Translink confirms some train journeys now take longer with new Grand Central Station

The extra time is due to the requirement that passengers now change trains mid-journey.

Previously, when Lanyon Place (formerly known as Central Station) was the main hub of Belfast's rail operation, it was possible to go directly through from the Newry/Portadown/Lisburn line to Bangor without changing.

Since the new station opened last Sunday, all passengers must disembark at Grand Central Station and change trains for the Bangor line, and vice-versa.

Translink says the average wait for a change at Grand Central Station varies between an average of about seven minutes at peak times and an average of about nine minutes at non-peak times – time which is now added on to all travel along this route.

So taking the 7.44am train from Lisburn to Bangor, for example, now takes 59 minutes.

(The cost of such a journey remains unchanged at £10 for a single.)

The News Letter asked online readers what they made of the change.

"In other words once direct services are now no longer direct!!!" said one. "How is that an improvement?"

Another said: "Just going from Lisburn to Waterfront Hall now requires a change and wasted time in both directions. Same with Lisburn to Derry."

Others pointed out that it means patients coming from the Newry/Portadown/Lisburn line to Belfast City Hospital now have to contend with a change of train to get there.

One reader said: "All I'll say is for cancer patients attending City Hospital daily, the direct service on the Portadown line was invaluable. Not so now – thumbs down.

"I travelled for my cancer treatment every day for weeks and it worked well just 1 journey there and same back.

"Obviously not much thought put into this new system for hospital patients in my opinion."

Another wrote: "Only in Northern Ireland can you spend £350 million to make things worse."

Translink told the News Letter: “Belfast Grand Central Station has been designed to be a terminus station offering increased connectivity and integration with the wider public transport network for bus, coach and rail connections across Northern Ireland, RoI and beyond.

“The number of platforms at the station have now doubled to eight, facilitating a more customer centric clockface timetable for all routes and to accommodate the enhanced hourly Enterprise service to Dublin starting on Tuesday, October 29.

“More platforms mean more cross-over junctions on approach to the station which restrict train movements on other platforms.

"Like many modern rail terminus stations across UK and Europe, the new rail timetable is designed to bring all rail lines into the new station and back out again on the same corridor.

"This minimises the cross-over junctions and ultimately allows for a higher service frequency and a more reliable and efficient service across all rail corridors across the network.

“All rail lines now feed into the new station. This brings some benefits to those passengers whose service previous terminated in Lanyon Place Station while for others they will need to allow some extra time to interchange to another bus or rail service if continuing on a different route.

“At peak times the average platform interchange will be seven minutes to around nine minutes at off peak times”.