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Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station

Coordinates: 54°35′39″N 5°56′10″W / 54.5942°N 5.9362°W / 54.5942; -5.9362
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Great Victoria Street
NI Railways
General information
Location10 Glengall St,
Belfast,
County Antrim,
BT12 5AH
Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°35′39″N 5°56′10″W / 54.5942°N 5.9362°W / 54.5942; -5.9362
Owned byTranslink (Northern Ireland)
Operated byNI Railways, Ulsterbus
Line(s)Belfast-Newry line (1)
Belfast-Bangor line (1)
Belfast-Larne line (2)
Belfast-Derry line (3)
Platforms4
Tracks4
Train operatorsNI Railways
Bus stands18[1]
Bus operatorsUlsterbus, Metro, Goldline
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade, platforms demolished
ParkingGreat Northern Car Park (To the right of the station)
535 spaces
9 Handicap Spaces [2]
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone1[3]
History
Previous namesBelfast (1839-1852)
Belfast Victoria Street (1852-1856)
Original companyUlster Railway
Post-groupingGreat Northern Railway (Ireland)
Key dates
12 August 1839 (12 August 1839)First station opened
13 November 1848First terminus completed
November 1968Terminus largely demolished
24 April 1976First station closed
30 September 1995Second station opened
10 May 2024 [4]Second station closed, to be replaced by Grand Central station
7 September 2024Europa Buscentre closed, replaced by Grand Central station
13 October 2024Grand Central opens with the first service departing at 8.05 to Dublin
Passengers
2015/164.380 million [5]
2016/17Increase 4.716 million [5]
2017/18Increase 5.031 million [5]
2018/19Increase 5.348 million [6]
2019/20Decrease 5.077 million [7]
2020/21Decrease 811,049 [8]
2021/22Increase 2.462 million [9]
2022/23Increase 3.939 million [10]
2023/24Increase 4.900 million [11]
Location
Great Victoria Street is located in Northern Ireland
Great Victoria Street
Great Victoria Street
Location within Northern Ireland
Map

Great Victoria Street was a railway station that served the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was one of two main stations in the city, along with Lanyon Place, and was nearest to the city centre. The station was situated beside Great Victoria Street and shared a site with the Europa Buscentre, Belfast's former main bus station. The railway and bus stations were replaced by the adjacent Belfast Grand Central station with the official opening on 13 October 2024.[12] Great Victoria Street railway station closed permanently on 10 May 2024, with a bus transfer service operating until rail services commenced from Belfast Grand Central, with a service to Dublin at 8:05 a.m. on 13 October 2024.[13] [14] Europa Buscentre closed permanently on 7 September 2024,[15] with bus services immediately transferring to the new station, commencing with a service to Dublin at 5 a.m. on 8 September 2024.[16][17]

Great Victoria Street was the busiest railway station in Northern Ireland at closure, with a peak of 5,347,662 passengers passing through the station in 2018–2019.[6]

History

[edit]
Drawing of a grand Victorian stone building, with its central entrance lined with columns.
The 1848 Godwin-designed terminus building, as drawn in 1854.
One small wing of the previously-illustrated building, with temporary huts in the place of the rest of the structure.
Remains of the station building in 1976, before final demolition.
Narrow, bright alleyway, leading to a modern arched entrance of a single-floor, brick-built building.
Entrance to station in 2009.

The station was on the site of a former linen mill, beside where Durham Street crossed the Blackstaff River at the Saltwater (now Boyne) Bridge.

The Ulster Railway opened the first station on 12 August 1839 (1839-08-12). A new terminal building, probably designed by Ulster Railway engineer John Godwin, was completed in 1848.[18] Godwin later founded the School of Civil Engineering at Queen's College.[18]

The station, built directly on Victoria Street, was Belfast's first railway terminus, and as such was called just "Belfast" until 1852. By this time, two other railway companies had opened termini in Belfast, so the Ulster Railway renamed its terminus "Belfast Victoria Street" for clarity. In 1855 the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway was completed,[19] making Victoria Street the terminus for one of the most important main lines in Ireland. The Ulster Railway changed the station name again to "Great Victoria Street" in 1856, in line with a change of the street name.

In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the Great Northern Railway (GNR),[19] making Great Victoria Street the terminus for a network that extended south to Dublin and west to Derry and Bundoran.

