Meet some of the longest serving staff at Great Victoria Street train station as it closes its doors

Great Victoria Street train station has been at the heart of Belfast city centre since the early 1800s, with the station closing its doors for good this week after playing a leading role in the city's history.

Through the doors of the station over those years have been passengers from all walks of life, as well as Translink staff from all parts of Northern Ireland. Many staff members at Great Victoria Street worked at the site for decades, both in customer facing roles and behind the scenes, working hard to keep things going.

Long serving staff members told Belfast Live of their pride at serving the station and its customers, and sadness to see its doors closing after 200 years. However, looking to the future, there's excitement ahead of the opening of Belfast Grand Central Station nearby.

Read more: Belfast city centre train station closes doors after 200 years

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The closure of Great Victoria Street station is to make way for the new station which is scheduled to open this autumn.

David Shearer's first day working for Translink was the first day the new Great Victoria Street station opened back in 1995, 29 years ago. Starting out as a porter at the station, he now works as a guard for NI Railways.

He said there have been many changes over the years, but that he looks back on his time at Translink so far, and his career at Great Victoria Street, with fondness and plenty of memories.

David said: "I have great memories of Great Victoria Street station. I was a porter here for my first five years. I remember one time back then, a guy came off the Dublin train, he had a big long coat on and a big hat, he had a big black bag. Myself and the other porter looked at each other and went 'what's this all about?'

"He said 'I'm sorry I have no money for my ticket, but I have these' and when he opened his bag, there were ten lobsters in it. I have a load of stories, lots of them I wouldn't say! But there's all sorts of characters, so many really nice people have come through over the years.

"There are people coming through now who I remember coming through when they were children, and they're now bringing their own kids through. There's a girl from Carrickfergus and I remember showing her and her brother where the driver sits at the back of the train, and now I've recently shown her children the driving cab of the train. Life just goes on."

As for what he thinks of the new Grand Central Station, David said it's an exciting time, and he hopes the new station will bring a buzz back to the surrounding area. He said: "I'm sad to see Great Victoria Street station close, but it isn't big enough to cope with the amount of passengers.

"Belfast really needs a station in the city centre which has the capacity to take the passengers from all over Northern Ireland. Bringing the Dublin train to this side of town will bring a lot more life to the area, it's great to see the development in this part of the town too.

"It's now time to modernise Belfast, it's great to see it happening. Where the new station is, it's serving all communities, and to have that is a major thing on its own."

A passion for restoring buses brought Ben Simpson to Translink 18 years ago, working for NI Railways as he was then too young to get into the bus operations side. He has worked through the ranks over the years, first as a conductor, before becoming a train driver, and now finding himself in a trainee manager position.

Ben said his career so far has been a "love affair," with most of his working time spent at Great Victoria Street station. He said: "I'm lucky enough that I've worked in front of house, out with the customers in the stations and on the trains, to back of house as the driver in the front of the train or by training staff who are going out delivering our services.

"I would have loved coming in and working at Great Victoria Street on Friday and Saturday nights, the place is hiving. You see people who've been out on the town, who've been out shopping, or out for different events.

"You get a real buzz, I always loved knowing that people have gone out and had a great time, and we've got them there and made sure they got home safe, it's a really great feeling."

Ben said Grand Central Station will be "brilliant" and he hopes it will lead to a further expansion of the railway network throughout Northern Ireland. He said: "I think expansion of the rail network is an absolute must, you can see if you build it, they will come.

"We were lucky enough to get investment for new trains as services improved, frequencies have improved, and passenger numbers have increased. Hopefully the All-Island Strategic Rail Review finally comes into fruition and spurs on a lot of new lines, and hopefully I'll be around to see some of them."

The first railway station in the Great Victoria Street area was called Glengall Place, and opened in August 1839 to provide a service to Lisburn. It was renamed Belfast Victoria Street in 1852 before taking on its current name in 1856.

The Europa bus station, which is connected to Great Victoria Street train station, will remain open before the new Grand Central Station combines rail and bus services in the autumn. Translink have now introduced a revised train timetable which will be in place until then.

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