Issue 76 - Belfast BT4 • BT5 • BT16
Tens of Thousands more passengers choosing bus and train travel
Translink has revealed that over 400k additional passenger journeys have been made on public transport in the last two months compared to the same period last year.
Glentoran players James Singleton and Marcus Kane joined Club Chairman Colin Jess and East Belfast Mission Community Worker Sammy Gibson to announce Glentoran has teamed-up with East Belfast Mission in a Christmas campaign.
Glentoran teamed-up with East Belfast Mission to support local community Glentoran Football Club teamed-up with East Belfast Mission at Christmas to bring festive cheer and vital support to those in need. The club organised two collections that took place during the club’s Sports Direct Premiership fixture against Ballymena United in December. The collections aimed to provide essential resources to vulnerable individuals and families in East Belfast, helping them through the challenges of the winter season. A bucket collection took place at the ground, with
all proceeds going directly to East Belfast Mission’s meal programme. This vital initiative provides hot, nutritious meals to individuals and families who are struggling within East Belfast. Supporters were also encouraged to bring winter clothing items such as coats, hats, and scarves in good condition to donate. These essential items were collected on match day at
the designated table near the Directors’ Box entrance and distributed by the East Belfast Mission to those in need. Glentoran FC has a proud tradition of supporting its local community, particularly during the festive season, and this initiative highlights the club’s commitment to making a meaningful difference off the pitch.
Andrew Irvine from East Belfast Mission said: “This partnership with Glentoran FC provided much-needed assistance to individuals and families in East Belfast. The meals and clothing donated bring comfort and hope to so many during what can be a very difficult time. Thanks so much to Glentoran fans who supported this effort” For more information visit www.glentoran.com.
The growth of tens of thousands more passengers has been put down to the opening of the new Belfast Grand Central Station alongside the range of bus frequency enhancements and the new rail timetable including the enhanced hourly Enterprise service to Dublin. This is approximately a 10% increase on local bus and rail and an increase of over 30% on cross border Enterprise passenger journeys. Chris Conway, Translink Group Chief Executive said, “As we have witnessed recently, a modal shift to public transport is vital for the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of our region. Passengers are clearly voting with their feet, demonstrating that
sustainable investment in public transport services and infrastructure has benefits across the whole country. “The new integrated transport hub offers an enhanced user experience, helping to spark real change and offers a huge opportunity to reimagine how people travel for a better, more inclusive and sustainable future for generations to come. We have also increased frequency on many popular Goldliner routes on locations to and from Belfast and have high frequency park and ride services operating from Sprucefield, Ballymartin, Blacks Road and Cairnshill facilities, making it convenient to travel into Belfast by public transport.”