Consumer Council report half Metro buses run late

The Consumer Council (CC) has today released a report stating that half the buses on Belfast's new Metro service were late in reaching their destination.

The CC also found problems with cleanliness during their investigation on test routes across the city.

Over the past number of weeks, a team of Assembly members from each of the four main political parties' along with volunteers, tried out the Translink service and the majority gave positive feedback on their journeys, however punctuality problems did seem to be a constant problem.

Eddie Lynch, Head of Consumer Affairs at the Consumer Council said: “Overall, most volunteers had a positive journey and commented that the buses were convenient and accessible. However, reliability must be improved. Passengers must be able to depend on the bus getting them where they want to go on time - a late bus can make passengers late for work or miss important appointments. Passengers reported improvements in punctuality last year when the Metro was introduced so it is concerning to see so many of the journeys carried out last week ran late.

“The Challenge has further highlighted the need for more bus lanes and other bus priority measures to be introduced as soon as possible. Many passengers stated that the lack of bus lanes on some routes caused delays to the bus arriving on time. The development of quality bus corridors is clearly needed to get the best from Metro."

Mr Lynch concluded that the CC would report their findings back to Translink and the Department of Regional Development, who will also be included in a wider review of the Metro service over the coming weeks, which should hopefully lead to greater improvements on the reliability and attractiveness of the service.

(EF/SP)