Botanic railway station

This article is about the railway station in Northern Ireland. For the station in The Bronx, see Botanical Garden (Metro-North station). For the subway station in Brooklyn, see Botanic Garden (BMT Franklin Avenue Line). For the former station in Scotland, see Botanic Gardens railway station.

Botanic
Translink commuter rail station
General information
Location	Belfast Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54.5884°N 5.9328°W / 54.5884; -5.9328
Owned by	NI Railways
Operated by	NI Railways
Line(s)	Bangor Derry~Londonderry Larne
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	no
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	iLink Zone 1
Key dates
1976	Opened
2008	Refurbished
Passengers
2015/16	986,782[1]
2016/17	1,059,520 [1]
2017/18	1,149,721 [1]
2018/19	1,261,872[2]
2019/20	1,199,695 [3]
2020/21	178,872 [4]
2021/22	686,153 [5]
2022/23	904,204[6]
2023/24	1.176 million [7]
NI Railways Translink NI railway stations
Route map (Click to expand) Show NI Railways Network map Year closed Great Victoria Street 2024 Belfast Grand Central Belfast-Dublin line to Portadown, Newry & Dublin Connolly City Hospital Windsor 1885 Botanic Ormeau 1885 Lanyon Place Queen's Bridge 1885 Lagan Railway Bridge over River Lagan Belfast-Bangor line to Bangor Dargan Bridge over River Lagan York Street Yorkgate 2024 York Road depot York Road 1992 Fortwilliam Traincare Depot Greencastle 1954 Whitehouse 1954 Whiteabbey Belfast-Larne line to Larne Harbour via Greenisland   1963 Monkstown 1981 Mossley 1982 Mossley West Ballyclare Junction 1961 Ballyclare branch line to Ballyclare 1950 Ballyrobert 1920 Doagh 1970 Templepatrick 1981 Dunadry 1954 Muckamore 1961 Lisburn-Antrim line to Lisburn 2003 Antrim Cookstown Junction 1976 Cookstown branch line 1959 to Magherafelt & Cookstown Kellswater 1971 Andraid 1850 Ballymena & Larne Rly to Larne 1950 Ballymena Ballymena, Cushendall & Red Bay Rly 1940 to Parkmore and Retreat   Cullybackey Glarryford 1973 Killagan 1973 Dunloy 1976 Ballymoney Ballycastle Railway to Ballycastle 1950 Derry Central Railway to Magherafelt 1950 Macfin 1954 Coleraine Coleraine Harbour 1963 Coleraine-Portrush line to Portrush River Bann Coleraine Waterside 1861 Barmouth 1856 Castlerock Castlerock Tunnel Downhill Tunnel Downhill 1973 Umbra 1861 Magilligan 1976 Bellarena River Roe Limavady Railway to Limavady and Dungiven 1955 Limavady Junction 1976 Ballykelly 1954 Carrichue 1954 Faughanvale 1859 Eglinton 1973 River Faughan Derry ~ Londonderry This diagram: view talk edit Show Derry~Londonderry line route diagram Year closed Great Victoria Street 2024 Belfast Grand Central Belfast-Dublin line to Portadown, Newry, Dublin Connolly City Hospital Windsor 1885 Botanic Ormeau 1885 Lanyon Place Queen's Bridge 1885 Lagan Railway Bridge over River Lagan Belfast-Larne railway line & Belfast-Derry railway line Titanic Quarter (Bridge End) Queen's Quay 1976 Belfast and County Down main line to Comber, Downpatrick, Newcastle 1950 Ballymacarrett 1976 Victoria Park 1981 Sydenham Tillysburn 1945 Kinnegar 1957 Holywood Marino Cultra Craigavad 1957 Seahill Helen's Bay Crawfordsburn 1997 Carnalea Bangor West Bangor This diagram: view talk edit Show Bangor line route diagram Year closed Great Victoria Street 2024 Belfast Grand Central Belfast-Dublin line to Portadown, Newry and Dublin Connolly City Hospital Windsor 1885 Botanic Ormeau 1885 Lanyon Place Queen's Bridge 1885 Lagan Railway Bridge over River Lagan Belfast-Bangor line to Bangor Dargan Bridge over River Lagan York Street Yorkgate 2024 York Road depot York Road 1992 Greencastle 1954 Whitehouse 1954 Whiteabbey Belfast–Derry railway line to Derry~Londonderry Bleach Green 1977 Jordanstown Belfast–Derry railway line via Monkstown 1963 Greenisland Trooperslane Mount 1977 Harbour branch line to Carrickfergus Harbour Clipperstown Carrickfergus Barn 1977 Downshire Eden 1977 Kilroot 1977 Whitehead Whitehead Excursion RPSI depot Ballycarry Magheramorne Glynn Larne Town Ballymena and Larne Railway to Kilwaughter, Ballyclare and Ballymena Larne Harbour This diagram: view talk edit Show Larne line route diagram
Location Botanic Location within Northern Ireland Show map of Northern Ireland Botanic Location on the Island of Ireland Show map of island of Ireland

