53 Translink Buses Secured

53 new Translink buses and coaches for Northern Ireland have been secured through EU investment of £5.8m.

Transport Minister Danny Kennedy and Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster announced today that the departments have used the EU funding to help meet the cost of the new vehicles.

The investment has been used in the purchase of 39 Goldline Coaches and 14 Double Deck Metro buses.

The successful bid for EU funding is the result of inter-departmental working between the Department for Regional Development (DRD) and the Department for Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI).

Speaking at the Europa Buscentre in Belfast yesterday, Danny Kennedy said: "The introduction earlier this year of 53 new buses and coaches into the Translink fleet is making public transport an even more attractive option.

"These new vehicles are already delivering greater comfort and accessibility for passengers.

"They have replaced older vehicles and comply with modern European emission standards helping Translink further reduce the environmental impact of the fleet."

Arlene Foster said: "With parts of the contract for the work to supply the Metro buses going to Wrightbus in Ballymena, there are clear benefits to the Northern Ireland economy and the investment will undoubtedly help support local jobs.

"Securing the EU funding for the project demonstrates good inter-departmental cooperation in addressing key executive priorities."

John Trethowan, Chairman of the Translink Group said: "We welcome this EU funding and thank the Ministers and their Departments for their support. We have received very positive feedback from our customers regarding the new vehicles. Passengers now make an additional 22,000 journeys on Metro every month and Goldline coach customers are also up by 6% on last year. These results clearly show more people are choosing to use our bus and coach services for their everyday journeys.

"The new Metro buses in our fleet now makes Metro Services 100% wheelchair accessible and the additional double decker vehicles now allow us to enhance capacity on busy routes."

The new coaches and buses came into service over the last few months and are being used on Northern Ireland and cross border routes.

(IT/CD)