road itself. The majority of the depot is visible when passing by train. A new station is currently as of December 2023 being constructed when this is finished the station will revert to its original name of York Road. As of March 2024, the new station was estimated to cost £10 million ^[2]

Current service

From Monday to Friday, there is a half-hourly Larne Line service, with the outbound terminus alternating between Whitehead and Larne Harbour every half an hour. All inbound Larne Line services terminate at Great Victoria Street, except for some early morning and late night services which only travel as far as Lanyon Place.

Larne Line services on Saturday retain their half-hourly operation, but there are fewer peak-time trains. On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly operation.^[3]

Weekday services on the Derry~Londonderry Line also call at Yorkgate on an hourly basis. All inbound services operate to Great Victoria Street, with some peak time services terminating at Lanyon Place. Outbound trains alternate hourly between services to Derry~Londonderry, and services to Coleraine, most of which continue on to Portrush via the Coleraine-Portrush railway line.

On Saturdays, there is a slightly reduced number of Derry~Londondery Line trains, but remains largely similar. On Sundays, the service reduces to seven trains in each direction operating on a two-hourly basis. All services operate between Great Victoria Street and Derry~Londonderry, except for the final train of the day, which only operates as far as Coleraine.^[4]

Port of Belfast

Yorkgate is the nearest station to the Port of Belfast. Sailings travel from here to Cairnryan, where there is a bus link to Stranraer or Ayr.^[5] From here, onward connections can be made along the Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Central.