Express passenger traffic to and from Dublin Connolly station was always Great Victoria Street's most prestigious traffic. The GNR upgraded its expresses over the decades and in 1947 introduced the Enterprise non-stop service between the two capitals.[20] As Belfast suburbs grew, commuter traffic also grew in volume.

The view inside the vaulted ceiling of a metal shed-like structure, bustling with people
Interior of the original station in 1976.

In 1958, the Ulster Transport Authority took over Northern Ireland's bus and rail services. Three years later Great Victoria Street station was modernised, and a bus centre incorporated into the facility.[20] Then in 1968, a large section of the 1848 terminal building was demolished to make way for the development of the Europa Hotel, which opened in 1971.[20]

During the conflict known as The Troubles, the station was attacked several times. On 22 March 1972, 70 people were injured, a train was destroyed and the station significantly damaged by a Car bomb.[21] Another bomb explosion, on 21 July, destroyed four buses but caused no casualties. This was one of 20 bombs that exploded that day, planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in an event that became known as Bloody Friday[22]

In April 1976 Northern Ireland Railways closed both Great Victoria Street[20] and the Belfast Queen's Quay terminus of the Bangor line and replaced them both with a new Belfast Central Station, now renamed Lanyon Place. The remainder of Great Victoria Street station was demolished. After a feasibility study was commissioned in 1986 it was agreed that a new development on the site, incorporating the reintroduction of the Great Northern Railway, was viable. The Great Northern Tower had already been built on the site of the old station terminus in 1992,[23] and so the second Great Victoria Street Station was built behind the tower block, yards from the site of its predecessor. The new station was opened on 30 September 1995.[24] The station closed on Friday 10 May 2024 to make way for the new Belfast Grand Central station. The last train to depart was the 23:32 service to Bangor.

Railway station

[edit]
Photo looking along the length of two curved railway platforms, taken from under a shelter and looking out into daylight.
Great Victoria Street platforms in 2011.

The final station had two island platforms providing a total of four platform faces. Platforms 2 and 3 ran the full length of the site and opened onto the station's main concourse. Platforms 1 and 4 were half the length and were accessible by walking down the other platforms.[citation needed]

Great Victoria Street was the hub of Northern Ireland's suburban rail services, with Bangor line, Derry~Londonderry line, Newry line and Larne Line trains all terminating there.[citation needed]

Service at closure

[edit]

On Mondays to Saturdays, there were half-hourly services to Bangor or Portadown on the Bangor and Portadown Lines, with some Portadown-bound trains continuing on to Newry.[citation needed]

There was also a half-hourly service on the Larne Line, with the terminus alternating between Whitehead and Larne Harbour being the terminus every half hour.[citation needed]

Derry~Londonderry Line trains operated hourly from Great Victoria Street to Derry~Londonderry with connecting shuttle service from Coleraine to Portrush via the Coleraine-Portrush railway line.[citation needed]

On Sundays, the Bangor, Larne, and Portadown Line services all reduced to hourly operation. Derry~Londonderry Line services reduced to two-hourly operation, with only seven trains running each way. Derry~Londonderry Line trains were still hourly but alternated between Derry Waterside and Portrush, except for the final train of the evening, which terminated at Coleraine.[citation needed]

Class 3000 (left) at platform 3 and class 4000 (right) at platform 2
Class 3000 (left) and class 4000 (right)
Preceding station   Northern Ireland Railways   Following station
Terminus   Northern Ireland Railways
Belfast-Derry
   City Hospital
  Northern Ireland Railways
Belfast-Larne
  
  Northern Ireland Railways
Belfast-Bangor
  
Adelaide   Northern Ireland Railways
Belfast-Newry
   City Hospital
  Proposed  
Terminus   Enterprise
Belfast-Dublin 		  Portadown
  Historical railways  
Terminus   Ulster Railway
Belfast-Portadown 		  Balmoral
Line and station open
Terminus   Great Northern Railway (Ireland)   Adelaide and Windsor
Line and station open
Terminus   Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
Enterprise Express 		  Amiens Street
Line and station open
[edit]

Railway access from Great Victoria Street at Sydenham linked into George Best Belfast City Airport on the line to Bangor.[25]

21st century

[edit]

