Investment in improving public transport services in Northern Ireland is needed not cuts

Bus and rail services are vital for greater inclusion and for a just transition to a more sustainable economy

Unite the union has warned that plans by the secretary of state Chris Heaton Harris to cut free and half-fare travel on buses and trains will have a devastating effect on the most vulnerable in society and will damage the economy.

Earlier this year the department for infrastructure consulted on proposals which could see drastic restrictions to eligibility for free bus and rail fares – currently available in Northern Ireland to those with disabilities or aged 60 and above. 

Members of Unite which represents more than half the entire workforce of Translink, Northern Ireland’s public transport provider, is warning of the looming potential of strike action in an industrial dispute over a proposed pay freeze but threats to restrict or remove concessionary travel pose an additional concern for both jobs and public transport services. 

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “The last time austerity cuts threatened bus and rail services as well as our members’ jobs, strike action by Unite brought public transport to a standstill. Mr Heaton-Harris should be under no illusions that our members will do the same again if he insists on pressing ahead with attacks to public transport in Northern Ireland.”

Under Translink’s cross-subsidisation model, services which generate surplus revenue support non-economic routes – allowing the company to maintain a greater number of services. Reducing eligibility for free and half-fares will  result in significant reductions in the use of public transport and will mean less money for sustaining non-economic but socially important services.

Unite warns that this is likely to have a drastic impact on rural and deprived urban communities as well as posing a threat to public transport workers’ livelihoods.

At a recent meeting with DfI representatives, Unite representatives asked the senior civil servants present if they had modelled how many bus and rail services or associated jobs would be lost as a result of the threat by the secretary of state to restrict access to free and half fares. At that stage, no such assessment had been conducted.

Susan Fitzgerald is Unite regional secretary for Ireland: “Bus and rail services are a lifeline for those who otherwise would experience isolation and difficulty accessing medical, social or retail services. 

“Unite’s analysis is clear that any move to restrict concessionary travel will have a double whammy on those reliant on bus and rail services – in particular those in rural and deprived urban areas. “