On Monday Translink announced the phased opening date of the £340m Grand Central Station transport hub in Belfast.
Work has been ongoing since 2020 for the project, with construction accelerating in the summer months as Translink progresses towards a full opening of the site.
While the opening of the new bus station at the hub has been confirmed as Sunday 8 September, there is still no confirmed date as to when rail services will begin to operate from Grand Central Station.
Public transport users have seen disruption since May of this year, particularly due to the closure of the rail line between Lisburn and Lanyon Place, while Belfast to Dublin passengers have had to switch to a replacement bus service to and from Newry.
Translink have issued updated guidance to passengers this week with the latest announcement on the phased opening of Grand Central Station - here’s how their services will be operating (for the next few weeks at least).
Bus Services
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.
There is currently no indicative date from Translink as to when train services will transfer from Lanyon Place to Grand Central Station, or when the train line between Lisburn and Belfast will reopen.
Local Train Services Arrangements
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 Saturday 7 September and Grand Central Station from Sunday 8 September
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 remain 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 Aug 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 Sept and Grand Central Station from Sunday 8th Sept.
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.
