Construction work on the new world class Belfast Grand Central Station is at a stage which will soon allow the public to have the opportunity to see inside Ireland’s largest state of the art integrated transport hub for trains, coaches and buses.
From next month, services will be introduced in phases with buses operating from the Europa Buscentre to move over first on Sunday 8th September followed by rail operations, date to be confirmed. Public Realm work around the station will continue into 2025.
Extensive training is underway for staff in preparation for the move alongside a comprehensive testing, training and commissioning programme for the connecting rail line and new signalling technology.
Translink Group Chief Executive, Chris Conway said:
“This is a really exciting milestone for everyone. The new station, and associated railway, signalling and public realm is a game changer set to inspire people to use more sustainable transport options creating a better connected, cleaner and healthier region for everyone.
“Over the coming weeks there will be a number of changes for passengers as we phase in bus and train services. These are being carefully planned to facilitate completion of all the essential commissioning and testing, to allow services to bed in, to give the public time to get familiar with the new station, and to facilitate the ongoing public realm works.
“We are urging passengers and parents of pupils returning to school after the summer break to plan their journey in advance, pre buy your ticket and allow extra time for your journey particularly travelling through the Belfast area.
“To ensure everyone has all the information they need to enable a smooth transition over to the new facility we will have information on our website and have a series of public information events in stations planned with advice to assist passengers with the changeover.
“This operational opening is a significant milestone in the project marking the next step towards transforming Northern Ireland's public transport system. Over the coming year the programme of street works to improve pedestrian access around the new station will continue before the overall project is fully completed.
“We are excited to offer a ‘grand’ welcome to visitors and passengers and want to thank everyone for their patience and support. We know there has been much interest and anticipation in the new facility which is set to help unlock the true potential of our region as a great place to live, work and visit”, Chris concluded.
Information is available on Translink’s website www.translink.co.uk; through the Translink Journey Planner and by phoning the Contact Centre on 02890 666630
Belfast Grand Central Station Phased Opening
• Bus Services Only - Sunday 8th September
The Europa Buscentre will close on Saturday 7th September. Services operating from the Europa Buscentre will transfer to the new station with the first service operating on Sunday 8th September at 5am.
• Cross Border Enterprise Rail Services
There will be a new 2 hourly cross border rail timetable in place from Monday 26th August.
This is to accommodate the new hourly Enterprise Belfast / Dublin services due to be introduced later this year.
When the new Grand Central Station opens, all Enterprise services will operate to and from the new station and will no longer serve Lanyon Place Station.
The current bus substitution arrangements will also continue for cross border passengers until the station opens and the train line reopens between Belfast and Lisburn.
• Local Train Services arrangements until opening date (TBC)
Currently the rail line is closed between Lisburn and Belfast Lanyon Place to complete the engineering works to connect the track and install new signalling for the new station as well as take forward the required safety testing, commissioning and training. It also facilitates the construction of the new bus stands.
Until Mon 26th August: Travelling to and from Belfast City Centre and to/from Lisburn Train Station including rail halts along Lisburn Road:
Travelling from stations on the Bangor, Larne or Derry~Londonderry lines into Belfast, get off at either York Street or Lanyon Place Stations and either walk, cycle or use scheduled Metro or Glider services to interchange between Belfast Stations (including Botanic and City Hospital) or access the city centre.
Botanic and City Hospital Train Stations are closed.
Express bus substitution services operate between Lisburn Train Station and Europa Buscentre until Sat 7th September and Grand Central Station from Sun 8thSept.
Bus substitution services operate between Belfast Lanyon Place and Europa Buscentre serving stops adjacent to City Hospital, Queens University and Botanic.
Route as follows:
Lanyon Place – Northern Mall, Great Victoria Street - Bradbury Place - Lisburn Road - University Road - Bradbury Place – Bruce Street - Lanyon Place Station
Adelaide, Balmoral, Finaghy, Dunmurry, Derriaghy, Lambeg and Hilden rail halts will be closed. Passengers for these stations can use scheduled Metro/Ulsterbus services along the Lisburn Road.
Valid rail tickets are accepted on scheduled bus services.
From Tuesday 27 August until further notice: Travelling to and from Belfast City Centre and to/from Lisburn Train Station including rail halts along Lisburn Road:
Travelling from stations on the Bangor, Larne or Derry~Londonderry lines into Belfast, get off at either York Street or Lanyon Place Stations and either walk, cycle or use scheduled Metro or Glider services to interchange between Belfast Stations (including Botanic and City Hospital) or access the city centre.
Botanic and City Hospital train stations are closed.
Express bus substitution services operate between Lisburn Train Station and Europa Buscentre until Saturday 7th September and Grand Central Station from Sunday 8th September.
Monday to Friday
Bus substitution services operate between Belfast Lanyon Place and Lisburn Train Stations serving rail halts along the Lisburn Road to serve nearby schools.
Route as follows:
Lanyon Place Train Station
Northern Mall, Gt Victoria Street (Out) Bruce Street (Rtn)
Bradbury Place (Botanic)
Elmwood Ave/City Hospital, Lisburn Road
Adelaide, Lisburn Road
Kings Hall, Balmoral
Finaghy Crossroads
Dunmurry, Tesco
Derriaghy
Lambeg
Hilden
Lisburn Train Station
This shuttle service operates approximately every 10mins at peak times (morning and afternoon/ evening) and every 30 minutes off peak.
Weekends only:
Bus substitution services operate between Belfast Lanyon Place and Europa Buscentre serving stops adjacent to City Hospital, Queens University and Botanic.
Route as follows:
Lanyon Place – Northern Mall, Great Victoria Street - Bradbury Place - Lisburn Road - University Road - Bradbury Place – Bruce Street - Lanyon Place Station
Valid rail tickets will be transferable to these services and passengers also have the option to buy a ticket on board.
From Monday 2nd Sept, new smart School Travel Passes will also be transferable to the bus substitution services and pupils will simply tap on to travel.
Regular Metro and Ulsterbus services operating along the Lisburn Road will also be enhanced.
Bus Timetables and City Centre Bus Stop changes
Adjustments to Ulsterbus / Goldliner and Metro timetables are currently operating to help maintain bus service reliability and performance during increased traffic pressures on the city centre network. The location of some city centre stops have also changed these will continue until further notice.
These are necessary to maintain service reliability as public realm improvements around Grand Central Station are delivered requiring road and lane closures.
More information is available here.
Pop-up Public Information Sessions:
You are invited to attend public information events which will be held at a number of our bus and train stations from w/c 19th August where our team will be able to help you plan your journeys through this next phase.
Full details of these will be posted on Translink’s webpage and on our social channels.
Dates and locations below for pop-up public information sessions across Northern Ireland ahead of the opening of Grand Central Station, Belfast.
