Ireland

Titanic Quarter Station opens

Titanic Quarter Station

Following an extensive £800,000 refurbishment, Titanic Quarter Station in Belfast has opened.

Work was completed on Titanic Quarter Station – formerly Bridge End Station – in March 2012 ahead of the Titanic Centenary events that took place in April. The three-month project involved the modernisation of the station to renew and extend existing platforms, along with the renaming of the facility as part of its inclusion in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

Construction and civil engineering contractors McLaughlin & Harvey were the main contractor for the project and Atkins was the civil engineering designer and project manager.

Work began on the project in January 2012 and included the replacement and extension of existing platforms to accommodate larger Class 4000 trains. In addition, a DDA compliant ramp was constructed and new signage, shelters and lighting were installed.

Transport Minister, Danny Kennedy, said:

“The new Titanic Quarter is the gateway station to many of Belfast’s newest attractions and developments in the area including Titanic Belfast, the Public Records Office, the Odyssey and Belfast Metropolitan College.

Titanic Quarter Station

“I am confident that the completion of this overall project will ensure the continued modernisation of the transport infrastructure, whilst the introduction of Class 4000 trains will help contribute to increasing rail passenger numbers.”

Translink Group Chief Executive, Catherine Mason, added:

“The renaming of the station to Titanic Quarter reflects the work that has been done to modernise facilities and position the station as a quality and accessible travel option for anyone visiting the Titanic Quarter area.”

The station remained open at all times during the project so a temporary footbridge was installed to allow passengers to access platforms. Furthermore, works were phased so that trains could run as scheduled.

Translink Structures Project Engineer, Anthony Stove, said:

“The existing platforms were built in the late 1970s and were in a very poor condition. However because we needed to work on all areas of the station we could only conduct work when the trains were not running.

“We decided that the best way to work around this problem was to phase works so that we could continue whilst keeping the station and existing train services fully operational. As we completed new platforms we simply moved the trains and then demolished the older platforms so that everything could continue without disruption.

“There were some challenges on the project, including a number of high voltage power cables, some of which we had to divert. Cables that we couldn’t divert we simply had to work around.

Titanic Quarter Station

“The site was situated by the M3 motorway, one of the largest arterial routes in Northern Ireland so work was also restricted by the availability of road lane closures. However we adapted our project to work around these issues very successfully to complete the job.

“Titanic Quarter Station is part of a much larger £7 million scheme to update and improve up to twenty different stations across the railway network. Despite the short timescale on the project, it was important to us that we completed the modernisation of this station ahead of the Titanic Centenary. This was a good indication of what we can achieve on future stations with limited timeframes.”

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