Tracing the Omagh-Derry railway line on Google satellite and street view

The Omagh to Derry railway line is still clearly visible from above, and although some roads and structures have been built on the old right of way, getting this line reopened is still an achievable goal. If the A5 dual carriageway project were to construct bypasses near Omagh and Strabane, the A roads inside those towns that were built in place of the tracks could be returned to railway use.
Some points that I missed while recording:
1 - The platforms of the station at Sion Mills are still visible in the other piece of road to the south of where I looked here.
2 - At Victoria Bridge there was a second station slightly farther to the north. All that remains there now is an old cemetery and what appears to be the ruins of a church. I'd be interested in learning if this was a location of some importance and if the church had a halt of its own. There is a point in the street view where we can see inside from inside the graveyard.
3 - East of the second bridge across the river is a photo point where a terrific 360-degree aerial drone shot was taken.
4 - Victoria Bridge also had a narrow gauge railway that went south to Castlederg. Fyfin Rd and Strabane Rd were built upon this route.
5 - In addition to the mainline from Irvinestown to Bundoran, Donegal once had 225 miles of narrow gauge railway, which is more than Translink's entire current network. The lines fanned out across the county from Derry and Strabane.

[@jimcrawford5039]

I remember going from Belfast to Derry on the old GNR line in 1963. I believe it went via Dungannon & Strabane, correct me if I am wrong. This was on the GNR original DMUs. I do remember a lot of infrastructure destroyed around the stations on that trip. This was disgraceful to say the least! I returned to Belfast via the NCC or LMS to York Rd. I do remember this so well, as I was leaving for Australia soon after and sadly, I have never been back to N.I. Thank for your informative video, I do try to keep up with news on the old country, thank goodness for the internet and KZbin! Cheers from Oz.

[@Squareheed]

A train halt at the Ulster American Folk park would be a great addition. The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum has one in Cultra so I can 100% imagine this being a thing if and when the line is reopened

[@lairdoharray]

Thanks very much for this. The Derry Road should never have been closed. It served 6 Ulster counties and thus gave great connectivity. Maybe some of it was engineered cheaply, but the money should have been spent to upgrade it. Then they didn't even build the roads promised in 1964 for a long time. When they did some of the improvements, they grabbed the railway solum. It would take a huge amount of money to relay a railway, but who knows!

[@vmcgeever9922]

I enjoyed this. I grew up in Tyrone and now work on the railways in London. Its a great pity the line in Tyrone no longer exists.

[@ewancowleymusic]

Eamonn - many thanks for this, I enjoyed it hugely. When you get time, I wonder are you interested in tracing the short line from Strabane to Derry on the east side of the Foyle? It's faint on google maps but the clues remain, east of Ballymagorry to Cullion, through New Buildings and then on to the east bank of the Foyle to what was Victoria Road station. This would tie up both sides of the Foyle very nicely! Best wishes, Ewan.

[@eamonnca1]

Thanks for watching, Ewan. I'll take a look at that line

[@ewancowleymusic]

@@eamonnca1 Cheers Eamonn, I hope you find it revealing!

[@MichaelWard-hx8pr]

Hi Eamonn brilliant video and keep up the good work. Might be worth looking at Derry (victoria road) to Strabane line that was ran by Lough Swilly Railway on the East Bank of the River Foyle. Lots of it not built upon and best bet for getting Derry-Strabane onwards reopened again.

[@TheHoveHeretic]

The thing missing from Ireland's railways ... across all 32 counties ... is freight. Back when the UTA crippled the economy of the west, the railway had to go hell for leather to move as much freight as possible ahead of closure. Also, check out passenger numbers for the dieselised Belfast services from Enniskillen during the last few months of that line's existence. Pity there just weren't the DMUs to grow the services instead of letting idealogues and their fossilised ideas loose. Ooh! .... what does that remind me of? One small considerattion when you're looking at rail reinstatement is keeping in mind an engineering feature which has only been used a handful of times on the 5'-3" gauge .... tunnels come in 'cut and cover' as well as bored out. Rail overbridges define load heights (within the overall kinetic envelope), therefore slotting a reinstated rail line beneath a road isn't the game stopper which the two dimensional approach might suggest. Just another option .....

[@martinwalsh3228]

Reopening of the Railway line would cut down on Pollution, Car Accidents, Traffic Jams & Road Deaths 24 hour trains in summer & St Stephen's Day trains too are needed.

[@Squareheed]

Very much so, as well as giving western access to rail so that people can comfortable, quickly and affordably travel from places like Omagh to cities like Belfast and Londonderry.

[@martinwalsh3228]

@@Squareheed Government needs to look into it.

[@joprocter4573]

Be wonderful to see it open all over NI and reaching into border connections. Tourism would flow in as trains speed up.. Lot of English train stations have away from shops but walking distance.. How is europa bus n rail Centre GRAND going to work Belfast. Not in town but so close its not outside

[@chriscoyle1221]

The Old Railway line from Derry running south to Carrigans is opened as a greenway. It is used for walking and cycling and is tarmac the whole way. This path runs along the Foyle to right underneath the Foyle Bridge where it will connect with the Derry to Muff Greenway, which is due to open in the coming months. If you pause the video at 27:17 you can see the southern end of the path curve to the left (west) and connect with Ballougry Road which is on the National and European Cycling network. A Special Needs Organisation called 'Destined' has taken ownership of the old Foyle Railway building which is situated right next to the Craigavon Bridge. It has an impressive display and museum inside and is open to the public. At Christmas I was told during a visit there, that the longer term strategy is to at the very least get the line reopened for leisure which includes the use of an old diesel engine train similar to the one used at Lough Finn in Donegal.

[@waltersstuart4994]

Really enjoyed this. Ever thought about tracing the line from Donegal town?

[@eamonnca1]

Yes, I’d like to cover the narrow gauge lines eventually.

[@earlofbelmont]

Brilliant. I wonder if the County Down lines could be reopened: Knock, Dundonald, Comber, Donaghadee, Newcastle.

[@TheHoveHeretic]

'Be Careful Don't Rush' . Thing with the now closed lines of the BCDR was, they were circuitous .. to put it mildly. It's noticeable that the surviving line has about the best alignment imaginable for it's catchment (does Cultra really not have it's own station? Put that right tomorrow!). I can't help feeling that were Ards to get it's railway back, a completely new formation would make a LOT more sense. With the best will in the world, I can't see Newcastle warranting rail services any time soon.

[@davidcorbett62]

Even to our dim witted politicians the answer to the cleaner air policy, you know the only battery boxes allowed to be sold in the UK from 2030 which will solve nothing the change to railways would make a huge contribution to the removing of carbon gases! Also with the addition of freight it would remove lots of lorries from our roads. I remember the Derry line running through Dungannon and remember very little money was invested in the railways and rolling stock

[@julianprus7868]

Times change, it will obviously be re- built as people are buying less and less private cars, increasing demand for rail. Lobby MP's to get it done sooner rather than later.