The Bangor line is a major commuter rail belt for the city of Belfast, with trains running half hourly (and more frequently at peak hours) on this stretch, making it easy for suburban residents east of Belfast to commute to and from the big city. The line also brings Belfast residents out of the city to more relaxing places on the northeastern coast, such as the seaside locales of St Helen’s Bay, and Bangor itself.

Midway down the line to Bangor is a museum complex named the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, served by the unassuming Cultra station. Once upon a time when I was a young adult trying to find himself, I took a trip up the Bangor line to spend the afternoon at the Museum. That was my first ever trip on NI Railways, and it laid the foundations for what eventually became this website. During a rare visit to Belfast 8 years after that trip, I hopped on the train to Cultra to see what had changed, and also just for old time’s sake.

Buying my tickets

NI Railways sells a variety of tickets for its services. Generally speaking, you can buy a Single ticket or a Day Return ticket for travel between your origin and destination stations. There are also discounted tickets available, such as a discounted off-peak Day Return ticket for travel after 9:30am. You can buy these tickets at the station with cash or card, or on Translink’s mLink app (if you can get it to work for you).

Another way to travel on Translink services is to use a zone-based iLink travel card. Depending on your choice, these can be good for a day, a week, or a month, and covers all bus and rail services within a particular zone, a combo of zones, or all of Northern Ireland. For this trip, I used my 1 Week Zone 4 iLink travel card, which meant I did not have to buy tickets every time I hopped on all Translink buses and trains.

For more information on the iLink travel cards, head on over to Translink’s info page here.

Departure from Belfast Lanyon Place

I wanted to hop on the train at Belfast Botanic, which was my local station when I was based in Belfast. Alas, Botanic was closed at the time of this trip, and I had to hop on the train at Lanyon Place, which in turn was serving as Belfast’s main rail station due to the closure of Great Victoria Street.

Lanyon Place is far from being a photogenic piece of infrastructure, but is nevertheless a decent and efficient enough facility. Since this trip, the Grand Central Station has opened as Belfast’s new bus and train hub, ushering in a new era for travel in the region.

Onboard the NI Railways Class 4000 DMU

Both services on this trip were operated by a 3 car Class 4000 Diesel Multiple Units. The 20-strong CAF-built Class 4000 fleet was first commissioned into service in 2010, supplementing the existing fleet of 23 Class 3000 DMUs from year 2004-2005.

All Class 3000 and Class 4000 DMUs share identical interiors. The seats are laid out in a standard 2-2 airline style configuration. The seats in each carriage consist of 2 groups facing towards the middle of the carriage, meaning half of the seats are facing backwards.

NI Railways’ seats are generally quite comfortable and are perfect for a nap after a day out in the countryside. There are also small seat-back tables, USB chargers, accessible toilets, and a dedicated space for wheelchair users. Do note that seats are on a first come first serve basis as NI Railways do not provide seat reservations.

The view outside

Much of the view had remained unchanged since my first time on the line 8 years prior. The tracks to Bangor still branched away from the line to Derry at the same junction, they still kept to the coastline all the way eastwards, and there were the same views of 2 of Belfast’s landmarks – Samson and Goliath, the yellow gantry cranes at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Naturally, there were also the same great views of the Belfast Lough as the line ran past the Holywood Seapark.

The tracks are bordered by trees after Marino, and there wasn’t much of a view the rest of the short journey to Cultra.

Arrival at Cultra

Cultra was as peaceful as it was when I first visited. The unmanned station consists of 2 side platforms for each directions, small shelters, a bridge between both platforms, and a linkway to the Museum. Other than the addition of a bicycle shelter, not much has changed.

Alright, I exaggerated that last sentence, for there was another major addition to Cultra’s infrastructure. When I first visited in 2016, the only street entrance to the platforms was a ramp down to the Belfast-bound platforms from the Station Road. In the years since, NI Railways had added another walkway down to the Bangor-bound platforms from the Circular Road, saving Bangor-bound passengers the need to walk down the length of the Belfast-bound platforms just to change directions.

Translink NI Future Ticketing System at Cultra

Physical station infrastructure aside, Cultra had also begun playing host to new ticket machines and travel card readers. These are part of Translink’s Future Ticketing System, which is the long-overdue update to the legacy ticketing system. Passengers boarding from Cultra would be able to buy tickets from the machines on the platform, instead of having to flag down the conductor onboard a crowded commuter train.

At least, that is the intent. The system was not fully active yet at the time of my visit. The ticket machines were giving error messages, and the travel card readers were inoperational. Early days, I suppose. I do look forward to using these once the system is activated in full.

Connections to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

This post wouldn’t be complete without featuring the linkage from the station to the Museum, which is accessed from the bridge between the station’s 2 platforms. Again, not much has changed, and the pathway has been kept in good shape throughout the 8 years.

Final Thoughts

I first visited Cultra as a young adult trying to find himself, and I revisited Cultra as an (older) young adult who had mostly found himself. I had changed, Cultra had changed, Northern Ireland had changed, but there was still much of us that remained unchanged. In some ways, I was still my younger self on the Cultra platforms in 2024, except I had gotten older and a bit weathered, but still very appreciating of this corner of Ireland as I was back then.

Was this trip for nostalgia’s sake worth it? Why yes, I do think so!