MPV Driver Training on the Lisburn-Antrim Line (26/06/24)

Hi, all!
Last Thursday, I went to South Antrim to chase the MPV as it visited the mothballed Antrim to Lisburn branch line. This was a first for me as I have never seen a train using the branch! I was able to chase the train successfully (for the most part, anyways - save for Crumlin where I got bored and gave up) by using my trusty iLink Zone 2 smartcard on some of the local Ulsterbus services in the area like the 109/a/c and 106. I hope that you enjoyed this video as much as I did making it. If you did, please leave a thumbs up or subscribe, and if you could also share the video too! Also, leave your comments and messages below - I read them and always try to respond to any queries, feedback, and suggestions.
Thanks, -Connor.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:06 - The MPV arrives at Antrim station from Ballymena
2:44 - The MPV departs onto the Lisburn to Antrim branch line for driver training
4:31 - 4016 arrives via the Bleach Green route, used by all passenger trains between Antrim and Belfast
5:50 - Ballinderry Station
6:16 - The MPV arrives from the Lisburn direction into the former Ballinderry Station
7:26 - The MPV departs from Ballinderry after a traincrew break
8:50 - Crumlin Station
9:00 - Endcard
#Wakeful #NIRailways #MPV #translink #antrim #knockmore #ballinderry #crumlin #northernireland #train #trains
WEE YELLOW CHOO-CHOO
Information about the Lisburn-Antrim Branch Line:
The Lisburn-Antrim line is a 20-mile (32 km) railway line of Northern Ireland Railways. It links Knockmore Junction on the Belfast-Newry line with Antrim on the Belfast-Derry line. It has been closed to passenger services since 2003. The line opened in 1871 as the Dublin and Antrim Junction Railway. The train service on the line was provided by the Ulster Railway until 1876, and by the Ulster Railway's successor the Great Northern Railway thereafter. In 1879 the D&A Junction ceased to be a separate company and was absorbed by the GNR. The line is currently closed to passengers after all rail services were withdrawn from the line in June 2003. The stations at Knockmore, Ballinderry, Legatiriff Halt, Glenavy and Crumlin have all been closed. Translink's reason for closing the line was that it was unable to maintain two routes to Antrim economically. The Bleach Green-Antrim line, which had been closed since 1978, was reopened in 2001, providing a faster route between Belfast Central (now Lanyon Place), Antrim and Derry~Londonderry. Translink operated a skeleton service on the line, but then gave notice that it would be shut. The route is still maintained and is used for crew training and train diversions, for example, for passenger services on 9 and 23 October 2011 when there was weekend engineering works at Mossley West. Speculation remains that the line could one day re-open under plans to operate a Belfast - Lisburn - Antrim - Belfast circular route, with the possibility of a station for Belfast International Airport which is close to the line at Aldergrove. Translink's future plans include re-opening this line, allowing trains from Derry to run once per hour on an alternating pattern between Bleach Green and Knockmore. In January 2015, the two passing loops on the line, at Crumlin and Ballinderry, were decommissioned and removed, leaving no more passing points on the line.
Information about NIR's MPV:
The Multi-purpose vehicle is a purpose built departmental derivative of a diesel multiple unit constructed for use as a rail adhesion vehicle by NI Railways in Northern Ireland. The vehicle was built by Windhoff in Germany, and is based on the Windhoff CargoSprinter unit, similar to the vehicles used by Network Rail on the British network. The double ended vehicle is designed primarily to apply sandite and use high pressure water jets on the rail to improve adhesion. However, the design is modular, allowing the swapping of equipment to undertake other work, including weed spraying and tree surgery. The MPV has been built to pull wagons as required. The vehicle was delivered in October 2016 and undertook gauging trials prior to its entry into service. This coincided with the final use of NI Railway's 80 Class sandite train during the leaf fall season in 2016. The vehicle received the UIC identification number 99 70 9428 011-9, while it was numbered as 11 by NIR.
Information from Wikipedia

[@nirtransport]

nice video, hope the day went well and there was zero ilink troubles, broken windowscreens or long waits!

[@SeanTheBusEnthusiast]

Nice! I'd like to pay a visit to some of them disused stations!

[@Wakeful]

Thanks for watching the video and leaving a comment! I was actually surprise by just how overgrown Ballinderry and especially Crumlin had both become compared to recent years - note that the MPV had been through on weedspray just a few weeks earlier too. Very little left to identify that Ballinderry had a station, bar the 2003 closure notice, station building and metal fences. The main platform had been partially demolished and the loop one was completely overgrown too, which was sad to see, with a similar story at Crumlin. If you do get up to visit, I recommend taking the 109/a/c buses which run very frequently between Lisburn and Antrim, and were enhanced following the line's closure in 2003 - the 109a is usually hourly as well. Get off at Ballinderry but have a walk around Crumlin too and see the viaduct if you get a chance. Not too sure what future traffic on the line will be but I'll try keep an eye out. Thanks again, -Connor