A step back in time is set to see rail services in Derry move forward.
Waterside station
Hopes are growing Translink will move its train operation in the city from its current site to the award-winning Old Waterside Station, only yards away.
The campaign to have the disused station restored has been ongoing for a number of years ever since Derry City Council supported a motion by DUP councillor William Hay to have the Waterside to reopen the terminal.
Built in 1873 by architect the John Lanyon, the old station’s distinctive clock tower was added 11 years later.
The building was restored after a number of IRA bomb attacks in the 1970s by architect Caroline Dickson, its restoration winning a Europa Nostra award.
The old station was used for the starting point of the Civil Rights march on 5 October, 1968, when nationalist demonstrators were brutally beaten by the RUC to prevent them going across Craigavon Bridge and into the city centre
Images of the police brutality were shown around the world and the events on that day are regarded as one of the most historic in Ireland’s troubled history.
The building was used by a number of commercial businesses when train services were transferred to the current terminal.
Hopes the return were back on track after East Derry MLA emerged from a lengthy meeting with Translink chief executive, Catherine Mason.
Mr Dallat, the SDLP spokesperson for Regional Development at Stormont, revealed Translink were considering reverting back to the old station adding he believed “this would be the option chosen.”
The Into the West rail campaign group has welcomed the possibility that Translink’s preferred option was the restoration of the old terminal.
The group, set up to bring additional and improved rail services to the North West region, has also been campaigning for the restoration.
Spokesperson Eamon Mc Cann said they had researched ways in which grants could be sourced to fund the the project, while keeping it in public ownership.
He added the group were now looking forward to a formal announcement and were “anxious” to see what their plans were.
A “tragedy” has been averted as a result of the Derry-Belfast rail line being saved from closure, according to a Derry MLA.
John Dallat, the East Derry SDLP representative at Stormont, said the link, threatened with being shut down several years ago, was “now safe from future bad decisions.”
Mr Dallat, his party’s Spokesperson for Regional Development, said closure of the line, would have been “a tragedy” for the North West.
The East Derry MLA was speaking after a lengthy meeting with Catherine Mason, the chief executive of Translink.
Their discussions focused “largely” on the development of rail transport on the Derry-Belfast and Belfast-Dublin services and both agreed any future threat to the Derry line “is now over.”
Mr Dallat added the success of the Derry-Belfast service, described by renowned travel writer Michael Palin as “one of the world’s great train journeys, was “amazing” following new investment in trains and track which has seen an increases of 15% in passenger numbers.
He added: “The reopening of the Coleraine-Derry section has been particularly encouraging with many people travelling to Derry for the City of Culture events choosing to travel by train.”
Mr Dallat revealed that in his discussions with the Translink chief, he emphasised the need for an hourly service and was assured this objective would be met.
Meanwhile, discussions are to get underway to look at the possibility of the Derry terminal being restored to the old Waterside Station.
Mr Dallat said he believed this would be the option chosen.
He concluded: “It has widespread support among the various interested groups in Derry.”
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