Downpatrick Loop Platform railway station

The Downpatrick Loop Platform railway station is owned and operated by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway which is a heritage railway in Northern Ireland.

Downpatrick Loop Platform
Location	Downpatrick Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54.323332°N 5.726624°W / 54.323332; -5.726624
Owned by	Belfast and County Down Railway
Operated by	Belfast and County Down Railway
Platforms	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Key dates
1892	Opened
1950	Closed
1987	Reopened by DCDR

Downpatrick and County Down Railway
Belfast & County Down Railway to Belfast Inch Abbey Quoile Bridge (River Quoile) Downpatrick Downpatrick Loop Platform King Magnus' Halt Ardglass Line Ballynoe Killough Coney Island Ardglass Ballydugan (proposed) Belfast & County Down Railway to Newcastle

The original Downpatrick railway station was constructed as part of the Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) mainline from Queens Quay, Belfast to Downpatrick. However, with growing railway expansion in the Victorian era and the connecting Downpatrick, Dundrum and Newcastle Railway being subsequently built with a junction north of Downpatrick for through trains between Queens Quay, Belfast and Newcastle railway station (County Down). The awkward permanent way with Downpatrick railway station being on a branch necessitated the construction of the triangle and Loop platform. Therefore, trains could call at Downpatrick or use the avoiding line with connections for passengers and goods at the Loop Platform, thereby making the railway operationally from a signalling point of view, more efficient using a railway triangle.

Downpatrick Loop Platform was opened on 24/09/1892 and closed on 16/01/1950.[1]

During the 1950s with the closure of the BCDR mainline from Queens Quay, Belfast to Newcastle railway station (County Down), the Loop Platform was not demolished as the station had no road access. Under the auspices of the Downpatrick and County Down Railway in 1993 with funding from the International Fund for Ireland the remains of the original ironwork was incorporated into the replica station canopy. The station is on the only operational railway triangle on a preserved railway.[2]

In Spring 2014, the 'Back Line' (The former mainline which avoided Downpatrick) was relaid and the platform refurbished. During 2015, relaying commenced on the 'South Line' (The direct line to Downpatrick).