New Belfast Intermodal Hub

munchkin_utd

I am surprised this isnt mentioned here seeing as its one of Irelands largest transport projects currently and work started last week.

Belfast's Great Northern Railway goods yard sheds razed to make way for new hub

The last vestiges of what was once Northern Ireland's biggest railway hub are being demolished to make way for a brand new one.

Translink predicts passenger numbers of up to 14 million by 2030 and hopes to start work on the site in 2018 ahead of a planned opening in the mid-2020s. The hub will feature rail, bus, cycle, taxi and car facilities.
According to rail buff Robert Gardiner, the sheds are the last part of the Great Northern Railway complex.
"Trains full of wagons would have come up from all over Ireland and were offloaded here," he said. "This included things like cattle from Sligo and Guinness from Dublin."
The entire site, right up to the present Europa Hotel, was once the headquarters of the Great Northern Railway, which at the time was the biggest rail operator in Ulster.
"They were the ones who created the Enterprise train service, which was introduced in the 1940s as an express to Dublin," Mr Gardiner explained.
"They came up with the name Enterprise, and it left from Great Victoria Street.
"There would have been tractors taken out from Belfast on the backs of wagons - food, potatoes, everything that could be moved by the railways moved to Grosvenor Road.
"All the Guinness barrels would have been transported from Dublin by rail up to Great Victoria Street and into those sheds. It's hard to imagine that such a huge site was once dedicated to freight movement."
Over the years the railway experienced a big downturn in fortunes.
"Part of the facade - designed by Godwin - was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Europa and the station was repeatedly blown up during the Troubles," Mr Gardiner said.
<snip>
"The Enterprise is going to return to its former home, which is a very good news story," Mr Gardiner added."But it's noteworthy, I think, that the last part of the original huge complex of the original railways is being demolished as part of its rebirth."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfasts-great-northern-railway-goods-yard-sheds-razed-to-make-way-for-new-hub-34546743.html
The old rail works area
http://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/9589

And the plans for the new hub:
https://www.translink.co.uk/Documents/Images/corporate/thehub/Presentation_Boards_FINAL.pdf
https://www.translink.co.uk/Documents/Corporate/publications/BTH%20prospectus%20FINAL%20190810.pdf
http://www.europeanrailwayreview.com/26730/rail-industry-news/belfast-transport-hub-regeneration-project-gets-underway/
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/infrastructure/single-view/view/belfast-transport-hub-planning-underway.html
http://www.futurebelfast.com/belfast-transport-hub.html

cgcsb

Good to see. I expect that this will result in a journey time reduction for the Enterprise service. In my experience you can be anything between 10 minutes and 25 minutes travelling between the Donegal Rd junction and Belfast Central, then you have to hike to the City Centre when you get off.

Any chance of improved line speeds between Newry and Belfast?

Del.Monte

Jeez, I've tried to get my head around this before and would like somebody to explain it to me. Does this mean that Larne and Bangor trains will also run to the new 'hub'?

It seems strange that in Dublin everybody moans about not having a central railway station, but after the creation of Belfast Central and the new bridge linking the Larne line the powers that be want to go back in time. As I say, I just want it clearly explained - please.

cgcsb

Larne and Bangor trains already run to Victoria St. Belfast Central Station is further from the City Centre than Great Victoria Street.

Del.Monte

cgcsb wrote: »

Larne and Bangor trains already run to Victoria St. Belfast Central Station is further from the City Centre than Great Victoria Street.

Ah there you are - thank you! As an ex.railway enthusiast who traveled to Belfast by train only a few months ago I wasn't even aware of that. I couldn't agree more that Central is anything but 'central'. So, from what you're saying it sounds like a step in the right direction.

How about reopening the line to Armagh?

cgcsb

I doubt NIR will reopening anything in my lifetime. The line between Belfast and Newry is in a dire state for such an important line.

LXFlyer

Since the new pedestrian walkway opened opposite Central Station past the Waterfront Hall, Central is far more accessible than in previous times.

It all depends upon where you are going to in Belfast city centre.

GVS has the benefit of having the bus station adjacent to it.

ClovenHoof

Central station was opened at a time when the actual Belfast City centre was dying due to the Troubles.

munchkin_utd

It was announed in the past days that the intermodal hub is to be named Belfast Grand Central Station

Its being relocated a bit further from the city, but will see the Dublin trains move back to an actual central location - the old Central Station (now Laynon place) was only central in name, or maybe central in the sense it was the middle of nowhere.

Its not just a transport hub but they are also building housing and office/ retail space which they are calling Weavers Cross as part of the development .

In the bigger scheme of things I cant see how its THAT much better than the old arrangement except that the Dublin trains can terminate there, plus they gain 5 extra bus bays - so its more an urban renewal project than a quantam leap in public transport integration

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-62751004

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/new-belfast-grand-central-station-to-be-the-main-gateway-to-belfast-says-translink-42043095.html

https://weaverscross.co.uk/

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/calls-save-belfasts-historic-boyne-24592507