Translink insist the new transport hub in Belfast will be ready to open on Sunday even though dozens of workers are still working on the site.

Bus services are due to begin on Sunday with the first departure – to Dublin – scheduled for 05:00 BST.

The new hub, Grand Central Station, is expected to cost about £340m.

There is still no date for the start of rail services but Translink insists it will be soon.

In terms of preparations for Sunday’s opening, the station’s manager Louise Doyle said “we’re nearly there”.

She added: “We just can’t wait to open the doors and welcome everybody in on Sunday with a big Belfast welcome.”

At a media preview of the new station on Wednesday morning, work was still going on inside and outside the station by workers in hard hats and hi-vis vests.

The sound of drills and hammering drowned out some interviews.

Ms Doyle has experience of building projects having worked at the new Wembley stadium in London and was also involved in the upgrade of Windsor Park stadium in Belfast.

She compared her work on Grand Central Station to a “baby that’s about to walk”.

“This is a huge infrastructure project that’s going to give back to the people of Belfast, Ireland and Northern Ireland for years and years to come.”

Translink chief executive Chris Conway thanked passengers for coping with the disruption to public transport services during recent months due to the switch to Grand Central as the new hub.

Asked when rail services would begin at Grand Central, he said a date would be announced “soon”.

A number of retail outlets are also planned for the new transport hub.