Station Platforms, Helen's Bay Railway Station, Helen's Bay, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 1TN

The platforms at Helen's Bay Railway Station were built around 1862 to designs by Charles Lanyon for the Belfast, Holywood & Bangor Railway. They are Grade B2 listed structures of local historical interest, valued both for their functional and group relationship with the adjoining station building and related railway infrastructure, and for the various phases of extension visible in their construction, which reflect the development of the railway line.

The platforms are aligned east-west on both sides of the double-track Belfast-Bangor railway line, with the south platform serving as the 'up' platform and the north platform as the 'down' platform. They are faced with rubble blackstone, squared sandstone and bricks, each material reflecting different extensions and repairs undertaken over time. Several flat-headed openings, possibly for points levers, are present on both platforms. Both have been raised in brick edged with stone and cast concrete blocks, with decks paved in concrete tiles. However, the eastern ends remain at their original levels and are gravelled. Part of the up platform is retained on its south side by a quarried blackstone wall, now leaning outward and supported by timber props. The right-hand end of this wall is slightly advanced to accommodate the entrance from Clandeboye Avenue to a pedestrian tunnel running under the line. This doorway has a semicircular head and is trimmed with concrete. On entry to the underpass, concrete stairs on the right rise to the up platform. The soffit is of reinforced concrete with plastered and painted walls. At the north end of the tunnel, stairs on the left lead up to the down platform. The tops of both staircases are enclosed by quarried blackstone walls, now heightened in concrete and topped with a flat profiled metal roof, replacing original glazed canopies. A modern painted steel waiting shelter stands on each platform.

The railway from Belfast reached Holywood in 1848, but the Holywood-Bangor section was not begun until 1862. Difficult land access and extensive rock blasting delayed completion by three years, and the line opened on 19 May 1865. The platforms were probably designed by Charles Lanyon, the BHBR's consultant architect, while the adjacent station building was designed by Benjamin Ferrey at the behest of the 1st Marquis of Dufferin & Ava. When the line opened, the Belfast & County Down Railway Company sold its Belfast-Holywood section to the BHBR. The line was leased to the BCDR in 1873 and transferred outright in 1884. The station took its present name in 1885, having originally been known as Clandeboye. The railway was taken over by the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948 and subsequently by Northern Ireland Railways in 1968. It is now operated by Translink as a halt, with the station building having closed some years ago.

The platforms are located adjacent to the Belfast-Bangor railway tracks in Helen's Bay, close to Clandeboye Avenue to the south of the listed station building and east of the associated coach yard and railway bridge. The former station master's house is located to the north, with a related road bridge further north.