Northern Ireland

Portadown to Lisburn train hits construction equipment

The construction equipment at the railway line near Lisburn. Photo by Mal McCann
The construction equipment at the railway line near Lisburn. Photo by Mal McCann The construction equipment at the railway line near Lisburn. Photo by Mal McCann

DISRUPTION to rail passengers on Thursday morning was caused by a piece of construction equipment on the railway line south of Lisburn.

An early morning train hit the equipment around 6.45am close to Knockmore industrial estate and emergency services were called to the scene.

A spokesperson for Translink said no-one was injured and the main priority was to get customers moved off the train safely and get "substitute operations" up as soon as possible.

The obstruction caused widespread disruption at morning rush hour with long queues for buses and other commuters adding to the usual congestion on the M1.

Photographs taken at the scene show a large yellow box at the side of the rail line and front windows of the train broken.

Bus substitution services were put in place for train passengers travelling between Portadown and Lisburn and those on the Enterprise Belfast to Dublin service.

The Knockmore Road, which had earlier been closed between the Moira Road and Ballinderry Road was opened before lunchtime on Thursday.