Late-Night Festive Season Public Transport Service Confirmed

Belfast City Council has welcomed the introduction of late-night weekend bus, coach, and train services from Translink, set to commence on Saturday, 30 November.

The initiative, a collaboration between the council, Belfast's Business Improvement Districts, Hospitality Ulster, Visit Belfast, and local taxi firms fonaCAB and Valuecabs, aims to encourage visitors to enjoy Belfast's festive offerings while utilising public transport for a safe and convenient journey home.

Key details of the late-night services:

• Metro: Late-night Metro services will operate every Friday and Saturday, starting around midnight and running until 1:30 AM.

• Bus: Additional late-night Goldliner/Urby bus services will depart from Belfast to various towns and cities across Northern Ireland on Fridays and Saturdays, with departure times starting around midnight.

• Rail: Rail services will also operate later on Fridays and Saturdays, with departure times extending up to midnight.

These enhanced services will run for four weekends, concluding on Saturday, 21 December. Welcoming the services, Councillor Sam Nelson, Chair of the council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee, said: "The return of late-night services is extremely welcome and will play an important role in helping boost our night-time economy by allowing residents and visitors to the city to extend their enjoyment, knowing they have a safe and reliable route home.

"Belfast city centre has so much available for residents and visitors to enjoy in the run-up to Christmas, and we encourage people to make use of these services over the festive period to come in and experience everything the city has to offer.”

Translink Group Chief Executive, Chris Conway, said: "We are encouraging people to get familiar with the late-night services on offer and build them into their festive planning for great nights out in Belfast. People can extend their night out whether it's going to the panto, socialising with family or friends or a shopping trip.

"Using greener public transport to get in and out of the city also means it's a little gift to the planet too!

"We are pleased to be working with city partners again who will be helping us promote these services. We look forward to playing our part in helping to boost the night-time economy, supporting employment, tourism and keeping people better connected to the fantastic hospitality and festivities that the city has to offer."

Full details of all the late-night services are available on the Translink website at www.translink.co.uk/latenightservices