Belfast Grand Central Station: what the new transport hub will mean for the bus and rail network - including the Larne line
The transport provider brought its ‘Grand Connection’ roadshow to Whitehead Train Station on August 1 with the aim of highlighting the benefits of the new Belfast Grand Central Station to passengers.
Due to visit 30 bus and train stations, community, leisure and shopping centres across Northern Ireland this summer, the roadshow provides the public the opportunity to discover plans for the station, a state-of-the-art integrated transport hub for trains, coaches and buses which will open its doors this autumn.
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Hide AdWhitehead was the second stop along the Larne line for the roadshow after it visited Carrickfergus Train Station in June.


The route is represented by the Larne Line Passenger Group, which was formed in 2005 and has since lobbied for new trains, better timetables and enhanced park and ride facilities in the area.
Responding to a query on how the new Belfast station would benefit the Larne line and other similar routes, a Translink spokesperson said: “Belfast Grand Central Station will bring about a step change in public transport. It will be the main transport gateway to Belfast, enhancing local and international connectivity with rail, bus and coach connections across Northern Ireland and beyond.
“The impressive high-quality Belfast Grand Central Station will offer an enhanced user experience for around 20 million customer journeys every year. There will be double the number of rail platforms currently available from four to eight and a total of 26 bus stands from 17 - significantly increasing current capacity.
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Hide Ad“This additional capacity paves the way for increased services and frequency across Northern Ireland in the future, with an hourly Enterprise service set to launch this autumn.”
Meanwhile, a total of 32 strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system across the island of Ireland up to 2050 have been set out in the Final Report of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review.
The report, published by the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in Northern Ireland on July 31, was developed in the context of the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement.