Portadown Railway Station serves the town of Portadown in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
The station is located on the Belfast-Dublin railway line. The original station opened in 1842, and the present station opened in 1970. It is currently County Armagh's busiest station and Northern Ireland's 5th busiest station with over 1.2 million passengers in the 2025/26 financial year
History
The original Portadown station was sited half a mile east of the present station and opened on 12 September 1842, replacing a temporary station at Seagoe that had opened the preceding year. The Portadown station was moved to the present location in 1848 then reverted to its original site between 1863 and 1970. Goods traffic ceased on 4 January 1965.
The present station opened in 1970, replacing a large and largely redundant station. At the time (1970) the station was called Portadown - Craigavon West, a title that was quietly dropped after the "new city" Craigavon failed to materialise. The layout of the 1970 station was modified in 1997 to allow bi-directional working on all three platforms. The lines to Cavan via Armagh (closed 1957), and Derry via Dungannon and Omagh (closed 1965) diverged immediately west of the present station.
In 2012, work began on a major refurbishment of the station. A new, modern building was constructed and a footbridge replaced the subway. The refurbishment was completed in 2013.In 2018, a new 347-space Park and Ride facility opened at Corcrain Road near the station. Ticket vending machines were installed at the station in 2024, followed by automatic ticket barriers in 2025.
Layout The station has three platforms, which are all fully accessible via lifts, and a footbridge connects platform 1 with platforms 2 and 3. The modern station building features ticket machines as well as a ticket office, departure boards, a shop and plenty of seating both in the station's main concourse and on the platforms. There are automatic ticket barriers at the entrance to the platforms from the station concourse. Platform 1 is used mostly for Southbound Enterprise services and terminating NI Railways services from Belfast, platform 2 is used mostly for northbound Enterprise services and platform 3 is used for terminating NI Railways services from Newry or Belfast, and sometimes empty trains are stored at platform 3 as well. There are two sidings South of platform 1 sometimes used for storing track machinery e.g. tampers.
Service This is the terminus for most services on the Belfast-Newry railway line. Four services operate beyond here to on weekdays and Saturdays. There is a half-hourly service to in the other direction. On Sundays, this service reduces to hourly toward Belfast Grand Central, with no NIR services to Newry.
An hourly Enterprise service runs to or Belfast Grand Central every weekday and Saturday, while a bi-hourly service operates on Sundays.
The line is very popular with passengers travelling to sporting and music events in Dublin, including events at Croke Park, which is within walking distance of Dublin Connolly, and the Aviva Stadium, which can be reached by changing at Connolly for the DART to Lansdowne Road. The line is also used by passengers changing at Dublin Connolly for DART services to destinations such as Dún Laoghaire, Bray & Greystones. Passengers travelling onward by ferry can transfer in Dublin city centre to Dublin Port for Irish Ferries or Stena Line services to Holyhead, from where rail connections continue along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.
Future
Link to Armagh City There is a possibility of re-opening of the line from Portadown to Armagh railway station.The Ulster Gazette. 16 May 2013 Government Minister for the Department for Regional Development, Danny Kennedy MLA indicates railway restoration plans.
The Armagh railway line has been listed in proposed plans to reopen the line.
In December 2025, the Portadown to Armagh line was included in the Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy as one of the projects to be progressed. In June 2026, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins stated that Department for Infrastructure officials were working closely with Translink to progress the business cases for the line, subject to budget availability.
All-Island Rail Review The all-island rail review suggested that Portadown once again become a major interchange between the current Dublin-Belfast Main line, proposed lines such as the single tracked Mullingar-Portadown Line via Armagh, Monaghan, Clones, and Cavan and the dual tracked Derry~Londonderry-Portadown Line via Dungannon, Omagh and Strabane. Portadown would also become an inland freight terminal serving connections to Rosslare Europort, Dublin Port and Larne Harbour.
The All-Island Rail Review draft also includes 29 other recommendations for railways across the Island of Ireland and it is said that it will take at least 25 years to complete. It would cost in the range of €36.8bn/£30.7bn (as of 2023) and be split between both regions. 75% by the Republic of Ireland and 25% by Northern Ireland.
In December 2025, a Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy was published setting out how the recommendations of the review should be sequenced. It identified projects including Portadown to Armagh and Portadown to Derry for progression.
Bus connections Translink's Ulsterbus and Goldliner services operating from just outside Portadown railway station:
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References
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