Belfast Lanyon Place (formerly Belfast Central) is a railway station serving the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Located on East Bridge Street in the Laganside area of central Belfast, it is one of four stations in the city centre, the others being City Hospital, Botanic, and the under-construction Grand Central. Lanyon Place is the northern terminus of the cross-border Enterprise service to Dublin Connolly. It is also served by Northern Ireland Railways, which operates routes to other locations in Northern Ireland, including Derry, Bangor, Portadown and Larne.
Lanyon Place
| |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Station Building.
| |||||||
| General information | |||||||
| Other names | Belfast Central | ||||||
| Location | East Bridge Street, Belfast Northern Ireland | ||||||
| Coordinates | 54°35′43″N 5°55′02″W / 54.5953°N 5.9172°W / 54.5953; -5.9172 | ||||||
| Owned by | NI Railways | ||||||
| Operated by | NI Railways | ||||||
| Line(s) | Dublin-Belfast Mainline Newry/Portadown (1) Bangor (1) Larne (2) Derry/Londonderry (3) | ||||||
| Platforms | 4 | ||||||
| Tracks | 4 (at platforms) 5 (total) | ||||||
| Construction | |||||||
| Structure type | At-grade | ||||||
| Key dates | |||||||
| 1976 | Opened as Belfast Central | ||||||
| 2003 | Refurbished | ||||||
| 2018 | Renamed "Lanyon Place" | ||||||
| Passengers | |||||||
| 2015/16 | 2.232 million [1] | ||||||
| 2016/17 |  2.282 million [1] | ||||||
| 2017/18 |  2.424 million [1] | ||||||
| 2018/19 | 2.615 million [2] | ||||||
| 2019/20 | 2.569 million [3] | ||||||
| 2020/21 | 359,100 [4] | ||||||
| 2021/22 | 980,707 [5] | ||||||
| 2022/23 | 1.833 million [6] | ||||||
| 2023/24 | 2.417 million [7] | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
There are two island platforms at Lanyon Place, each serving two tracks, capable of accommodating trains up to nine coaches long on each side. Platform 1 is usually only used at peak hours, as well as for special services run by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. Platform 2 is the Enterprise platform. Platform 3 is the 'southbound platform', normally used for trains to Portadown, Lisburn and Newry, with Platform 4 being the 'northbound platform' for trains along the Derry, Larne and Bangor lines.
Regular services also operated between Lanyon Place and the city's other main station, Great Victoria Street which is located nearer Belfast's city centre until its closure on 10 May 2024.
2.6 million people used the station in 2017.[8]
The station was opened as "Belfast Central" on Monday 26 April 1976,[9] despite it being located further from Belfast city centre than Great Victoria Street station. The first station manager was Mr John Johnston.
By the 1990s, it became clear that the station's facilities were in need of upgrading. A major refurbishment programme started in 2000 and was completed in 2003.[10]
In February 2018, Translink announced that Belfast Central would undergo a face-lift. This would see the entrance hall and East Bridge Street façade completely redesigned, with the removal of the Troubles-era blast wall. Inside, the ticket hall would be rebuilt and new retail and dining facilities provided. A Belfast Bikes dock will also be included in the redesigned station.[8]
As part of the redesign, Belfast Central was renamed Lanyon Place on 1 September 2018. This is despite the fact that, strictly speaking, the station is not located there but on East Bridge Street.
The Enterprise will move from Lanyon Place to the new Belfast Grand Central Station integrated transport hub once that project is completed.[11]
From Monday to Saturday, there is a half hourly service from BangortoPortadown, with some trains continuing on to Newry. During peak times there are up to 6 trains per hour operating to Bangor with 3 being express services and the other half being slow services stopping at all stations between here and Bangor. The service is reduced to hourly operation in the evenings.
On Sundays, the service is hourly operating between Bangor and Portadown. There are no local services calling at stations between Portadown and Newry on Sundays.
During the construction of Grand Central, the vast majority of Larne Line services terminate here. Certain peak time trains run through to City Hospital, also calling at Botanic. Outbound services run half-hourly on an alternating basis to either Whitehead or through to Larne Harbour, giving an hourly service to stations beyond Whitehead. Extra services at peak times run to Carrickfergus.
On Saturdays, most services will run through to City Hospital. Otherwise the service retains a very similar pattern minus any additional peak-time trains. On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly operation, with the outbound terminus alternating between Whitehead and Larne Harbour as before, giving a two-hourly service to stations beyond Whitehead.
All Derry~Londonderry Line trains call at Lanyon Place. During the week, the service runs hourly in each direction between City Hospital and Derry~Londonderry. Certain peak-time or late-night trains will only run as far as Coleraine, or through to Portrush.
On Saturdays, the service is slightly reduced, however operation remains much the same as during the week. On Sundays, the hourly service alternately runs to Derry~Londonderry and Portrush, giving a two-hourly service to stations beyond Coleraine.
There is an Enterprise train service every two hours between Dublin Connolly and Lanyon Place with the service being reduced to five trains each way on Sundays. This line can be popular with rugby fans connecting at Dublin Connolly for the DARTtoLansdowne Road. The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART to Dún Laoghaire for example or travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish FerriesorStena LinetoHolyhead, and then by train along the North Wales Coast LinetoLondon Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.
| Preceding station |  Northern Ireland Railways
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botanic | Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Derry
|
York Street | ||
| Terminus or Botanic |
Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Larne
|
|||
| Terminus | Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Bangor
|
Titanic Quarter | ||
| Northern Ireland Railways Belfast-Newry
|
Botanic | |||
| Enterprise (NIR & IE) Belfast-Dublin
|
Portadown or Lisburn (Sundays) |
The Port of Belfast has a Stena Line ferry connecting to Cairnryan for the bus link[12]toStranraer and onward trains along the Glasgow South Western LinetoGlasgow Central.
| Preceding station | Ferry | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stranraer Harbour (via bus link from Cairnryan[12]) |
Stena Line Ferry |
Port of Belfast (nearest stations York Street & Lanyon Place | ||
| Liverpool | Stena Line Ferry |
Port of Belfast (nearest stations York Street & Lanyon Place) | ||
| Douglas | Isle of Man Steam Packet Ferry(seasonal) |
Port of Belfast (nearest stations York Street & Lanyon Place) | ||
| Stranraer Harbour (via bus link from Cairnryan[12]) |
P&O Ferries Ferry |
Larne Harbour |
The Larne line connects with Larne Harbour with P&O Ferries sailing to Cairnryan for the bus link[12]toStranraer and onward trains along the Glasgow South Western LinetoGlasgow Central, as well as alternative sailings by P&O FerriestoTroon also on the Glasgow South Western LinetoGlasgow Central.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)