60th anniversary of closure of rail route between Derry and Portadown

Rail campaigners Into the West are highlighting that today marks the 60th anniversary of the closure of rail in Donegal and Tyrone and the removal of Derry's direct rail route to Dublin. And they hope that the anniversary will encourage action amongst elected representatives to ensure that the restoration of the north-west rail corridor is made a priority project. February 14, 1965 was the day that the last train ran on the 'Derry Road' rail route between Derry and Portadown.

That line started at Foyle Road in Derry before travelling south through stations in Carrigans, St Johnston and Porthall - crossing the River Foyle at Strabane to then travel on to Portadown through Omagh and Dungannon. In 1962 the Stormont government published a report into the future of rail in Northern Ireland. Known as 'The Benson Report' it was very much a product of its time, and part of a series of similar reports in the early 1960s which tilted NI's balance of investment and resources in favour of the east of the Bann.

Benson recommended that the Derry-Portadown line should be shut, despite it having had a strong performance over the years for both freight and passenger numbers.

Unsurprisingly Stormont agreed. As a result, the last train to run along the Derry-Portadown route was on 14th February 1965 - just four days after Stormont had announced that NI's new university would be located in Coleraine rather than Derry. The track on the Derry-Portadown route was lifted almost immediately, and the land quickly sold off to ensure that the line couldn't reappear again.

Counties Donegal and Tyrone were left without any rail, and Derry was stripped of its direct rail route to Dublin. Rail campaigners have therefore christened the event as the St Valentine's Day Massacre for rail in the north-west. Local rail campaigners 'Into The West' are raising awareness of this Friday's 60th anniversary event as part of their campaign to see have the Derry-Portadown route restored.

The All-Island Rail Strategy published last year recommended reopening the route - plus an onwards link between Derry and Letterkenny - with a timescale for doing so in the 2040s at the earliest. Into The West have rejected this, and instead propose that the Derry-Portadown line should be made one of the seven priority projects arising from the All-Island Strategy. They are also calling on the Irish government to fast-track restoration of the Letterkenny-Derry link, rather than the current proposal that it should only happen after Stormont restores Derry-Portadown.

They point out that the Irish government's EUR17.1bn Apple Windfall Tax infrastructure fund provides a perfect opportunity to expedite the return of rail to Letterkenny within the next decade. Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, commented: "This Friday marks the anniversary of the start of 60 years of infrastructure isolation for much of the north-west of the island. "The closure of the old Derry-Portadown rail line on Valentine's Day in 1965 removed not only the last bits of rail from counties Donegal and Tyrone, but also the north-west's direct link to Dublin.

"In the decades that followed this entire region has been held back - with metrics like wage levels, unemployment and disposable income showing that it continually under-performs. And Letterkenny continues to be choked by the kind of congestion you would only expect to find in a much larger town. "This is the price that people here are paying for this region's lack of decent infrastructure.

For the lack of even a basement-level of connectivity in counties Donegal and Tyrone in particular." To help raise awareness of the 60th anniversary and their campaign to have the Letterkenny-Derry-Portadown north-west rail corridor restored, Into The West have produced a series of large banners which will be installed at key locations around Tyrone and Donegal in the coming weeks. They are also seeking to coordinate a cross-border delegation from the four councils in the north-west (Derry-Strabane, Donegal, Fermanagh-Omagh and Mid-Ulster) to meet with key Ministers in Belfast and Dublin to demand that the Letterkenny-Derry-Portadown rail corridor be made a priority project (with Letterkenny in particular fast-tracked).

They have secured the support so far of Donegal County Council for this proposal, and are hopeful that the other councils will also follow shortly. Mr Bradley concluded: "The case for reopening the Derry-Portadown line as a priority rail project is strong. It is up to elected representatives, the councils and key stakeholders across the north-west to now do all they can to help ensure that it happens.

"Sixty years after Donegal and Tyrone lost the last of their rail, and Derry lost its direct link to Dublin, it is imperative that no more generations here are held back by the lack of even a basic level of infrastructure.

"Let's resolve to make 2025 the year that restoration of the Derry-Portadown and Derry-Letterkenny lines are made priority infrastructure projects for this island."