Belfast Transport Hub Announced

A new transport hub has been announced for Belfast City Centre, to meet the growing demands of Northern Ireland's public transport system.

Translink is now in the process of appointing an integrated design team for the new hub, which is planned for development on the site of the existing Europa Buscentre and Great Victoria Street Station.

Passenger journeys across Northern Ireland are already approaching 80m per year.

Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy said: "With passenger journeys up by around 1.5m on last year alone, the current Translink infrastructure is now operating close to capacity.

"I am committed to supporting the growing number of passengers who choose to use public transport and I wish to improve infrastructure to meet future demands.

"We live in challenging economic times and public money must be used wisely. It is only right that we plan ahead and invest for the future.

Translink Infrastructure Executive Clive Bradberry said: "As demonstrated in other parts of the UK and Europe, this project has the potential to regenerate this whole city quarter as developing the 22 acre site for a range of commercial opportunities would also encourage investment in the wider neighbouring area.

"We would hope to operate the majority of our trains including our cross border Enterprise train services from the new Transport Hub. This will mean passengers will have greater connectivity with train, bus and coach options offering more attractive, integrated and accessible travel choices; with more space available, there is also more opportunity to increase service capacity too."

(IT/CD)