O’Dowd welcomes commencement of rail services at Grand Central Station
Date published:
Rail services at the new Grand Central Station in Belfast commenced today, (Sunday 13th October). The rail line also reopened between Belfast and Lisburn ensuring passengers travelling across the network could access the new city centre terminus station.
Welcoming the commencement of services Minister O’Dowd said:
“This is another significant step in the development of our public transport offer. I am delighted that rail services have started from Grand Central Station. The re-opening of the rail line between Lisburn and Belfast is good news for the thousands of commuters and cross border passengers who use this route.
"Belfast Grand Central Station is the largest transport facility on the island of Ireland with the capacity to cater for 20 million passenger journeys a year. With eight rail platforms and 26 bus stands this new facility demonstrates how infrastructure can transform and make a difference.
"Many people have been working tirelessly to get us to this point today and I thank them all. Most of all I would like to thank the public for their patience while we carried out the important rail safety authorisation process which was vital in making today a reality.”
Chris Conway, Translink Group Chief Executive said,
“The commencement of rail services at Belfast Grand Central is a significant milestone in the transformation of public transport in Northern Ireland, providing integrated services which connect people and place.
“The first Enterprise departure at 8.05am today was a truly historic moment, marking the start of rail services at this iconic new facility and the return of cross border rail services to the heart of the city.
“With new rail timetables in place and many new features at the station including new ticket gates, we would encourage passengers to plan ahead and build in a bit of extra time for your journey until you familiarise yourself with the new station.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in getting us to this historic milestone and express my thanks to all our passengers, community and stakeholders for your patience throughout this work,” Chris concluded.
Tom Newman, CEO of Babcock’s Land business said:
“We are proud to have supported Translink on the development of Belfast Grand Central Station, playing an important part in ensuring the people of Belfast and its visitors benefit from this world-class transport hub.”
Notes to editors:
- Photo caption: Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd arrives on one of the first trains into Belfast Grand Central Station this morning and is welcomed by Translink Group Chief Executive Chris Conway
- The first train to pull out from Grand Central Station was an Enterprise service to Dublin departing at 8.05am and the first train arriving was the 8.30am from Portadown.
- New Train timetable will operate from Sunday 13 October for all lines.
- All Enterprise Services will depart from Grand Central Station
- The new train station will also see automatic ticketing gates introduced, passengers can purchase tickets which they can scan at gates to speed up journeys and enhance convenience.
- 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.
- Media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
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