Grand Central Station: Your questions answered

Trains started running from Belfast’s Grand Central Station on Sunday

Trains have now been running from Belfast’s new £340m Grand Central Station for a full working week after the first services pulled away from the platform on 13 October.

The railway line between Lisburn and Belfast had been closed for more than three months to connect train services to the new station.

Many commuters who BBC News NI spoke to on the first day of trains running praised the experience at the new transport hub.

But there has been travel disruption in Belfast, with fears that the closure of Durham Street will make things worse.

Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd encouraged people to use public transport where possible, but there have been questions raised about some aspects of both the new station and public transport in Northern Ireland more broadly.

We put some of your questions to Translink.

Are through services from Bangor-Portadown ever going to resume or will I always have to change at Grand Central?

Before services moved from Great Victoria Street to Grand Central, many services ran the whole way from Portadown to Bangor, pulling in and out of Great Victoria Street on their way.

Now services from Portadown and Bangor both terminate at Grand Central, meaning passengers have to change trains.

Translink said: “Belfast Grand Central Station has been designed to be a terminus station offering increased connectivity and integration with the wider public transport network for connections across Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and beyond.

“The new rail timetable is designed to bring all rail lines into the new station and back out again on the same corridor which increases reliability and efficiency of services operating on all rail corridors across the network.”

So, in short, there are no plans to return to operating through services.

Why do the buses to Newcastle/Kilkeel and Downpatrick not leave from Grand Central?

Many bus services have taken up a new home at Grand Central.

But one reader questioned why some have not.

Translink said: “During the public realm works around the new station and increased traffic pressures on the city centre network, adjustments have been made to some Ulsterbus / Goldliner services to help maintain bus service reliability and performance.”

What happened to the 04:00 bus service from Derry to Belfast and will it resume at any point?

Translink said: “We review timetables regularly, taking into consideration factors such as passenger demand.

"The 212 to Belfast route currently runs services from 05:00 to 23:00 with 41 services throughout the day.”

Why do express trains from Lisburn to Belfast now only begin at 07:24 and are there any plans to run them from an earlier time?

Translink said: “We monitor services regularly and design the timetable to suit passenger demand.

"We will continue to monitor passenger numbers and feedback on the new timetable and value all passenger feedback will be collated and considered as part of any future adjustments.”

Why are there no live details on the app for delays on bus or train services? If this was introduced people could plan their journeys better.

Translink said: “Real-time passenger information is available on the Journey Planner app for Belfast Metro buses and NI Railways and Translink is beginning to roll out real-time passenger information for key services on Ulsterbus and Goldliner.

"Journey disruption updates are also available in the ‘Travel Updates’ section of the app when users subscribe to a service.”