Dublin-Belfast railway line closed due to van ‘hijack’ blaze

Carla Lockhart, DUP MLA for the area, said she believed the van had been hijacked, and had been set alight “to lure police into the area”.

Irish rail service Iarnrod Eireann said: “Due to a security alert the line is closed at Lurgan. 19:00 & 20:50 Connolly Belfast is expected to operate as a bus transfer from Newry to Belfast. 20:05 Belfast Connolly will operate as a bus transfer from Belfast to Newry.”

The PSNI said: “The railway line between Lisburn and Portadown is closed in both directions following a report of a van on fire in the Bells Row Court area this evening.”

The area is part of the republican-dominated Kilwilkie estate.

Carla Lockhart said: “I have been liaising with the PSNI and believe this to be a small group of republicans trying to lure police into the area. “Today Sean McVeigh was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of a police officer in Londonderry in 2015. This is a welcome sentence and has obviously caused these individuals to react in this way.

“These people are not representative. They are holding our town to ransom.”

Sinn Fein councillor Keith Haughian likewise described it as a hijacking, and said he was “calling for calm”.

“Those involved are anti-community and these actions do not have the support of the local community,” he said.