York Road is the continuation of York Street which leads northwards from the city centre, and like York Street it is named after Frederick, Duke of York (1763-1827), second son of George III. See York Street for further details on Prince Frederick. York Road becomes Shore Road at the junction where Skegoneill Avenue intersects. The name York Road is first recorded in 1815 on Mason's town plan.
There was a railway station, the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway terminus, at the corner of York Road and Whitla Street, opened in 1848. Later it was part of the Midland Railway. Trains from here served destinations to the north of Belfast. This was one of three main stations in Belfast, the other two being at Great Victoria Street (for the south) and Queen’s Quay (near where the SSE Arena stands today, for the east). The Midland Hotel was convenient to the station. It was badly damaged during an air raid in April 1941 (the Belfast Blitz). It was later rebuilt in much simpler, utilitarian form. The street-name Midland Terrace is now a reminder of the hotel and the railway terminus, which are long gone. York Road Station closed in 1992 and was replaced by Yorkgate Station located nearby, which was not a terminus. In 2024 a new station was opened on a new site, once again with a name change to York Street Train Station.