Suspicious object found on rail line

Part of the line has been closed during search

A suspicious object has been found on the railway line in Northern Ireland after a bomb warning from a gunman.

It was found on the line between Lurgan in County Armagh and Lisburn in County Antrim.

The security forces are carrying out a clearance operation.

The railway line has been closed between Lurgan in County Armagh and Moira near Lisburn, since Sunday afternoon.

The gunman went into a signal box at Bells Row in Lurgan and said a device had been left on the line.

There was also an anonymous telephone warning that a bomb had been left.

Series of alerts

The latest alert follows a number of similar alerts in recent weeks.

It has caused more disruption to local and cross-border passengers.

One woman said: "It was dreadful. The train was atrocious. The bus from Belfast to Newry was freezing ands they kept us on it for ten minutes before we even got onto the train."

We want to say to the terrorists: Get off our backs and let us get on with providing a service

Ken McKnight

Ken McKnight from the rail company Translink said: "It is particularly frustrating for passengers.

"We are trying to do everything we can to minimise the disruption.

"But we have been closed for 14 separate days due to security alerts this year and it is having a bad effect on the service which we are trying to provide for the whole community.

"We want to say to the terrorists: Get off our backs and let us get on with providing a service."

The M1 was also closed for a time between Lurgan and the Sprucefield turn-off on Sunday.

The latest disruption follows a security alert last week.

The line near Newry, County Down, was closed after a number of blasts were heard last Saturday.

Services had just returned to normal following another alert on the line which lasted several days.