Grand Central Station opens with 'complete lack of cycle parking'
Belfast's brand new Grand Central Station has officially opened for bus travel with a 'complete lack of cycle parking'. The Belfast Cycle Campaign highlighted the oversight at the weekend when some members arrived to find there was nowhere to chain their bikes.
They said they were told "covered bike storage is part of the final vision for Central Station", but with completion months off, have written to Translink boss Chris Conway about the issue, asking for a timeline on when they will be installed.
Cycling campaigner, Meg Hoyt, told Belfast Live: "It's a little bit disappointing that in this new transport vision for Belfast, cycling feels like an afterthought. You would hope that a modern transport hub would really be thinking about how to get people there - not by car [but] by bike, by train, by bus.
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Meg said she was "excited" to see the new station when she cycled there on Sunday but added: "We were quite surprised that there is nowhere to lock your bike. We ended up just locking our bikes by a pillar together.
"We were chatting to a very nice staff member and asked 'where's the cycle parking?' She was saying 'it's coming, it's going to be brilliant'. I am sure it will be, but I was just surprised there wasn't anything there for the opening. Even just something temporary.
"There's not even railings around so there isn't really anything to attach it [your bike] to. As ever with Belfast and Northern Ireland more broadly, the trouble is with linking all these things together.
"Even when we cycled down from North Belfast on Sunday the Grosvenor Road bike path does not go all the way to the station. You are on the cycle route and you just get spat out on the top of the hill into traffic.
"You sort of think 'surely DfI would have wanted to connect these lanes to this flagship travel hub'. There's bigger piece here about connecting all of this infrastructure together."
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The campaign group's letter to Translink boss CEO Chris Conway said: "Cycling should and will be a key part of peoples' journeys to and from Central Station," their letter reads.
"We need to make it quick, efficient and safe to encourage more people to cycle and use public transport instead of being dependent on cars.
"We are very happy to engage with Translink and offer advice from the perspective of people who cycle to get around, but either way this situation need to be addressed without delay."
It follows backlash over the lack of Irish signage at Belfast's brand new transport hub, which was officially opened by Department for Infrastructure Minister, John O'Dowd; Translink boss Chris Conway and Belfast Mayor Micky Murray on Monday.
Responding to the current lack of cycle parking, a Translink spokesperson said: "With a clear focus on active travel, Belfast Grand Central Station will be a game changer helping inspire and reimagine the city - one where more people travel on public transport, walk, wheel and cycle.
"Translink has been engaging with Sustrans and other stakeholders from the onset of this project to facilitate and encourage active travel. As part of the phased opening of Belfast Grand Central Station, we will provide temporary cycle parking in coming weeks."
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