Downpatrick Railway Chairman Joins Top UK Railway Board
A County Down man has become the first person from Northern Ireland to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Heritage Railway Association (HRA).
Robert Gardiner, Chairman of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, was elected at the Association’s Spring Conference in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and has already attended his first board meeting.
is appointment marks the first time Northern Ireland has been represented on the HRA’s main board.
The HRA is the umbrella body for heritage railways across the UK and Ireland, representing the sector at government level, influencing legislation and safety policy, and ensuring that heritage railways, large and small, have a voice in national decision-making.
The organisation has also been a long-standing supporter of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, particularly in areas such as advocacy, guidance and sector representation.
The railway has also enjoyed significant success at the HRA’s annual awards, including its Compliance Officer Christopher McCausland winning the coveted Rising Star of the Year award last month at a gala event in Llandudno.
Mr Gardiner has served as Chairman of the not-for-profit charitable railway for almost a decade and first became involved as a volunteer at the age of 17.
During that time, Robert has led the organisation through a number of significant challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the severe flooding in 2023, while continuing to develop the railway’s role as a community-focused social enterprise.
Under his leadership, the Downpatrick & County Down Railway was named Social Enterprise of the Year in 2024, and Mr Gardiner was recognised as Leader of the Year (Small Organisation) in 2025 by the Chief Operating Officers of the Third Sector.
Speaking following his election, Mr Gardiner said the approach had come as a surprise.
He said: “A few months ago I received an unexpected call from Steve Oates, the CEO of the HRA, asking if I would consider standing.
“Despite having been volunteering in the heritage railway sector since my teens, and championing both Northern Ireland and Downpatrick throughout that time, I never expected that from a small railway in County Down would end up sitting alongside some of the biggest heritage railways in the UK on the sector’s national board, such as the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway,” he said.
“Whilst a certain Jim Hacker quote springs to mind, namely when Jim goes ‘I have no ambitions in that direction, but if my friends and colleagues advise me that in some humble capacity I could serve my country…’, it really was the support of my own Board colleagues that was critical in my decision to allow my name to go forward.
Commenting on the appointment, Lord Stephen Parkinson of Whitley Bay, Chairman of the HRA, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Robert to the HRA board, as well as now giving us representation from every part of the UK.
“The expertise he brings from Downpatrick & County Down Railway and his enthusiastic commitment to heritage rail will help us to deliver for members across the whole sector.”
Mr Gardiner added he said he hoped to bring a Northern Ireland perspective to the role, shaped by the region’s devolved regulatory environment, as well as his experience of running a social enterprise rooted in its local community.
Robert added: “I look forward to working with colleagues from across the heritage railway sector, sharing my experience, and, in due course, welcoming them to Northern Ireland.”
