New research from West Somerset Railway has revealed that Belfast Great Victoria Street Station is the most popular train station in Northern Ireland according to Google searches. This is ahead of the station being replaced by Grand Central Station in September.

Great Victoria Street Station which closed in May topped the list receiving 18,100 searches between July 2023 and June 2024.

Belfast Lanyon Place came second (12,100), Yorkgate station came third (2,400).

Coleraine and Antrim stations rounded out the top 10 with 880 searches respectively.

placeholder image — Passenger platforms at the Great Victoria street station in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Looking at the United Kingdom altogether, searches for over 100 mainline train stations were analysed by West Somerset Railway totaling over 6 million average searches across the UK.

Unsurprisingly, London Victoria Station, Liverpool Street Station and Waterloo Station topped the list with 450,000 average searches, placing them first, second and third.

Speaking on the findings, Samantha White from West Somerset Railway who conducted the research said: “It is amazing to see that there are so many searches for train stations in the United Kingdom, including Belfast Great Victoria Street being the most searched station in Northern Ireland.

“I feel that six million average searches across the United Kingdom in the last year goes to show that there is a desire in the public to use train services as a main form of public transport. Whether that be commuting to work or travelling to beautiful areas of the country on a holiday, the demand for train travel remains high."