Botanic railway station serves the Botanic area in south Belfast, Northern Ireland and students for Queen's University Belfast; it is also near Shaftesbury Square which is along Botanic Avenue. It is named after the nearby Belfast Botanic Gardens. It is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being City Hospital, Lanyon Place and Grand Central.

The station opened on 26 April 1976 and is very close to City Hospital Station.^[8]

Passengers can alight here for the Ulster Museum, which is situated on the edge of Botanic Gardens.

Services

Train services

On weekdays, there is a half-hourly service on the Bangor Line between Grand Central and Bangor, with extra trains at peak times. The Derry~Londonderry Line operates an hourly service between Grand Central and Derry~Londonderry, with additional trains to Coleraine at peak times. The Larne Line operates a half-hourly service to Larne Harbour and Whitehead, with the terminus alternating between the two every half-hour. Extra trains operate to Carrickfergus and Larne Town at peak times.

On Saturdays, service patterns remain largely similar except without any additional peak-time trains.

On Sundays, the Bangor Line reduces to an hourly service. The Derry~Londonderry Line alternates its outbound terminus every hour between Derry~Londonderry and Portrush, resulting in a two-hourly service to stations beyond Coleraine. The Larne Line also reduces to hourly but continues alternating the terminus between Larne Harbour and Whitehead, resulting in a two-hourly service to stations beyond Whitehead.

Preceding station		Northern Ireland Railways		Following station
City Hospital		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Derry		Lanyon Place
		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Larne
		Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Bangor

The timetable allows 3 minutes for the trains to travel between Lanyon Place and Botanic.

At one point, the cross-border Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly served Botanic, but no longer stops at the station.^[9]

Bus services

Belfast Metro's 7 services connect Botanic station to the City Centre, Four Winds, Laurelgrove, Braniel, and Stormont. Additionally, the 625 Ulsterbus service also stop near the station with runs from the City Centre to Ballynahinch and Carryduff. There are no ticket vending machines (TVMs) for bus tickets; passengers can either download the mLink app or pay directly on the bus.

Gallery

• 
  Exterior of the station
• 
  NIR Class 3000 train approaching Botanic in 2009
• 
  NIR 80 Class DEMU at Botanic station in 1976

References

1. "NIR Footfall 1518.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
2. "NIR Footfall 1819.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
3. "NIR Footfall 1920.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 11 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
4. "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2021.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
5. "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2122.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 26 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
6. "NIR Footfall 22-23". Whatdotheyknow. 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
7. "FOI Footfall 2023 2024 figures PDF.pdf". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 7 May 2024. Archived from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
8. Northern Ireland Railways Public Timetable effective April 26, 1976
9. "Timetable: Belfast, (NIR) Central Stn - Dublin, Connolly Rail Stn - Service 5". nirailways.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 October 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2024.

External links

• Media related to Botanic railway station at Wikimedia Commons