Plans to cut Translink services and fare discounts revealed

Some public transport services could be reduced and fare discounts removed under proposals by Northern Ireland's network operator Translink, to make £10m worth of savings.

Cuts to services across Metro, Ulsterbus and NI Railways are being explored under the proposals, Translink's chief executive told a Stormont committee.

Chris Conway acknowledged it would be "very disappointing and concerning" for passengers, but said the measures were to "protect Translink from a financially unsustainable position".

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) assembly member John Stewart, deputy chair of the infrastructure committee, described the plans as "deeply worrying".

Speaking at the assembly's infrastructure committee, Conway said options were "going through an equality screening process" and a consultation would begin "shortly".

Translink is publicly owned but operates at arm's length from Stormont's Department for Infrastructure (DfI).

Conway said its public service agreement "has not been funded by DfI over the last couple of years" and subsidies per passenger were "well below other regions in the UK and Ireland".

"We have made a loss of £23m in the 25/26 year and we made a loss in the previous year as well," he said.

"The early indications from the draft budget are that the public service agreement will continue to be underfunded, and that's what gives us most concern.

"Therefore we are obliged to start the process of service reductions and the removal of fare discounts which are no longer affordable.

"These options are going through an equality screening process at the minute and we will launch an equality impact assessment consultation on this shortly."

Conway said the plans were "very targeted service reductions aimed at generating savings but minimising the impact on passengers".

He said they were considering a reduction in evening services that tend to be "lighter used" and a removal of fare discounts for young people and families.

"We're targeting an additional £10m of savings," he said.

Conway, who is soon to leave his role as chief executive, said: "I realise this is very disappointing and concerning news for many of our passengers and certainly in my last six weeks in Translink it's not something I wanted to bring to the committee.

"It really is with much regret that we have to take these measures but they are pro-active measures to protect Translink from a financially unsustainable position."

Conway said that in the longer term, "wider network changes will be required to address the funding shortfall".

"And the future shape and size of the network will need further consultation," he added.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member Peter Martin, chair of the committee, asked Conway about the impact of DfI fare freezes on Translink.

Last month Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins announced Translink fares would be frozen for the second year in a row.

Conway said that over the past nine years there had been five fare freezes.

"Conservatively, those five fare freezes have cost us over £20m of revenue," he told the committee.

"So if you look at the gap that we have at the minute you can see that the cumulative effect of not having fare increases has an impact.

"And that's something that needs to be considered in any funding."