New hourly Dublin to Belfast service starts after Grand Central station opens

A new hourly service between Dublin and Belfast has been introduced, following the opening of the £340 million Belfast Grand Central station,

Starting on October 29, it marks an important milestone in transforming cross-border rail services between Dublin and Belfast. It is jointly operated by Translink and Iarnród Éireann (IÉ).

The station’s opening on October 13 enabled the resumption of services between Belfast and Lisburn, which had been replaced by road transport since July 3 while commissioning works were completed for the new station and its signalling system.

This included the installation of 4.8km (three miles) of track, 19 sets of points, 25 signals, and 50km (31 miles) of cables, as well as 1,800 metres of drainage, 5,000 concrete sleepers, and 1,220 timber sleepers, all carried out by contractor Babcock.

Following the 13-week blockade between Lisburn and Lanyon Place, which concluded in early September, the station underwent rigorous certification

testing by the NI Rail Safety Authority and the Office of Rail and Road.

The first train to depart from the station on October 13 was the 0805 ‘Enterprise’ to Dublin, while the first arrival was the 0830 from Portadown.

The new station, equipped with eight platforms to serve the Bangor, Derry/Londonderry, Dublin, Larne, and Portadown/ Newry lines, is expected to handle 20 million journeys a year.

Originally projected to cost £200 million, its final cost has risen to £340m owing to “extraordinary inflation”, as confirmed by Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.

The new facility enables enhanced service frequencies and improved amenities, such as advanced ticket gates and a recast of services tailored to the station’s expanded capabilities. The Bangor to Portadown route now requires a transfer at Grand Central, while the Enterprise service, previously based at Lanyon Place, has been relocated to the new station.