The city of Belfast is primarily served by 5 train stations located in and around its city centre. These stations are Lanyon Place, York Street, Botanic, City Hospital, and the upcoming Grand Central Station.

The new Belfast Grand Central Station

The newest addition to Belfast’s transport scene is the Grand Central Station, the biggest transport development to happen in Northern Ireland. The new station is located on Grosvenor Road and Durham Street, and will serve as Belfast’s new bus and rail hub. The new station has opened for bus services only on 8 September 2024.

Grand Central replaces both the Europa Bus Centre and Great Victoria Street station, which was Belfast’s rail terminus until its permanent closure on 10 May 2024 to facilitate track works for the new station.

Lanyon Place

The city centre is currently served by Lanyon Place Station on its eastern edge. The station is located close to St George’s Market and is a 15 to 20 minutes’ walk from City Hall. All NI Railways services call at Lanyon Place, except for those heading south to Newry.

The station used to be named “Belfast Central” from its opening in 1976 until 2018, when it was renamed to “Lanyon Place”. Up until 2024, the station was the terminus of the Enterprise express train to Dublin. Owing to track works for the new Grand Central Station (see above), the Enterprise currently runs from Portadown instead.

York Street

Slightly north of the city centre is York Street Station, serving the edge of North Belfast. This is the closest train station to Ulster University’s Belfast campus, and is a walkable distance from both the campus and the surrounding student accommodations.

To be quite frank, I personally recommend catching the Metro bus service running between the campus and the station instead if there is no rush as it’s not a very pleasant walk.

Botanic

Botanic station is located on Botanic Avenue, close to Queen’s University Belfast. It serves all NI Railways services except those heading south to Newry, and is a convenient alternative to Lanyon Place for QUB students.

City Hospital

City Hospital station is located on Donegall Road, providing access to Belfast City Hospital. It is also the closest railway station to the QUB School of Medicine.

External Links

• Translink’s website;
• Timetables page on Translink website (type in your stop name or route number).