NI Railways constructed a new traincare facility next to Adelaide station for its diesel multiple units. The opportunity was also taken to improve the infrastructure at Great Victoria Street; the plan to begin with was to reduce the curves by realigning the track, and moving the buffer stops and the route from the platforms to the concourse to the other side of Durham Street. Additionally there were plans to add a fifth platform to the station, which would have culminated in Enterprise services transferring from Lanyon Place to Great Victoria Street.[26] However, under Translink's subsequent plan to build a new integrated transport hub, the proposal has expanded to the potential construction of a brand new 6–8 platform station on the site of the old Grosvenor Road freight depot, close to the existing station, because the existing site is too constrained for any further expansion.[27] It was announced that the station would close permanently on 10 May 2024, though the line from Belfast to Lisburn would remain open using the third side of the triangular track layout to bypass the GVS/GC site, as services used to do during the station's first closure from 1976-1995.[28]

Great Victoria Street station closed permanently on 10 May 2024.[29]

Rail and sea connections

[edit]

Port of Belfast

[edit]

The Port of Belfast has a Stena Line ferry connecting to Cairnryan for the bus link[30] to Stranraer and onward trains along the Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Central.

Preceding station   Ferry   Following station
Stranraer Harbour
(via bus link from Cairnryan[30]) 		  Stena Line
Ferry 		  Port of Belfast
(from Yorkgate, Lanyon Place or Belfast Great Victoria Street)
Liverpool   Stena Line
Ferry 		  Port of Belfast
(from Yorkgate, Lanyon Place or Belfast Great Victoria Street)
Douglas   Isle of Man Steam Packet
Ferry(seasonal) 		  Port of Belfast
(from Yorkgate, Lanyon Place or Belfast Great Victoria Street)
Stranraer Harbour
(via bus link from Cairnryan[30]) 		  P&O Ferries
Ferry 		  Larne Harbour

Port of Larne

[edit]

The Larne line connects with Larne Harbour with P&O Ferries sailing to Cairnryan for the bus link[30] to Stranraer and onward trains along the Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Central,[31] as well as alternative sailings by P&O Ferries to Troon also on the Glasgow South Western Line to Glasgow Central.

Europa Buscentre

[edit]

Great Victoria Street was part of a major public transport interchange, being adjacent to the Europa Buscentre. This was built in 1991 as the ground floor level of a multi-storey car park.[32] The Buscentre is the Belfast terminus for most Ulsterbus "Goldline" services in Northern Ireland. These serve various destinations that are not on the railway network, including Enniskillen, Banbridge, Omagh, Downpatrick, Cavan, Newcastle, Strabane and Armagh. Also, services from the Buscentre serve both Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport directly.[33] Ulsterbus runs joint services with Bus Éireann for its direct express service to Dublin and Dublin Airport, with National Express to Dumfries, Carlisle, Manchester, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London,[34] and with Citylink to Glasgow and Edinburgh.[35]

Europa Buscentre closed permanently on 7 September 2024,[36] with bus services immediately transferring to Belfast Grand Central Station, commencing with a service to Belfast International Airport and Dublin at 5 a.m on 8 September 2024.[37][38]

