Belfast’s Grand Central Station not yet listed as train stop on Translink ticket booking app

The new Grand Central Station in Belfast does not yet exist on the ticketing app for passengers hoping to use train services from Sunday.

Passengers using the Translink mLink mobile app have reported that the station does not yet feature on the list of stops.

That comes despite the company confirming last week that rail services will now begin from October 13.

Passengers hoping to book tickets for trains to and from the new transport hub for next week, when trains are set to be in service, have reported that Grand Central Station is not listed.

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It has also emerged that Great Victoria Street, which officially closed last month, is still on the list of stops.

The £340m station opened its doors to bus passengers last month, but train operations were delayed to allow for a safety certification to take place.

Train timetables for the new station were also published on Tuesday, ahead of rail services departing from the new hub for the first time this weekend.

The services will include the eight weekday Belfast to Dublin Enterprise trains - and seven on Sundays - however, the new hourly Enterprise service from Grand Central Station will not begin until Tuesday October 29.

Announcing last week that rail services from the Belfast hub will begin on Sunday, Translink group chief executive Chris Conway urged passengers to purchase tickets on the mLink mobile app.

“The new train station will also see automatic ticketing gates introduced and passengers can purchase tickets which they can scan at gates to speed up journeys and enhance convenience,” he said.

“Passengers can buy their ticket from one of the rail ticket vending machines in the station, use the mLink mobile app or iLink Smartcard.

“You can also buy online and collect at the ticket vending machine.”

When asked on Wednesday why the new station does not appear on the Translink ticketing app yet, a spokeswoman said: “Grand Central Station will be enabled as a station location on the mLink app just prior to opening to trains on Sunday 13th October.

“This is to ensure people do not buy a ticket in advance of the opening date expecting to be able to travel to Grand Central Station ahead of rail services commencing.

“mLink customers generally purchase their ticket on the day of travel.

“Single and Return tickets auto-activate within the app on the day of purchase.

“Three day, weekly and monthly mLink tickets can be purchased up to three days in advance of the first day of travel and customers can manually activate their ticket, or auto-activation occurs three days after purchase.”