Cut to youth discount among Translink cost-saving plans

Bus and rail service discounts for young people are to be reduced under proposals by Northern Ireland's public transport operator Translink.

Many late-evening departures across the network that currently operate between Mondays and Wednesdays will also be removed.

Translink said it was facing "very real financial pressures facing public transport, driven by rising costs and a reduction in funding".

A public consultation on the proposals has been launched which will run for 12 weeks until the end of September.

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

Under the proposals published on Wednesday, the company said it was necessary to explore potential changes "in the absence of a viable budget allocation".

The plans would remove from Mondays to Wednesdays the last departures on the rail network and later bus departures that currently operate from 22:00 BST.

No connecting bus or rail services would support the arrival of the last Enterprise service from Dublin, which currently leaves Dublin at 20:50 BST and arrives at 22:58 BST.

However, Translink said late-evening services on some routes would be retained as they have "significant demand and revenue".

Those being retained under the plans are the 212 Belfast-Londonderry service, X1, X2, X3, X4, 300 Airport and 600 Airport services

Under the proposals the yLink smartcard discount, which is available for 16 to 23-year-olds, would be reduced from 50% to 33%.

Off-peak day return fares on bus and rail services for both adults and children would be removed.

Some promotional fares currently on offer would also be increased by £2 each.

Translink said it was also proposing measures to make pre-purchasing of NI Railways tickets "more advantageous and convenient".

Under the plans, customers who board without a valid ticket would only be able to purchase single tickets on board.

In its equality impact assessment document, Translink said its fare discount changes were "likely to have a disproportionate impact on younger people".

It said younger and older customers "may be proportionately more impacted by the removal of last services", and that some female customers "may feel proportionately more impacted".

Launching its consultation, Translink said it was an "important opportunity for passengers, stakeholders and the wider public to share their views".

"The consultation will support informed decision-making on how services are delivered across Northern Ireland, ensuring they remain as sustainable and effective as possible," it added.

"Translink will continue to work closely with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) to assess funding requirements and the level of service that can be delivered in the future."

In May, the outgoing chief executive of Translink told a Stormont committee the firm was seeking to make £10m worth of savings.

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".

He said Translink's 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".

In April, 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 assembly members.

DfI has previously said its "priority is to support passengers and protect access to public transport.

"It is the minister's firm position that public transport must be affordable for people, and that is the only way to sustain a growth in passenger numbers."