Passengers who have endured weeks of disruption to their daily commute have said they are looking forward to services getting back on track.
Since July the rail line between Lisburn and Belfast has been closed ahead of the opening of the new Belfast Grand Central Station.
The £340m transport hub launches this weekend, with some bus routes operational starting Sunday.
However, Translink has not set a date for the launch of rail services.
An express bus substitution service has been operating between Lisburn and Europa Bus Centre since early July — with the journey usually lasting around 25 minutes.
Yesterday travellers had mixed reactions to the ongoing delays.
Gillian Smith (37) said that during the summer, the “substitutions were fantastic”, but the return to school and onset of colder and darker nights mean traffic jams and delays will get worse.
“Now there’s more congestion,” she said.
Gillian Smith
“On Thursday evening, when I was coming home from work at 4pm, half of us were put off the bus because there wasn’t room, and there’s been a few times they’ve had breakdowns, but when we were getting put off the bus, I thought: ‘What if people had an important appointment they were trying to get up to?’
“During school times, I think they should put an extra two or three buses on, to accommodate the fact that kids are going to school and people are going to work. I know there have been a few incidents where buses haven’t turned up for kids going to school in Belfast.”
Direct buses straight to Belfast run every 10 minutes, and sure enough, at least three buses were waiting to go from outside the station on Bachelors Walk from 7.30am on yesterday morning, with plenty of Translink stewards there for guidance.
However, the ‘normal’ buses, which travel through all other stops on the way to Belfast, don’t run as regularly.
Gillian said this meant if you had previously been getting the train from Lisburn to Finaghy or Dunmurry, you had to wait a lot longer to get there, and there are currently no extra provisions from Translink for that.
She added: “When I saw on the news two days ago that there’s no update for when the trains will start running again, I just thought: ‘This is going to be an absolute nightmare’.”
Nonetheless, some passengers prefer the new bus substitutions.
Dermot Hassan (41) believes they are “far better”.
“They come every 10 minutes, and it’s only a few minutes before they take off once you’re on, and it’s not packed either,” he said.
Dermont Hassan
“There’s always plenty of seats. The only drawback is that it leaves me to Great Victoria Street and I have to walk down to the quays for work.
“It’s not too bad, but it’s a lot better than waiting in a busy train station with jam-packed trains. I haven’t missed a bus yet and you’re not waiting any time at all on them.”
Emma Uprichard (46) works in Belfast city centre and although she doesn’t mind the bus, she does miss the time-saving efficiency of trains.
Emma Uprichard
“The buses are so frequent, but on the way home the traffic would be quite bad, especially on the M1. There was one night we were getting home an hour later than usual.
“You’re so used to a 10-minute train journey on the express.
“If you were to go then on the ‘all-stop’ bus and not the express, it takes at least 40 minutes going round all the traffic in Belfast and Lisburn.”
Currently, those travelling to Dublin from Belfast via the Enterprise service have to board a bus to Newry, where the journey can continue via train.
Belfast-based businessman David Gavaghan, who has used the enterprise regularly for the last 20 years, says the disruption means he “avoids” using the service at all, preferring the bus or to drive “in extremis.”
He is upset about the delays to the resumption of regular train services and feels the Belfast to Dublin train service is in need of general improvements in terms of passenger comfort, regularity and journey time.
“It’s two hours and 10 minutes on a good day, so that’s an expensive use of anybody’s time,” he said.
“Often the WiFi doesn’t work, and you can’t easily work with your laptop on the thing as it is very bumpy.
“We applaud ourselves for the incremental improvements that potentially could happen in a 15 to 20-year time frame, instead of recognising that we are living in a completely bizarre situation.”