(HD) NI Railways - Yorkgate Railway Station 07/11/09

In a 2 part series, this being part 1, I explore Northern Ireland's railways.

Known as "NI Railways", they are a Government-owned railway, i.e, not subject to franchising as per National Rail Services in England, Scotland and Wales, operate a fleet of 35 Trains calling at 58 stations, Yorkgate being one of them as seen here in this video.

Unfortunatly I cannot provide specific details as to their workings, however there are 2 types of trains filmed in this series.

The first type seen in this video is known as the Class 3000 (C3K Class). 23 of these "3 Car Units" were built by CAF in Spain, and entered service between 2004 & 2005.

The second type of train seen in this video is at 01:31, and are known as NIR Class 450. The nine, 3 car units were constructed by BREL between 1985 and 1987, and have a top speed of 70mph, all of which are named after Castles.
In 2005 they went under a refurbishment program, to bring them up to bring them up to similar standards to the Class 3000 series units, so they can be used for at least another 5 to 7 years, by which time the newbuild "Class 4000" should have entered service in 2011-2013, again to be built by CAF in Spain. 20 sets have been ordered, this time in 3 and 4 car combinations, and with a 20mph max speed increase to that of the Class 450.

One of the things which made me choose Northern Ireland to film, was that they do not use Standard Gauge as seen in mainland UK, which uses 1435mm, where as in Northern Ireland they use 1600mm.

I am hopful this information is accurate, and informative for your knowledge. If you beleive it is incorrect please let me know as I am keen to learn more about Northern Ireland's railways.

Part 2 to come shortly, and next week I explore Southern Ireland's railways.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• NI
• Northern
• Ireland
• Railways
• rail
• train
• 1600mm
• gauge
• class
• 450
• 3000
• units
• CAF
• BREL
• yorkgate
• station
• translink

[4SRKT]

450 class are legendary! NIR have been using electric transmission and EE engines for their multiple units since 1966. These 450 class sets are re-using the engines and tractions motors from the earlier 70 class (built 1966), which were converted from earlier steam-hauled stock, as well as second-hand underfames from BR Mk Is. They are the last of a great NI tradition of re-using stuff, and the CAF sets are bland by comparison. That classic EE roar is the sound of my youth. R.I.P 450 class :-(

[KBRAILVIDEOS]

Thanks :)

yes I agree the CAF units with engines by MAN are bland, however we have to move on with the times to ensure fuel compsumption and cost of maintanance's are kept to a minimium I guess.

As it happens, next week I am going over to Northern Ireland to film the class 450 for the last time. Managed to get a cheap return on the plane so I'm hoping for good weather, as long as there is no rain or snow i'll be happy.

[MG06ZT]

Nice vid, bit of a hill into the station!

[KBRAILVIDEOS]

Thanks :-)

yes just a bit of a hill, I was hoping there would be some passing class 450s but unfortunatly they were all stoppers so no thrash up the hill :-(

Cheers

[scottm16]

excellent video, I was over a couple of weeks ago for work but didnt get a chance to film much, got one C3K Class at Ballymoney!

[KBRAILVIDEOS]

Cool, the C3K's sound quite good when they get going.

cheers

[4SRKT]

@KBRAILVIDEOS

Try to get as much 80 class action as you can. The 4 car set works in the following diagram (M-F only): 0657 Great Victoria St > Whitehead; 0755 Whead > Belfast Central; 0842 Cent > Larne Harbour; 0957 Larne H > Cent; 1530 York Rd > Carrickfergus ECS; 16:00 Carrick > Cent; 1642 Cent > Larne Town; 17:43 Larne T > Cent; 18:50 Cent > Larne T, 19:50 Larne T > Cent.

Get yourself a one day I-link ticket for £15 (will cover transport to and from the airport), and get a few rides!

[secondlifeundergroun]

The 450's are Britains!

[ccoronel]

Excelente Video y muy clara explicación sobre los ferrocarriles en Irlanda del Norte. Lo llamativo de esa estación que esta situada en una curva, bastante movimiento de trenes y pocos pasajeros. Muchas gracias por compartir este viaje por Irlanda por medio de tus videos. Saludos desde Argentina, Carlos

[mappman1000]

those 450s sound pretty superb, great video Kyle :)

[KBRAILVIDEOS]

The 450s are quite impressive,

cheers