There’s a “huge feeling of positivity” around the expansion of rail services across Northern Ireland, according to the Minister for Infrastructure, responding to a request for an update of the future of Armagh railway in a recent Assembly meeting.
Members centred their discussions around the potential for a business case to assess the feasibility of reopening the Knockmore Railway Line, from Lisburn to Antrim, as put by Lagan Valley MLA, David Honeyford.
However, once that discussion had concluded, Newry and Armagh MLA, Justin McNulty seized his opportunity to address the further-progressed topic of Armagh railway line.
An £800,000 feasibility study into the reopening of the Armagh to Portadown line concluded in March 2025.
As it stands, the project has an anticipated delivery date of between 2030 and 2040, with long-term projects earmarked for the following decade.
The capital cost of implementing all of the recommendations by 2050 is in the order of €35bn-€37 billion/£29-£31 billion in 2023 prices, and that the monetised benefits to society from such investment would cover the costs, meeting the goal of economic feasibility.
There has been little to no update since the feasibility study concluded.
And so, the SDLP MLA asked Minister Kimmins: “Will the Minister provide an update on the business case for the reopening of the Armagh to Portadown rail line and outline when she plans to have trains departing from Armagh station back on track?”
In-line with the information provided to members on the status of Knockmore Railway Line, Ms Kimmins said: “Similar to what I said in response to a previous question, that project was identified in the prioritisation strategy, as the Member will know. I was very pleased to include it, because I recognise the importance of that line. Officials are working closely with Translink to progress those business cases. Everything is subject to budget availability, as the Member will also know.”
Pleasingly, however, it seems as though the project is continuing to gather momentum behind the scenes.
“I have been working very closely with my counterparts in the South. I met Minister Darragh O’Brien again last week at the Transport Ireland conference,” said the Minister.
“There is a huge feeling of positivity and ambition across our island about what the future holds for rail. I am very keen for us to be a key part of that and that we see the full realisation of what has been set out in the all-island strategic rail review and the most recent prioritisation strategy.”
