Issues

Translink: A Return Journey

Translink Group Chief Executive Chris Conway looks at how the current crisis has impacted on public transport.

The past few months have been extraordinary, with all aspects of life changing, not least our daily commute. The present crisis has had a dramatic impact on the local business sector, resulting in a decline in the use of Translink services as people rightly follow the advice to stay at home. However, public transport has a key role to play in helping to redevelop our society and economy once a phased normality returns; Translink projects like the Belfast Transport Hub, the North-West Transport Hub in Derry~Londonderry and Glider phase 2 connecting north and south Belfast will play a part in helping to restore our economy and our community in the times ahead.

Our dedicated teams, guided by Public Health Agency advice, have been working hard to maintain public transport services for key workers and we have been proud to offer free transport to NHS and carer staff throughout the present crisis to help make their essential journeys a little easier.

Safety continues to be our top priority and we have introduced a range of additional measures in bus and rail stations to help keep everyone safe. These include new social distancing signage in stations and on board vehicles, regular deep cleaning of vehicles and facilities, use of mobile cleaning teams during operational service, erection of screens to reduce staff and passenger interaction and providing hand sanitiser and gloves to front line staff. We’re also providing hand sanitiser facilities for passengers in stations across Northern Ireland and will be introducing systems and procedures where appropriate in our stations to facilitate social distancing further.

We have introduced additional services where appropriate, particularly at peak times; we will continue to keep this matter under review in the weeks ahead. We trust that people will understand that we are following this path in the interests of passenger and staff safety, and would advise passengers who need to make essential trips to travel outside morning and evening peak hours if possible and to allow some extra time for their journey.

Our recently-implemented ‘no change’ policy will also stay in place to help reduce interaction between passengers and staff. Single journey tickets are now available to purchase in advance of travel via Translink’s mLink app for NI Railways, Metro, Glider, Goldline, P&R, yLink and 24+ customers. This latest development adds to the existing range of mLink mobile tickets already available such as weekly, monthly or day travel options and reflects a widespread shift towards contactless payment options.

Moving forward, I believe better days will return and that public transport will have a key role to play in the recovery and in reconnecting people to employment, education, leisure and healthcare opportunities. Translink has been a key stakeholder in Northern Ireland’s economic and commercial success in the past and we will continue to do this into the future as we look to revitalise our economy.

The climate change emergency will still be a challenge as we recover from the Covid-19 crisis and there will be a need to move further and faster in a ‘greener’ direction. Translink will remain at the forefront of efforts to combat this other major threat to our community in the months and years ahead.

We will need the support of political and business leaders as we work to help Northern Ireland rebuild and recover from this crisis. This will take time but please be reassured we are doing all we can to make public transport a safe space for everyone.

We look forward to welcoming you back on board when the time is right.

More details can be found at www.translink.co.uk

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