A major milestone in the Belfast Grand Central Station construction project has been reached with the opening of a new busway bridge.
The 480-tonne structure is a key section of the bus lane which will connect the M1/Broadway roundabout with the Europa Buscentre and eventually the new station.
Belfast Grand Central Station is due to open with its 26 bus stands in 2025 and the bridge, which is already taking 10 minutes off passenger journey times, will carry 400 bus services per day. With a span of 51 metres, it has been designed by Arup and constructed by Graham Construction and will cross the realigned railway lines serving the station.
Philip Brown, Head of Major Projects at Translink, says: “This busway bridge is an integral part of the bus infrastructure planned for the world class Belfast Grand Central Station.
“Its development has been visible to anyone arriving into Belfast Great Victoria Street Station by train or using the Westlink over the past number of months and we are delighted to officially mark its opening and the return of this bus passenger priority lane through the site.
“From today, passengers will see around ten-minute reductions on journey times when travelling on services that use this direct bus lane and busway bridge to and from Europa Buscentre. We’d like to thank them for their patience and flexibility while we worked to complete this part of the construction programme.
“Its completion also enables wider station construction works to progress efficiently. I would also like to thank and congratulate the entire project and operations teams for their hard work to deliver this milestone and also acknowledge the Department for Infrastructure for their essential funding to deliver this project.”
“Its completion also enables wider station construction works to progress efficiently. I would also like to thank and congratulate the entire project and operations teams for their hard work to deliver this milestone and also acknowledge the Department for Infrastructure for their essential funding to deliver this project,” said Philip.
Belfast Grand Central Station is the biggest public transport infrastructure project on the island of Ireland and will integrate coach, bus and rail.
