No date for trains running at Grand Central

Belfast's Grand Central Station is due to open next month

Train services will not begin at Belfast's new bus and train station until rail safety checks have been completed, Translink has said.

It was announced on Monday that Grand Central Station will open to the public next month, with the first buses running from 8 September.

Translink's general manager David Curry told BBC News that he was not yet able to confirm when train services would begin, but said he was "100%" sure they will be operating before Christmas.

He explained Translink was "just waiting on safety certification" and added that they hoped to be able to announce a rail launch date in a matter of weeks.

David Curry says Translink will "hopefully make an announcement" on rail provision within weeks

"Everything is going to plan and we are just waiting on safety certification, we are going through all the training for train drivers and conductors," Mr Curry added.

Earlier, Translink's chief executive Chris Conway told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme he was not yet able to confirm when train services would begin.

He explained the rail facilities "have to be approved by the safety authority" but he added that he hoped to be able to announce a rail launch date "soon".

Mr Conway said Grand Central was a "complex station to open" and there was "a lot of training required" so that staff can ensure public safety from the start.

Rail passengers have faced disruption since the nearby Great Victoria Street train station closed permanently in May.

That site had served Belfast for almost 200 years, but it is being replaced by a much larger integrated bus and rail hub a short distance away at the Grand Central site.

Chris Conway says Grand Central will modernise NI's entire public transport network

To facilitate the changes, the train track between Belfast and Lisburn has been closed for the summer.

This closure has also affected the cross-border Enterprise service, which is running bus substitution services between Belfast and Newry.

Mr Curry told BBC News NI that the disruption was a "big logistical challenge".

He said there would be an enhanced, high frequency bus substitution service on the Lisburn to Belfast route as pupils return to school.

Mr Conway was also asked about the disruption which will continue into the new school term in September.

"It's the largest infrastructure project on the island of Ireland and therefore needs careful management as we move to the opening phases," he said.

"We've laid over 6km of new track. We've implemented a brand new digital signalling system and a new contactless system with automatic gates and barriers."

Mr Conway explained that all of the new equipment required testing and training for railway workers.

"But most importantly we have a safety authorisation process to go through and the safety authority have to have their say on that," he added.

"Therefore we're doing a phased opening to make sure it's safe for everyone and to make sure everyone gets used to the new facilities."

'Value for money'

The Translink boss was also asked about the cost of the project, which has spiralled in recent years.

Early predictions had put the cost of delivering the project at £200m.

But in April this year, Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd told Stormont that the latest cost estimate had risen to £340m.

Mr Conway told the programme: "The full business case was signed off in 2022 at £300m.

"Since then we've had extraordinary inflation and we intend to bring it in at around 10 to 15% increase on that.

"That's an exceptional achievement by the teams, given the extraordinary inflation that we've seen since then."

"But in terms of value for money, this will totally modernise our entire public transport network," he added.

'People will be excited'

Last month, the final report of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review made 32 recommendations to improve train services across the island of Ireland.

These included connecting Dublin, Shannon and Belfast International airports to the rail network and a proposed new station at Craigavon.

Mr Conway said the new transport hub at Grand Central "is needed to enable a lot of those features" that were proposed in the review

The chief executive added that the public "will be excited by what they see" when Grand Central opens next month.

He said it will have "very modern, advanced features" including contactless ticketing and improved passenger accessibility.

Mr Conway added that new business outlets would help to regenerate the city.