Member's statement: Railways: Grand Central Station

Member's statement by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 14 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

14 October 2024

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Railways: Grand Central Station

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4589553

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I want to touch briefly on some good news, some frustrating news and some more concerning developments. First, train services have begun, with the restarting of full cross-border services, at Grand Central station. One hundred years ago, we had a thriving rail network across the island. One of the tragedies of the 20th century in transport terms was the fact that that rail network was butchered, particularly in the west of what became Northern Ireland and in relation to cross-border lines. We now have the opportunity, from the base of Grand Central station, which is the biggest transport hub in Ireland, to start to grow and build the future that is set out for us in the all-island strategic rail review. I agree with my DUP colleague across the Chamber that it should have included the county of Fermanagh, and we will stand with anybody in that county who wishes to have rail connections there too.

It is important to mark the opening of Grand Central and the restarting of those cross-border rail services as an example of the connectivity that we can build on the island. I look forward to getting the train to Dublin from the new Grand Central and all of the opportunities that that provides. I want to touch on the related matter of the disruption that will be caused in Belfast for commuters and other road users. Following on from Mr McReynolds's remarks, I agree with him, and it is vital to say that a strategic priority for the Department for Infrastructure and for the Executive more generally should be to do all that we can to get people out of their cars and on to public transport, using active travel where they can. That said, there will still be people who need to use their cars for various reasons, such as accessibility or a lack of public transport infrastructure where they are. We need to be clear and communicate properly with people who will be affected by the disruption that, where they can, they should avail themselves of public transport or, if they can, avoid making that journey. Also, we should tell people to use as much public transport as they can and to use active transport opportunities. However, there is a particular onus on the Minister and the Department to be clear and to communicate better with people this year on the closure of Durham Street. Finally, I express some regret and concern — I hope that we do not have to return to this subject — at the appearance of a sign at a point on Durham Street that is also known as "Boyne Bridge", which is due to be deconstructed for the purposes of building access to Grand Central station. I recognise that there are architectural and other historical and cultural reasons why what is called the Boyne Bridge has resonance for people. It cannot be acceptable to put up signs that carry, implicitly or explicitly, a threat to people. We have to move beyond that in this society. We have a debate on a related matter tomorrow on Opposition time, but —

— I have to say that that is completely unacceptable.

532 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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