Editing Northern Counties Committee (section)

====Civilian traffic====
Civilian passenger journeys increased rapidly from the start of the war, partly because of evacuation from Belfast and the petrol restrictions which made the railway the only available means of transport. This was particularly so after the 1941 Blitz when many people fled to the countryside.

The following table shows the number of passenger journeys for each of the six years of war, when a total of nearly 45 million passengers were carried, with those for 1937 included for comparison.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!scope="col" width="30px" |Year
!scope="col" width="100px" |First class<br />
passengers
!scope="col" width="100px" |Second class<br />
passengers
!scope="col" width="100px" |Third class<br />
passengers
|-
|align="center"|1937||align="right"|53,000||align="right"|48,000||align="right"|3,606,000
|-
|align="center"|1939||align="right"|46,000||align="right"|35,000||align="right"|3,475,000
|-
|align="center"|1940||align="right"|71,000||align="right"|36,000||align="right"|3,820,000
|-
|align="center"|1941||align="right"|133,000*||align="right"|51,000||align="right"|7,592,000
|-
|align="center"|1942||align="right"|196,000||align="right"|68,000||align="right"|7,786,000
|-
|align="center"|1943||align="right"|266,000||align="right"|92,000||align="right"|7,768,000
|-
|align="center"|1944||align="right"|317,000||align="right"|126,000||align="right"|8,023,000
|-
|align="center"|1945||align="right"|282,000||align="right"|127,000||align="right"|7,826,000
|}
<small>* The sharp increase in first class passengers reflects the effects of petrol rationing followed by the withdrawal of private cars from the roads in 1942.</small>

The passenger train service was greatly changed with only a few old-established trains remaining. War work increased traffic during the morning and afternoon peaks on the Larne line requiring additional trains and even affected services on the main line as far as [[Cullybackey]].

The boat train services were completely altered due to the upsurge in steamer traffic. The pre-war through coaches that had provided a Londonderry-Larne Harbour service via Belfast were replaced by a direct service of up and down trains routed along the Back Line from Monkstown Junction to Greenisland.

Before the war most of the military works had been centred on Belfast but now workmen had to travel all over the system, especially between Coleraine and Londonderry where several airfields were being constructed. Further services were operated between Coleraine and [[Aghadowey]] and from Cullybackey and Randalstown to [[Aldergrove, County Antrim|Aldergrove]] for airfield construction and from Belfast and Cullybackey to the [[Royal Naval Torpedo Factory, Antrim|Royal Naval torpedo factory at Antrim]]. The long closed halt at Barn near Carrickfergus reopened in 1942 to serve nearby mills producing parachutes.

There was one unusual occurrence of a station having to close because of excessive demand. The tiny halt at Eden between Carrickfergus and Kilroot had platforms that were barely one coach long yet about one hundred passengers were forcing themselves on to it at the morning peak. There was a danger that some would be swept off by non-stop trains and the halt was closed. Later, Eden was reopened for some off peak services.