Laganside Bus Station

Laganside Bus Station is basic but it does the trick for any commuters.
It importantly has public toilets which are kept well clean at all times, which is very important as public toilets can sometimes tend to be places that you wouldn’t want to touch with a barge pole!
It has a large electronic display that tells the time and the arrival times of all the buses and their destinations which helps commuters find where they need to go a lot easier! There is a little café which is useful if you need a bite to eat if you are waiting for a bus or if you have just missed one!
There is also a little newsagent inside that allows you to get a range of papers, magazines, drinks and snacks which saves you another journey out of you way on a busy morning! Unfortunaately a lot of services are now diverted to Europa after a certain time and the centre closes earlier now, which is kind of annoying!

The 2^nd rate ill sister of the Europa Bus station. That’s the best way to describe the Laganside bus station. My most recent trip here was because I had missed my bus at the Europa. I think they lady in the kiosk was shocked that someone could show so much despair at being told to go to another bus stop but I really don’t like this place. It has the feel of a place that’s just ravaged by time and no one seems to care. Even it’s little inside shop looks just depressing. It looks like the picked it straight from the GDR and dropped it in here. Everything seems to move a lot slower in this place and no one seems to mind. Purely because they have had all sense of joy sucked out of their souls by their surroundings! Ahhh!
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Wow Laganside Bus station is grim, when waiting there recently I contemplated throwing myself in front of a bus rather than get on one out of sheer boredom. Laganside is on its last legs, I can almost here the wrecking ball swinging… do you hear it too?
If you are coming to Belfast from Newtownards then the last stop is Laganside, to be fair despite the state of lagan side it is in a pretty handy location right next to the wonky Albert Clock. You can get off and be right in the City centre within seconds.
The journey from Newtownards itself is a long and boring one. The bus travels a route that is just unnecessary as no one gets on or off the bus at about 70% of the stops you pass. Very strange but something that is non negotiable I suppose.
All in all this place could do with a revamp and if you are waiting around for a bus don’t jingle your bus money in your pockets because you will be asked to spare it.

Laganside bus centre appears to be on its last legs when you compare it with the livelier Europa Station and I’m not sure quite how long it has to go.
My only experience here was back a long time ago when I had to go somewhere (ok I really can’t remember where but I remember heading down to the Europa station before being told my actual destination was halfway across the city at the old station)
It’s not a particularly nice place to be to be honest. Old, drab and not a fun place at night.

Laganside is Belfast’s second bus station, the other being the Europa bus station on Great Victoria Street. It’s the quieter of the two, and even at peak times, isn’t ever all that busy. There’s an almost tedious atmosphere about the place, and everything seems to go at a snail’s pace. Zzzz…
Serving the north and east of the province (as opposed to the south and west, which is served by the Europa bus centre), Laganside connects Belfast with the likes of Comber, Newtownards, the Ard’s Penninsula, Ballyclare, Larne and Portrush. This works fairly well, except for two minor issues:
1) The location of Laganside makes it quite difficult to access, and also hard to find. Situated just off Donegall Quay, you have to go round the back of the station to actually access it, and this is down a little side street… confusing! There are road signs, but you really need to know where you’re going to find it.
2) After 6pm each night, and on Sundays, the station closes, and all buses are redirected to the Europa bus station, which is quite annoying. I think this is down to lack of bus traffic, but I nearly forgot that this was the case, and ended up trying to get into Laganside to no avail. There are a few buses to Newtownards, for example, which leave the Europa during the day, so be aware of that too.
Apart from all that, Laganside isn’t too bad. Honestly…