In early 2016, I was living through the first few months of my 2 years stay in Belfast for my studies. With the settling down completed, I finally had time and energy to get to know Northern Ireland better. I had been curious about the Irish railway network ever since I first read about it, and I figured the best way to start was to check out Northern Ireland’s rail network. To keep things interesting, I decided to combine this with a trip to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum – a museum complex located just outside the city of Belfast.
Conveniently enough, the museum complex is well connected to the Northern Irish rail network via Cultra station on the Bangor line. With the buses being the slower option, it was a no-brainer to hop on the train to Cultra.
First posted 28.2.2016. Updated 24.2.2025
Note: This was one of the first few posts on the first iteration of this blog, and so the quality of images are not as great as they could have been. But it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t keep this up for nostalgia purposes, as this was my very first post on NI Railways!
Buying my ticket at Botanic train station
Belfast is served by 5 train stations: Great Victoria Street, City Hospital, Botanic, Yorkgate, and Belfast Central. All services on the Bangor Line depart from Great Victoria Street and heads east past City Hospital, Botanic, and Belfast Central on its way eastwards. If you’re coming from Queen’s University Belfast or South Belfast, catching the train from Botanic makes more sense than walking all the way to Great Victoria Street. This is exactly what I did.
2025 Update: Belfast’s stations have had a number of changes. Great Victoria Street is no more, having been replaced by Belfast Grand Central; Yorkgate is now York Street with a brand new station building; Belfast Central is now Lanyon Place.
The entrance to Botanic station is located amongst the shops on Botanic Avenue, providing excellent street level access. The interior, though, is rather spartan – A simple entry hallway with the ticketing counter at the end, flanked by the 2 sliding doors leading to either side of the platform.
At the time of this trip, Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) did not utilise an automatic ticketing system. Instead, tickets were bought either from the ticket counters at stations, from conductors onboard trains, or through the mLink app. Tickets were then checked manually by staff onboard the trains or at the exits of key stations.
There wasn’t a long queue for tickets, so I got mine within 5 minutes of entering the station. I bought an Adult Day Return ticket, which cost GBP3.60, a negligible fare difference as compared to a Single (one-way) ticket to Cultra for GBP3.50. With such a small difference, buying the Day Return was the common sense option.
2025 Update: The prices quoted here are from 2016. Please don’t use these numbers as indicative of current pricing.
Departure from Botanic
The platforms at Botanic are connected to the ticket hall via a long set of ramps. These seem to be common at train stations in Ireland, and are actually pretty wheelchair-friendly. If that wasn’t enough, both platforms at Botanic also featured their own set of lifts.
Botanic station is situated along a crucial portion of the central Belfast mainline. The tracks here not only connect to Bangor, but also to Derry/Londonderry, Larne, and Dublin further down south. It’s not uncommon to see the specially branded Enterprise train set rumbling through on its way to Lanyon Place or down south to Dublin.
My train ended up being 10 minutes late, but the platform LED boards kept passengers well informed with the scheduled times and the expected times, which are updated as long as the delay lasts.
Cabin & Onboard Amenities
NIR operates a modern fleet of Spanish built diesel multiple units (DMU). The network is run as a hybrid between intercity services and regional services, and the 2 pairs of doors per carriage demonstrates this.
The interior onboard resembled an intercity train – airline style seating facing both the front and rear of the trains, with 2 longitudinal seats near the doors. The seats were comfortable with good back support. All NIR trains also provides free wifi, though it wasn’t working properly for me during this trip.
While the trains are sleek, they were noticeably louder than the electric trains I was used to in Malaysia. Thanks to the wider Irish gauge in use in NI, the ride was very stable.
The view outside
The Bangor line takes us past Belfast Central station, and from then on the tracks branches off to 2 directions to Derry/Londonderry, and to Bangor.
Past Lanyon Place, the service stops at Titanic Quarter, Sydenham, Holywood, Marino, and Seahill before arriving at Cultra. There are a further 3 stops after Cultra before the line reaches Bangor.
After Sydenham, the line briefly takes us next to the coast, and from then on it was a short ride to Cultra.
Arrival at Cultra
Cultra station is a very nice quiet station with trees all around. I remember thinking that it was definitely great for quality alone time. There are no staff nor ticket counters at Cultra, and you’ll have to buy your tickets onboard the train or on NIR’s mLink app.
2025 Update: Things are changing on the network, as Translink has installed self-service ticket machines at all stations across NI.
Connections to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
There is direct access from Cultra station to the museum via a small path connected directly to the bridge between the 2 platforms. This meant that I did not have to exit the station on the other side and walk along the main road.
Final Thoughts
This was my first trip with NIR, and I got the impression that it provided a decent and reliable level of service. I would come to travel on them relatively frequently across the North, and each time they left me with a good impression.
For more information on travelling with Northern Ireland Railways, visit our dedicated info page for NIR.
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