Derry ~ Londonderry railway station

Derry ~ Londonderry railway station, also known as North West Transport Hub or Waterside railway station (formerly "Londonderry Waterside", and later just "Londonderry" railway station), is a railway terminus in Derry, Northern Ireland, on the east bank of the River Foyle, operated by Northern Ireland Railways and its 7th busiest station across the network with 952,126 passengers boarding or alighting at the station in the 2023/24 financial year. It is on the Belfast–Derry railway line, terminating at Belfast Grand Central. Derry/Londonderry has the longest platforms on the NIR Network, at 258.3 metres in length.

History

The original Londonderry Waterside Station was opened on 29 December 1852 by Steven Alfred John Campbell, a well-known banker of the time. It was rebuilt into the current building by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway in 1874.

Derry historically had four passenger termini. On the west side of the river, Graving Dock station served the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway and destinations to the west and Foyle Road station (which replaced the short-lived Cow Market station) served the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway to Enniskillen via Strabane and Omagh. On the east side of the river, Victoria Road station served the alternative Donegal Railway Company (later Great Northern Railway) line to Strabane and Waterside station served the line to Belfast via the north coast. Although passenger trains terminated at these respective stations, all four railways were linked by freight lines through the city and the Craigavon Bridge.

As a result of a series of closures of the other lines, Waterside was the only station to have survived closure by 1965.