Lobby group Into The West has raised an issue in which trains from Belfast to Derry have been diverted to Portrush, leaving passengers 'stranded'.
During the summer months, passengers travelling on the Belfast to Derry line have arrived to find a scheduled Derry train diverted to Portrush.
Into The West expressed concern in the diversion of passengers seeking a route to Derry, particularly during the popular Foyle Maritime Festival, in which 150,000 people descended on to Derry's quay.
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Into The West were contacted by rail users whose trains to Derry were re-routed to Portrush with little notice and found themselves stranded in Coleraine. Some disgruntled passengers have taken to social media to air their frustrations.
One user tweeted: “My train between Belfast and Derry ended up becoming the seaside express to Portrush and I’m waiting for 50mins at Coleraine, as are lots of other Derry passengers. No clear explanations Translink NI”. Translink responded to say it was due to a signalling problem.
The user then replied to dispute that and said: “It’s happened to me quite a few times before on this route… and it’s also affected many colleagues. What often compounds the issue is that passengers are left to wait for the next train an hour later”.
Another Twitter user used the train to come to Derry for the Maritime Festival and had to change and wait at Coleraine. He tweeted: “I was on the train and it was a shambles.. Lost over two hours of a five hour trip due to delays. Staff not informed”. He concluded that the experience had 'Ruined our day in Derry'.
Chair of Into The West. Steve Bradley, said: “This farcical situation wouldn’t happen anywhere else in Ireland or Britain. This has come hot on the heels of the recent fiasco with Translink’s ‘special’ train for Derry GAA supporters, which only ran from Belfast.
"We have tried to raise this issue directly with Translink management ourselves, but have not received a response. We have therefore written to the Mayor and Chief Executive of Derry-Strabane Council to request that they formally express their dissatisfaction to Translink and demand change.
"We are also meeting Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd next week, where we will raise this issue with him too. It is time that those in power intervened to stop the blatant and continual discrimination against rail services in the west of NI."
Into The West are also concerned that diversion of trains will undermine confidence in services into the North West, and hinder the progress made by Derry to increase its number of rail passengers, becoming Northern Ireland’s 9th busiest rail station in 2021-22, up from 17th place in only five years.
A representative from Translink said: "The North-West timetable is designed to offer Belfast to Derry~Londonderry through trains, with the Portrush line serving as a connecting route in Coleraine. Safety is always our top priority and during the summer months when passenger demand to Portrush is considerably higher, two through trains operate each day directly to/from Portrush in each direction.
"This prevents large volumes of passengers having to make platform changes in Coleraine Station as we always endeavour to minimise disruption to passengers. For these two services, passengers journeying to and from the North-West Transport Hub are required to change to connecting trains in Coleraine station. All other services run direct to and from Derry~Londonderry."
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