One month on from the launch of the Glider service in Belfast, Translink has released early passenger figures suggesting a rise of 30,000 more passengers every week – an increase of over 17%.
Chris Conway, Translink’s Group Chief Executive, said: “We are very pleased with the initial response from the public to Glider, we have had so much positive feedback.
“The strong passenger growth meant we had some bedding in issues to manage capacity, but we have added extra vehicles and refined network schedules to manage busy periods and are now achieving 90% on time performance.
“We continue to monitor capacity and will respond to demand so we keep passengers coming back and build on the early success. We have also already purchased two additional vehicles and are looking forward to their arrival in the spring next year.
“The growth brings good news for the city of Belfast as more people using the hybrid Glider vehicles means less congestion on our roads. These increased numbers equate to removing over 4,000 car journeys every day and 300 full Gliders of extra passengers each week.
“Glider’s new off-vehicle ticketing system was the first major milestone in our Future Ticketing System and this is also working well as more people gain confidence in how to use it.
“I would like to thank all our passengers for their patience and continued support; this has been a complex project to deliver but it is clearly delivering results.
“Glider is just part of our plans to deliver on the draft Programme for Government, and transform public transport in Northern Ireland, encouraging a culture shift in how we travel. Last year we saw impressive growth notching up over 81 million passenger journeys, the highest number in 20 years and the second year in a row that fare paying passenger numbers increased.
“We look forward to building on this and will work with all our stakeholders to keep Northern Ireland moving and growing,” Chris concluded.
