Belfast Transport Hub: New images show progress of central station

New pictures have been released of the Belfast transport hub which is due to open towards the end of next year.

Construction work is entering its final phases at the £200m bus and rail centre which will be known as Belfast Grand Central Station.

Once complete, it will be the largest integrated transport hub on the island of Ireland.

It will have 26 bus stands and eight railway platforms as well as facilities for bicycles and taxis.

Translink estimate it will cater for up to 20m passenger journeys a year.

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The hub is situated near the current Europa Bus Centre and Great Victoria Street rail station.

The full project is not due to be completed until 2025. Chris Conway, Translink's chief executive, said the project was "on schedule and on budget".

He added that passengers should be able to use the new station by October or November next year.

The new Grand Central Station should be open for use by November 2024, Translink's Chris Conway says

"I think it will be a transformation in how we use public transport. This location is about ten times the size of the Europa and Great Victoria Street station.

"It will enable much more flexibility, much more capacity right across our network and it will bring a modern-looking feel to how we use public transport in Northern Ireland."

The Belfast-Dublin train will operate out of the new city centre station, rather than its current base at Lanyon Station.

There are also plans to increase the frequency of the service to coincide with the opening of Belfast Grand Central.

There is likely to be disruption to train services next summer as the new station is linked to the current rail network.

Construction work is entering its final phases at the £200m bus and rail centre which will be known as Belfast Grand Central Station

The project was first announced in 2019, as part of a strategy to create better transport links and connections.

As well as the transport hub, there will be a wider development known as Weavers Cross.

It will include up to 1.3m sqft of office, residential, student housing, retail and leisure space.

Large-scale projects

The creation of the transport hub is one of a number of large-scale infrastructure projects planned for Belfast in the next decade.

Planning permission has been granted for a new 34,500-capacity sports stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast, which is due to be built by the summer of 2027.

The site of the new transport hub, pictured in 2021

It will primarily be a GAA stadium but has also been earmarked for international football matches at the Euro 2028 tournament.

A new visitor experience, Belfast Stories, located in the city centre, is scheduled to open in 2029.