Department refuses to release feasibility study into train line to Belfast International Airport on the grounds that the minister has not made a decision yet

The Department of Infrastructure has blocked it on the grounds that the minister Liz Kimmins has not yet decided whether to open the line or not.

Once a decision has been made, at that point the public may be granted sight of the study into whether it is feasible or not.

There used to be a line running between Antrim town and Lisburn, but it shut in 2003.

The idea is to reactivate it.

The airport is close to Aldergrove Station, one of the stops on the defunct line.

It emerged earlier this year that the department is considering a rail link to the airport.

The minister herself said in May that a Translink feasibility study into it had been "completed".

Asked for a copy of the study, the department told the News Letter: "The feasibility report was recently submitted to the department for consideration by the minister before publishing its main outcomes later in the autumn."

When the News Letter argued that the full study should be obtainable under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, the department said it has "decided that this information is not suitable for release", because the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 blocks access to "material in the course of completion".

It went on to say that "the assessment of the costs of the additional [train] services is still in the form of material in the course of completion".

It also added that the law recognises a need to "allow public authorities the necessary safe space in which to develop their policies and, in particular, provides a protection for things like the assessment, which may themselves be complete, but form part of a greater policy in the course of completion".

An official at the department went on to write that “there is also a strong public interest in withholding the requested information because the document forms part of an ongoing process of policy development, both within the Department and in conjunction with Translink, and any conclusions drawn from such analysis, should it be released at this stage, would be misleading".

The News Letter requested an internal review of this decision.

This review has now upheld the original decision to refuse to release the study.

The head of the department's information unit wrote that this can be done where a document "forms part of wider 'material' that is incomplete at the time of the request".

He said: "While the specific feasibility report may be complete, it forms a key part of an ongoing process of policy development, which should be considered sensitive at this time, and will clearly fall within the scope of information in the course of completion…

"The timing of your request, when the processes involved in this policy development are ongoing, mean that the arguments in favour of non-disclosure are strong, because the information held relates to a 'live' issue, requiring deliberation and debate within the department, with Translink and with other NI Civil Service government departments.

"While it is entirely likely that at least some of the information that would fall within the scope of your request would be suitable for disclosure once the consideration of the feasibility study has been submitted and the associated ministerial decision has been made about the outcomes of the study, that is clearly not the case at this time."

The News Letter will now challenge this decision via the Information Commissioner’s Office.