NI Railways
Class Type Built Withdrawn Notes
Class Z Steam locomotive 1949 1969 Ex-SLNCR Lough class
Class WT Steam locomotive 1946-1950 1969-1971 2-6-4 tank engines nicknamed Jeeps due to their general purpose traffic ability . Used for Spoil trains from Magheramorne to shores of Belfast Lough as well as shunting , passenger and freight . Arguably the last steam locomotives in mainline operation in the British Isles
AEC Diesel multiple unit 1948-1950 1972 10 Inherited from the UTA
BUT Diesel multiple unit 1956-1958 1975 - 1980 Nine vehicles converted to hauled stock over the 1970s , these lasted until 1980
MED Diesel Multiple Unit 1952-1954 1973-1978 Intended for local services around Belfast
MPD Diesel Multiple Unit 1957-1962 1981-1984 Intended for longer distance former NCC routes and Enterprise
70 Class Diesel Multiple Unit 1966-1968 1985-1986 Passenger DEMU . Engines recovered for use in 450 Class units . One intermediate is preserved at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway . One driving trailer was also preserved , but was destroyed
80 Class Diesel Multiple Unit 1974-1979 2011-2017 Passenger DEMU affectionately nicknamed 'Thumpers ' . Operated on all routes . Also used for Sandite until 2017
101 Class Diesel locomotive 1970 1989 Intended for loco hauled Enterprise services
104 Class Diesel locomotive 1956-1957 1993 Originally operated under CIÉ ; six transferred to NIR in 1986
450 Class Diesel Multiple Unit 1985-1987 2011-2012 Passenger DEMU nicknamed the Castle Class by enthusiasts . Power cars named after Northern Ireland castles . Initially designed for commuter or branch line traffic but could be found over the entire network . One example is preserved on the Downpatrick & County Down Railway
RB3 Diesel Railcar 1980 1990 Prototype built for British Rail ; transferred to NIR in 1983 . Preserved at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway
Class 1 Diesel locomotive 1969 1989 Shunters . Since withdrawal two have been rebuilt for work in Sri Lanka ; one is in storage in Wales
Rolling stock -- Past fleet
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), and is one of four publicly owned train operators in the United Kingdom, the others being Network Rail, Direct Rail Services and LNER. It has a common Board of Management with the other two companies in the group, Ulsterbus and Metro (formerly Citybus). The rail network in Northern Ireland is not part of the National Rail network of Great Britain, nor does it use Standard Gauge, instead using Irish Gauge in common with the rest of Ireland. Also, NIR is the only commercial non-heritage passenger operator in the United Kingdom to operate a vertical integration model, with responsibility of all aspects of the network including running trains, maintaining rolling stock and infrastructure, and pricing. However, since the Single European Railway Directive 2012, the company has allowed open access operations by other rail operators. In 2017, NI Railways carried 15 million passengers. NIR jointly runs the Enterprise train service between Belfast and Dublin with Iarnród Éireann. There is no link to the rail system in Great Britain; proposals have been made, but allowances would have to be made for the different rail gauge (standard gauge) in use in Britain and Ireland (Irish gauge).