Helen's Bay railway station serves Helen's Bay

Helen's Bay

Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot , between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1,362 in the 2001 Census...

 in County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It is within the townland

Townland

A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 of Ballygrot.

The station in the grand Scottish Baronial style, built in 1863, was the creation of Lord Dufferin, through whose land the line was laid. His family had their own private entrance and waiting room. The architect was Benjamin Ferrey

Benjamin Ferrey

Benjamin Ferrey, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.-Family:Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr, a draper who became Mayor of Christchurch. He was educated at Wimborne Grammar School....

.

The station opened on 1 May 1865 and was closed for goods traffic on 24 April 1950.

The next station on the line towards Bangor

Bangor, County Down

Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...

 used to be Crawfordsburn

Crawfordsburn railway station

Crawfordsburn railway station served Crawfordsburn Hospital in County Down, Northern Ireland, situated between Carnalea and Helen's Bay. The halt closed in 1997 because of low passenger numbers. The platforms were removed in 2001 during the relaying of the Belfast-Bangor line....

 but this was closed in 1997.

Service

Mondays to Saturdays there is a half hourly service towards Portadown or Newry or Belfast in one direction and to Bangor in the other with extra services at peak times and the service is hourly in the evenings operated by Northern Ireland Railways

Northern Ireland Railways

NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways and for a brief period of time, Ulster Transport Railways , is the railway operator in Northern Ireland...

. Some services at peak times start from Belfast Central.

On Sundays there is an hourly service in each direction.