A new mural has been unveiled at a South Belfast train station with the aim of making the area a safer and more enjoyable place for the community.
The new artwork has been created at the Adelaide Station off the Lisburn Road and celebrates the history of the train station by showing a traditional waiting room, steam train and the station’s former Signal Man, Charles Murtagh.
Mr Murtagh's daughter, Greta Spence, still lives in her childhood home beside the train station and worked with local artist Blaze FX who developed the mural by providing old photographs of her father and sharing stories of living there over the years.
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South Belfast SDLP councillor and Policing and Community Safety Partnership Chair Gary McKeown said: “It was an honour to help launch the new mural at Adelaide Station. I have had the pleasure of working with the community here on their efforts to transform the area around the station, and the change has been phenomenal over the past couple of years.
“The new artwork complements the existing mural on the opposite wall, and together they not only brighten the area and make it more welcoming, but also highlight the rich railway heritage of the area. Adelaide Station is actually 125 years old, so the new artwork is a fitting tribute to the service it has provided to generations of residents, and to the workers who made this possible.
“It’s great that the Policing and Community Safety Partnership has been able to support this project in partnership with Translink, and I look forward to the next step in the creative development of this area.
Commenting on the new street art, Dani Whann, an Operational Management Trainee at Translink who worked closely with sponsors South Belfast PCSP and the Adelaide Residents' Association, said: “At Translink we’re committed to helping ensure we’re all Better Connected, not just through our transport links but by working in partnership and supporting our local communities, so it’s great to see such a positive outcome from the connections we’ve built with the local residents of Adelaide Street and the surrounding area with the unveiling of this striking new mural.
“It has been a great opportunity to celebrate our rail history and is a fantastic example of how the creative arts can engage young people and promote positive behaviour.”
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