Poyntzpass railway station serves the village of

Poyntzpass Poyntzpass () is a small village on the border between southern County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower within the Armagh City, Banbridge and C ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Poyntzpass is the least-used railway station in Northern Ireland, with just 1,730 passengers boarding or alighting at the station in the 2024/25 financial year. Platform 1 is used for Southbound trains and platform 2 is used for Northbound trains. Poyntzpass station and

Scarva Scarva ( meaning "shallow place, rough ford") is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is at the boundary with County Armagh, which is marked by the Newry Canal. In the 2001 census it had a population of 320. Scarva ...

station are the only stations without ticket machines in Northern Ireland, so tickets must be purchased from a conductor after boarding a train. There is a level crossing at the southern end of the station, alongside a signal cabin which is now disused but preserved. On platform 1 there is a stone waiting shelter with origins tracing back to the

Great Northern Railway (Ireland) The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I), GNRI or simply GNR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. Th ...

which is now locked shut so it cannot be used, but both platforms now have modern Translink branded waiting shelters. There is also a siding next to platform 2 where ballast hoppers are stored and occasionally ballast trains operate to and from the station typically hauled by an N.I.R. 111 Class or I.É 201 Class locomotive.

History

The station was opened on 6 January 1862. It was closed by the

Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland that operated from 1948 until 1967. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the , which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB) ...

in 1965, and reopened in 1984 by

Northern Ireland Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR; and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways; UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Tr ...

Service

As of early 2025, there is a limited service from the station, with five trains towards and four towards Belfast Grand Central or

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

on Mondays to Fridays; four trains towards Newry and three towards Belfast or Portadown on Saturdays; and no services on Sundays. Poyntzpass railway station is on the Belfast-Dublin railway line and so

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

services pass through the station operating between Belfast Grand Central and .

References

Railway stations in County Down Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1862 Railway stations served by NI Railways Railway stations in County Armagh Railway stations in Northern Ireland closed in 1965 Reopened railway stations in Northern Ireland Railway stations opened by NI Railways Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in 1984 {{NorthernIreland-railstation-stub