{"id":9123,"date":"2015-05-12T14:59:29","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T13:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=9123"},"modified":"2015-05-12T14:59:29","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T13:59:29","slug":"translink-north-down-get-ready-to-celebrate-holywood-%e2%80%93-bangor-railway-150th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2015\/05\/translink-north-down-get-ready-to-celebrate-holywood-%e2%80%93-bangor-railway-150th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Translink & North Down get ready to celebrate Holywood \u2013 Bangor Railway 150th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public encouraged to make \u2018smart moves\u2019 by train to Bangor on May 16 to mark historic milestone <\/em><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>The 150th<\/sup> anniversary of the opening of the Holywood \u2013 Bangor Railway Line will take place this month (18 May 2015) and to mark the major historic milestone, Translink is encouraging more people to visit Bangor and enjoy a range of special events and activities taking place on Saturday 16th<\/sup> May.<\/p>\n

Steeped in history, the railway in North Down has come a long way since construction was completed by the Belfast, Holywood and Bangor Railway Company (BHBR) in 1865 when the population of Bangor was less than 3,000.<\/p>\n

In the past decade alone, passenger numbers on the Bangor railway line have grown by 89%. Today, the line is thriving with over 2.87 million passenger journeys made in 2014\/15. Customers today can choose from 100 services per day and six departures per hour during peak times.<\/p>\n

Gemma McMurray, Translink NI Railways Route Manager \u2013 Bangor Line, said<\/strong> there are many reasons for the continued popularity of train travel:<\/p>\n

\u201cTravelling by train is a \u2018smart move\u2019 for many people in Northern Ireland. Both regular commuters and visitors to North Down enjoy a wide range of benefits by using the train \u2013 relaxing hassle-free journeys on board modern clean trains, frequent and reliable services, free on board wi-fi, time-savings compared to car travel and great value with a range of attractive tickets to choose from.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this special anniversary year, we want more people to explore North Down by train and enjoy all the excellent attractions situated along the route. Stop off in Holywood town centre and browse the speciality boutiques, step back in time at Cultra\u2019s Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, blow away the cobwebs at Crawfordsburn Country Park, explore Grey Point Fort at Helen\u2019s Bay, soak up the fun at Bangor\u2019s Pickie Fun Park and Aurora Aquatic Complex or relax in the serenity of Bangor Castle Walled Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Saturday 16th<\/sup> May, a range of events will be taking place in Bangor making it a perfect destination for a fun family day out. There will be music and food galore with the Continental Market at McKee Clock Arena and the Ards and North Down Pipe Band Championships taking place in Castle Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will also be entertainment in Bangor Bus & Rail Centre from 2 \u2013 4pm with historical characters in costume provided by the Ulster-Scots Agency, memorabilia and model railway displays, Bluegrass musical performances as well as face-painting and balloon-modelling for kids. Translink customers can also enjoy complimentary treats provided by \u2018The Salt House and Steam Coffee and Bake House\u2019 and \u2018Station News\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get there, passengers can take advantage of a third-off rail day return tickets for travel after 9.30am or the Family & Friends ticket offering unlimited all day travel on Translink bus and train services for up to 2 adults and 4 children for just \u00a322.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also want our passengers to tell us why they love their journey by train on the Bangor railway line\u2013 simply tweet Translink_NI #smartmovers with their stories. All the tweets will be entered into a competition to win prizes including travel and local attraction tickets plus copies of historian Robin Masefield\u2019s new book ‘Be Careful, Don’t Rush, celebrating 150 years of train travel between Holywood and Bangor’<\/em> .<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also worked closely with Robin to create a series of Bangor Railway posters that will be put on display in coming weeks along the route and provide an interesting overview of each individual station\u2019s unique history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really looking forward to celebrating the 150th<\/sup> anniversary and welcoming more visitors to Bangor for a great day out on May 16,\u201d said Gemma.<\/p>\n

Alex Irvine, Tourism Development Officer, Ards and North Down Borough Council, said: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cVisitors and tourists have been coming here by train since the railways inception to enjoy the many attractions and activities the area has to offer. We are delighted to be supporting this weekend of celebrations and we hope that people will take this opportunity to jump on board and come to Bangor for a busy day of activities on May 16th<\/sup>.\u201d<\/p>\n

For further information on the Holywood \u2013 Bangor Railway 150th<\/sup> anniversary click www.translink.co.uk\/HBR150\/<\/a>. For Translink NI Railways travel information call 028 90 66 66 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public encouraged to make \u2018smart moves\u2019 by train to Bangor on May 16 to mark historic milestone The 150th anniversary of the opening of the Holywood \u2013 Bangor Railway Line will take place this month (18 May 2015) and to mark the major historic milestone, Translink is encouraging more people to visit Bangor and enjoy … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9125,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9123\/revisions\/9125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}