Translink release aerial drone footage of work at Belfast's new Grand Central Station - the replacement for Great Victoria Street
Translink has released footage taken by an aerial drone of the work being carried out on Grand Central Station.
The Belfast bus-and-rail station is replacing the old Great Victoria Street station in what is a mammoth engineering project occupying acres of space at the centre of the city.
It is due to open in autumn, and the footage shows the station creeping closer to completion.
The News Letter previously covered the story last November, when we were allowed on site and filmed the first-ever footage of the station taking shape – see here.
Similarly, we have followed the journey of the old Yorkgate station – now York Street – from construction site (here) to finished station (here).
The work on Grand Central involves re-aligning much of the city’s centre’s railway track, and to date six kilometres (3.7 miles) of new track has been laid, plus 19 switch and crossing points, eight buffer stops, 2,000 new sleepers and some 33 tonnes of new ballast.
Chris Conway, Translink CEO, said: “Simultaneously, while infrastructure and technology work is completing, more than 300 rail staff from drivers to conductors, signallers and station staff are undergoing training to operate new systems and signalling technology.
“This latest drone footage really does a great job in showing what is happening behind the scenes at one of the most complex infrastructure projects in the UK this year. We are on track for operational opening this autumn and while that is an exciting next step in our journey, public realm street works will continue into 2025.”