Shared description

Great Victoria Street railway station – Belfast

The Ulster Railway Company opened its railway line from Belfast (Glengall Place) to Lisburn in 1839. Designed by John Godwin, the imposing Great Victoria Street station opened in 1849 – Glengall Place and Glengall Street having been renamed at some stage in a fit of patriotic fervour. After the Ulster Railway became part of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) empire in 1876, some alterations were made to the terminal building including construction of an imposing porte-cochère. Many, including Sir John Betjeman, regarded the building as one of the finest examples of Victorian railway station architecture to be found in the British Isles.

At its height in the years before World War 1, trains left Great Victoria Street for Londonderry (Foyle Road), Enniskillen, Cavan, Bundoran, Warrenpoint, Newcastle, Antrim and Dublin. However, by 1965, services operated only to Lisburn, Portadown and Dublin.

A substantial part of the building was demolished in 1968 to make way for the Europa Hotel. What survived, including the platforms and railway related structures, disappeared following closure of the station on 24 April 1976. Subsequently, the Europa bus station and “skyscraper” office blocks were constructed on the site.

Fortunately, the hideous transport policies of the 1960s and 1970s were eventually recognised as utter folly. Despite initial opposition from Government and another transport provider, Northern Ireland Railways persisted with its plans for reinstatement of a railway line to Great Victoria Street. Designed by Robinson & McIlwain, a new Great Victoria Street station opened for business on 30 September 1995.

This Shared Description covers the area from Central Junction to Great Victoria Street station. For views on the Belfast Central lines, see: Link
by The Carlisle Kid

Created: Fri, 29 Mar 2013, Updated: Sat, 28 Dec 2013


59 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

J3373 : Gt Victoria Street station, Belfast (9) by Albert Bridge
J3373 : Steam train - No. 2 Platform - Great Victoria Street station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : 80-class - No. 2 Platform - Great Victoria Street station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : MED - No.3 Platform - Great Victoria Street station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Dublin train - No. 2 Platform - 1975 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Posters - No. 1 Platform - Great Victoria Street station - 1 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Train, Gt Victoria Street, Belfast (March 2016) by Albert Bridge
J3373 : Platforms 3 & 4 - Great Victoria Street station - 1973 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : New Great Victoria Street railway station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Great Victoria Street station - general view of platforms - 1973 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Railway platform, Belfast by Rossographer
J3373 : Signal cabin - Great Victoria Street station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : New Great Victoria Street station - opening day - 3 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Gt Victoria Street bus station, Belfast (1976) by Albert Bridge
J3373 : 80-class set - Platform 3 - Great Victoria Street station by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Gt Victoria Street station, Belfast (2) by Albert Bridge
J3373 : Gt Victoria Street station, Belfast (10) by Albert Bridge
J3473 : Railway poster, Belfast by Albert Bridge
J3373 : 103 - No. 2 Platform - Great Victoria Street station - 1973 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Platforms 3 & 4 - Great Victoria Street station - final minutes by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : 103 in No. 2 Platform, Great Victoria Street by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Steam train leaving Great Victoria Street station - 1975 by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : BUT & AEC sets - No's 3 & 4 Platforms by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : Great Victoria Street railway station - interior by The Carlisle Kid
J3373 : New Great Victoria Street station - opening day by The Carlisle Kid

... and 34 more images.

Shared descriptions

This shared description

The 'Shared Description' text on this page is © copyright 2013 The Carlisle Kid.

Shared descriptions are specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse them on their own images, without restriction.

About shared descriptions

These Shared Descriptions are common to multiple images.

For example, you can create a generic description for an object shown in a photo, and reuse the description on all photos of the object. All descriptions are public and shared between contributors, i.e. you can reuse a description created by others, just as they can use yours.

Explore images

View images using this "Great Victoria Street railway station – Belfast" Shared Description

View images mentioning the words [Great Victoria Street railway station – Belfast] anywhere in text


Links for J3373

This description is located in J3373.

Other shared descriptions

Descriptions nearby

Related descriptions

The above selections are automatic and approximate, it might not always select closely matching descriptions


You are not logged in login | register