Translink do more business

ardmacha

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/bus-and-train-passenger-numbers-up-29306719.html

Passenger numbers on Northern Ireland's public transport network have soared despite a hike in fares, official figures revealed.

More than 78.5 million people took trains and buses over the past year, significantly up on the 77 million who used public transport during the previous 12 months.

Ulsterbus and Metro services experienced major rises, with NI Railways reporting an increase of about 900,000 passenger journeys.

Spiralling petrol prices and traffic congestion in Belfast city centre are thought to have contributed to the public transport boost.

Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy said investment in new vehicles had also paid off. "This is an incredible rise and proves that when people are provided with a bus and train service that delivers on quality and efficiency then they will use it," he said.

Translink, which operates the public service network, said it did not intend to cut fares in light of the increased uptake in services. "There are no plans to reduce fares at this time. We have worked very hard to keep fare increases as low as possible and indeed over recent years our fares have not kept up with inflation," a spokeswoman said.

Earlier this month, ticket prices for buses and trains rose by an average of 3% on Metro and Ulsterbus routes and by 5% on trains.

The increase was criticised by members of the Regional Development scrutiny committee and the Consumer Council.

Jimmy Spratt, chairman of the Regional Development committee, said: "We would welcome any increase in footfall but we would also like to see increases in efficiency as well. What these figures don't tell are the number of routes, particularly in country areas that have been abandoned because they are not profitable."

Catherine Mason, Translink group chief executive, said: "Our aim is to offer integrated travel solutions that are attractive, sustainable and good value. This is a great result - over a million more fare-paying customers compared to last year; customer satisfaction is also very high, which shows we are getting it right."

Richard

ardmacha wrote: »

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/bus-and-train-passenger-numbers-up-29306719.html

Passenger numbers on Northern Ireland's public transport network have soared despite a hike in fares, official figures revealed.

More than 78.5 million people took trains and buses over the past year, significantly up on the 77 million who used public transport during the previous 12 months.

Ulsterbus and Metro services experienced major rises, with NI Railways reporting an increase of about 900,000 passenger journeys.

Spiralling petrol prices and traffic congestion in Belfast city centre are thought to have contributed to the public transport boost.

Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy said investment in new vehicles had also paid off. "This is an incredible rise and proves that when people are provided with a bus and train service that delivers on quality and efficiency then they will use it," he said.

Translink, which operates the public service network, said it did not intend to cut fares in light of the increased uptake in services. "There are no plans to reduce fares at this time. We have worked very hard to keep fare increases as low as possible and indeed over recent years our fares have not kept up with inflation," a spokeswoman said.

Earlier this month, ticket prices for buses and trains rose by an average of 3% on Metro and Ulsterbus routes and by 5% on trains.

The increase was criticised by members of the Regional Development scrutiny committee and the Consumer Council.

Jimmy Spratt, chairman of the Regional Development committee, said: "We would welcome any increase in footfall but we would also like to see increases in efficiency as well. What these figures don't tell are the number of routes, particularly in country areas that have been abandoned because they are not profitable."

Catherine Mason, Translink group chief executive, said: "Our aim is to offer integrated travel solutions that are attractive, sustainable and good value. This is a great result - over a million more fare-paying customers compared to last year; customer satisfaction is also very high, which shows we are getting it right."

That's good to hear. I wonder whether the free wifi has had a significant impact.

n97 mini

Translink are obviously doing something right, but a 1.9% increase is hardly soaring!

Cookie_Monster

n97 mini wrote: »

Translink are obviously doing something right

Spiralling petrol prices and traffic congestion in Belfast city centre are thought to have contributed to the public transport boost.

The thing is any half decent operator doesn't even need to do anything special to increase usage these days, rising costs and crappy traffic do a lot of the job for them.
That said they still need to get the basics right, which they seem to be doing a lot more than some operators you could mention.

Losty Dublin

Most of Translink's traffic is commuter belt and in an area that's fairly recession proofed, given the North's high levels of public sector employment.

bikeman1

In fairness NIR are starting from a pretty low base. Bar a handful of services the rest are run by 3 car CAFs which is pretty small for a city of Belfast's size and the four routes that run out from the city centre.

Also they have just invested millions in replacing all the old stock leaving every train bar the enterprise being ten years old or less. Passenger numbers are also coming from a low point as a result of the recession.

While it is good news, it is not exceptional for NIR in my opinion.

Polar101

n97 mini wrote: »

Translink are obviously doing something right, but a 1.9% increase is hardly soaring!

Nor "significantly up". I'd use the words "nearly identical to previous year".

dowlingm

More interesting to see what impact the reopening of the relaid Derry line section will have on that route.

guttenberg

I think timetabling will play a big role in how successful the Derry route will be. The 212 Derry-Belfast bus service is quite a busy route, with regular buses starting from 5am, AFAIK the train times are not that feasible for most commuters and with the longer journey time I can't see it being more than just a scenic alternative to the bus for day trippers/students.

AngryLips

dowlingm wrote: »

More interesting to see what impact the reopening of the relaid Derry line section will have on that route.

What are they doing to the Derry line?

Losty Dublin

AngryLips wrote: »

What are they doing to the Derry line?

It's track was renewed from around Coleraine to L/Derry.

dowlingm

Here's the tender text:

The Coleraine to Londonderry railway line is situated in the North-western region of Northern Ireland. It is a rural line, which for long stretches closely follows the coast line. It is proposed to construct Continuously welded rail on an 18.5 mile long section of this route this route from the 69.5 mile post to the 88 mile post.

The works involves re-railing the track and converting it from jointed track to Continuously Welded Rail (CWR). New 113Alb/yd (also known as CEN56 Rail) rails will be welded to form the CWR. Ancillary items, such as pads and insulators will be renewed. Existing clips will be re-used where they are found to be serviceable. Ballast will be topped up where necessary. In some areas ballast retention measures will be constructed. Trackside drainage repairs will be carried out. Wet spot areas between sleeper beds will be dug out and reinstated.

The Signalling and telecomms system on this route is a token block system. Signalling & telecomms works will typically be disconnections and reconnections which will be carried out by the Economic Operator.
There are 34 public and private road crossings in the proposed work area. The surfaces of these will be removed to allow the works to progress through and must then re-instated.

On completion of the works, the track will be fit for 70mph running between Castlerock and Eglinton

Castlerock loop is due to be lifted in 2014-15 during Phase 2 works. Another loop is planned which will be in a location more suited to the reworked timetable.

Hungerford

bikeman1 wrote: »

Bar a handful of services the rest are run by 3 car CAFs which is pretty small for a city of Belfast's size and the four routes that run out from the city centre.

Judging passenger numbers by railcar formations is a bit deceptive in this case. Both the 3 car C3Ks and C4Ks have greater seating capacity than Irish Rail's 4-car 29000 series.

In addition, the service frequencies to the outer reaches of the Belfast commuter network are often higher than that which Irish Rail offers the fringes of the Dublin commuter area.