Preceding station   Ulsterbus   Following station
Newry Buscentre   Goldline
Belfast-Dublin (Route X1) 		  Terminus
  Bus Éireann
Dublin-Belfast (Route X1) 		 
Dublin Airport   Goldline
Belfast-Dublin (Route X2) 		  Terminus
  Bus Éireann
Dublin-Belfast (Route X2) 		 
Toomebridge By-Pass   Goldline
Belfast-Derry (Route 212) 		  Terminus
Adelaide Street   Goldline
Belfast-Downpatrick (Route 215)
Belfast-Newcastle (Route 237) 		  Terminus
Ballynahinch   Goldline
Belfast-Newcastle (Route 237A) 		  Terminus
Belfast High Street   Goldline
Belfast-Ballymena-Coleraine (Route 218)
Belfast-Ballymena-Coleraine (Route 219) 		  Terminus
Ballymena Railway Station   Goldline
Belfast-Giant's Causeway (Route 221) 		  Terminus
Portadown Market Street   Goldline
Belfast-Armagh/Monaghan (Route 251) 		  Terminus
Dungannon Bus Station   Goldline
Belfast-Enniskillen (Route 261) 		  Terminus
  Goldline
Belfast-Derry via Omagh (Route 273) 		 
Belfast International Airport   Airport Express
Airport Express (Route 300) 		  Terminus
Belfast City Airport   Airport Express
Airport Express (Route 600) 		  Terminus
Stranraer Ferry Terminal
via Stena Line 		  Eurolines
Belfast-London 		  Terminus
  Eurolines
Belfast-Edinburgh 		 
[edit]
  • View in 1975 with the Enterprise to Dublin Connolly.
    View in 1975 with the Enterprise to Dublin Connolly.
  • View of the former GNR railway station when used by Ulsterbus in 1988.
    View of the former GNR railway station when used by Ulsterbus in 1988.
  • The closed station being rebuilt in 1995 for NIR services bar the Enterprise.
    The closed station being rebuilt in 1995 for NIR services bar the Enterprise.
  • View of platforms in 1995.
    View of platforms in 1995.
  • Platforms 2 and 3 at Great Victoria Street in August 2007.
    Platforms 2 and 3 at Great Victoria Street in August 2007.
  • NIR service in 2011 on the Derry~Londonderry railway line.
    NIR service in 2011 on the Derry~Londonderry railway line.
  • The permanent way down the platforms in 2011.
    The permanent way down the platforms in 2011.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Europa Buscentre". www.translink.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Great Northern Car Park". 3 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ "iLink Zone information". translink.co.uk. Translink. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Belfast Great Victoria Street station closing after 200 years". 10 May 2024. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "NIR Footfall 1518.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b "NIR Footfall 1819.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  7. ^ "NIR Footfall 1920.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 11 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  8. ^ "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2021.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  9. ^ "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2122.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 26 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  10. ^ "FOI1317 NIR Footfall 2223.xlsx". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  11. ^ "FOI Footfall 2023 2024 figures PDF.pdf". www.whatdotheyknow.com. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Belfast Transport Hub to be called Grand Central Station". BBC News. 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Great Victoria Street Train Station in Belfast is set to permanently close next month with the last train leaving on May 10". Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Belfast Grand Central Station to be a 'game-changer' for public transport".
  15. ^ "Opening date for Belfast Grand Central Station announced as bus services to begin from new transport hub". The Irish News. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  16. ^ https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0906/1468619-grand-central-belfast/
  17. ^ https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/belfast-grand-central-station-to-be-a-game-changer-for-public-transport/a1948923413.html
  18. ^ a b Pollock, Vivienne; Parkhill, Trevor (2001). A Century of Belfast. Swindon: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2897-2.
  19. ^ a b "The Belfast Hub: Making History" (PDF). Translink. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  20. ^ a b c d "The Belfast Hub: Making History" (PDF). Translink. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  21. ^ "70 injured as bomb wrecks Belfast station". The Times. No. 58434. London. 23 March 1972. p. 1.
  22. ^ "CAIN: Events: Bloody Friday - Northern Ireland Office News-sheet on 'Bloody Friday'". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  23. ^ "17 Great Victoria Street – Great Northern Tower". futurebelfast.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  24. ^ "John Bennett's Railways Journeys – Part 6: An Enterprising Journey". BBC NI. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  25. ^ "Travel to the Airport". George Best Belfast City Airport. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  26. ^ Ferris, Cyril (2009). "Enterprise moving to Great Victoria Street?". Today's Railways UK (97): 37.
  27. ^ Watson, W.; McFerran, A. (2015). "Proposal to close Great Victoria Street". Rail Express (228): 96.
  28. ^ Wilson, Rebekah (20 April 2024). "Great Victoria Street: 'Closing the station is a big loss for me'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  29. ^ "'A bittersweet moment': Great Victoria Street station closes after almost 200 years". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 10 May 2024. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024 – via m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  30. ^ a b c d "350 Stranraer - Cairnryan Ferry Ports Timetable" (PDF). dumgal.gov.uk. 3 June 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Stranraer-Glasgow Central Timetable (as of 3rd of June 2024)". ScotRail. 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Europa Bus Centre, Belfast". Robinson McIlwaine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  33. ^ "Europa Buscentre Timetable (as of 3rd of June 2024)". Translink NI. 3 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  34. ^ "Belfast-London Bus Timetable". National Express. 3 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Belfast-Glasgow Bus Timetable". National Express. 23 April 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  36. ^ "Opening date for Belfast Grand Central Station announced as bus services to begin from new transport hub". The Irish News. 19 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  37. ^ https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0906/1468619-grand-central-belfast/
  38. ^ https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/belfast-grand-central-station-to-be-a-game-changer-for-public-transport/a1948923413.html
[edit]
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