Translink will cut rail and bus services after lack of funding from Stormont's infrastructure department
Translink has no option but to cut bus and rail services as it has not been funded sufficiently in recent years by Stormont’s infrastructure department, its outgoing chief executive has said.
Chris Conway says the public transport operator has made a loss of £23m in the last financial year, and has been trying to maintain the network through cost efficiencies.
The owner of the transport system, the Sinn Fein-run Department of Infrastructure (DfI), has not funded a public service agreement “over the last couple of years”, he said.
In April, DfI minister Liz Kimmins announced that fares on busses and trains in Northern Ireland would be frozen for the second year in a row – “despite significant financial pressures across the public transport system”.
Mr Conway said five fair freezes by successive ministers over almost a decade had cost Translink “over £20m of revenue”.
“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”, he told MLAs.
Mr Conway acknowledged that Translink’s services are vital for for passengers, but said the cuts were to protect it “from a financially unsustainable position”.
The cuts are in a bid to save an additional £10m in light of a budget he argues will not close the gap.
Speaking to Stormont’s infrastructure committee, the Translink chief 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.”
Under the current funding arrangements, the outgoing Translink chief said “wider network changes will be required” to address the shortfall, and the “future shape and size of the network” will need to be looked at.
Announcing a second consecutive fare freeze in April, Sinn Fein infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins said that the decision was taken against a difficult funding backdrop.
“I am fully aware of the financial pressures facing Translink and the wider public sector. This is an extremely constrained budget environment and there are no easy choices. Freezing fares for a second year has required careful consideration.”
The minister added: “I will keep working with Translink to manage these pressures responsibly and to ensure the best possible services within the funding available”.