Key points

Public Transport Journeys

  • In 2021-22, there were 59.3 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 33.6 million or 131% since 2020-21 when movement restrictions were in place due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of passenger journeys in 2021-22 was still much lower than in 2019-20 (83.4 million) with the advice and guidance around COVID-19 and working from home likely having an impact on public transport usage.
  • During 2021-22, there were, 50.5 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 126% when compared with 2020-21 (22.4 million), but a decrease of 26% from 2019-20 (68.3 million).
  • There were 8.7 million rail passenger journeys in 2021-22, an increase of 164% when compared with 2020-21 (3.3 million) but a decrease of 42% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
  • In March 2022, the number of bus and rail passenger journeys reached their highest monthly levels since the beginning of the pandemic with 5.9 million and 1.03 million journeys respectively.

Public Transport Vehicles

  • At the end of March 2022, there were 1,064 Ulsterbuses, 262 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation which were, on average, 9.4 years, 8.8 years and 3.6 years old respectively.
  • At the end of March 2022, there were 143 rail carriages in operation, with an average age of 18 years.

Public Transport Staff

  • The average number of staff employed by Translink in 2021-22 was 4,064, 74% of those in relation to buses (3,027) and 26% of those in relation to rail (1,037).

Infographic

Infographic displaying key findings from the report

Introduction

This report presents statistics on public transport operated by Translink in Northern Ireland and it brings together information on public transport journeys, vehicles and staff. This is a new official statistics report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). It has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value and it will be published on an annual basis.

Uses of the data

It is anticipated that the report will be used for a range of purposes, for example, to inform policy and planning, set objectives and respond to queries. The Public Transport Operations Division (PTOD) within DfI has recognised that there is a need for official statistics on public transport to support the independent and transparent monitoring of the Public Service Agreement with Translink and to enable evidence-based decision making. Following publication of the report, a user engagement survey will be carried out to identify further uses of the data.

User information

The report includes user guidance and is published alongside a Background Quality Report (BQR) and a Quality Assurance of Administrative Data report (QAAD). The BQR provides information on the quality of the data used to produce the official statistics, including their accuracy and reliability, coherence and comparability, and timeliness and punctuality. The QAAD is a quality assessment of the administrative data sources which are used to produce the public transport statistics. This assessment found that the level of risk of quality concerns in these sources is low. Whilst the report is fully comprehensive in terms of data on public transport operated by Translink, users should however note that data from private providers of transport in Northern Ireland are not included in the report.

This report includes data on public transport passenger journeys during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. From late March 2020 and during the reporting year 2020-21, there were movement restrictions in place across Northern Ireland. While there were no movement restrictions in place during 2021-22, there were points throughout the year when people were advised to work from home where possible. The timetable operated by Translink was therefore flexed according to demand and COVID-19 movement restrictions. For further detail see the user guidance.

Public Transport Journeys

In 2021-22, there were 59.3 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 33.6 million or 131% since 2020-21 when movement restrictions were in place due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of passenger journeys was still much lower when compared with 2019-20 (83.4 million), a decrease of 29%. At times during 2021-22, working from home, where possible, was advised and this likely impacted public transport usage – see user guidance. During 2021-22, there were, 50.5 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 126% when compared with 2020-21 (22.4 million) but a decrease of 26% from 2019-20 (68.3 million). Of the 50.5 million bus passenger journeys, 59% were on Ulsterbus (29.7m) and 41% were on Metro/Glider (20.9m) (Figure 3). There were 8.7 million rail passenger journeys in 2021-22, an increase of 164% when compared with 2020-21 (3.3 million) and a decrease of 42% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).

Figure 1 Public Transport Passenger Journeys: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Figure 2 shows monthly passenger journeys by bus and rail between April 2019 and March 2022. In April 2020 passenger journeys fell to a low of 0.36 million with 0.3 million bus journeys and 0.06 million rail journeys. At this time, travel restrictions were in place, schools were closed and Translink were operating services for essential workers. Passenger journeys continued to fluctuate as COVID-19 restrictions were eased and the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was introduced (August 2020); this was followed by further school closures in January to March 2021. During this period the timetable operated by Translink was therefore flexed according to demand – see user guidance for further information. In March 2022, the number of bus and rail passenger journeys reached their highest monthly levels since the beginning of the pandemic with 5.9 million and 1.03 million journeys respectively.

Figure 2 Monthly Public Transport Passenger Journeys: April 2019 to March 2022

Figure 3 Bus Passenger Journeys: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Bus passenger receipts amounted to £96.6 million in 2021-22, an increase of 46% from the 2020-21 figure of £66.2 million. Of the £96.6 million, £68.3 million were from Ulsterbus and £28.3 million were from Metro and Glider. Rail passenger receipts amounted to £31.7 million in 2021-22, an increase of 157% from the 2020-21 figure of £12.3 million.

Figure 4 Public Transport Passenger Receipts: 2019-20 to 2021-22

In 2021-22, there were 36.1 million passenger miles by bus, an increase of 33% from the 2020-21 figure of 27.1 million. In 2021-22, there were 158.6 million passenger miles covered by rail, an increase of 193% from the 2020-21 figure of 54.1 million.

Figure 5 Public Transport Passenger Miles: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Approximately 46% (23.5 million) of bus passenger journeys in 2021-22 were made by paying customers, while 77% (6.7 million) of rail passenger journeys were made by paying customers. The remaining 54% (27.1 million) and 23% (2.0 million) respectively were made by non-paying customers, which covers free concessions (60+, 65+) and Education Authority journeys which are subsidised by either DfI or the Education Authority.

Figure 6 Passenger Journeys by paying / non-paying passengers: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Of the 23.5 million paid journeys on buses in 2021-22, 44% were paid for by cash and 56% were paid for by non-cash payments (i.e. payment by card/ApplePay/Account Based Ticketing (ABT)/Smartcard). In 2021-22, of the 6.7 million paid journeys by rail, 56% were paid for by cash and 44% were paid for by non-cash payments. The percentage of bus journeys, paid for by non-cash payments, increased by 10 percentage points between 2019-20 (46%) and 2021-22 (56%), whereas the percentage of rail journeys paid by non-cash payments decreased by 7 percentage points between 2019-20 (51%) and 2021-22 (44%).

Figure 7 Passenger Journeys by payment type: 2019-20 to 2021-22

In 2021-22, approximately 36% of the total number of bus passenger journeys were taken using a smart ticketing option (i.e. a Smartcard (commercial/concession), mobile, ABT). A similar proportion (37%) of the total number of rail passenger journeys were also taken using a smart ticketing option. The remaining 64% of bus passenger journeys and 63% of rail passenger journeys were taken using a non-smart option (i.e. paper tickets).

Figure 8 Passenger Journeys by smart / non-smart methods: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Public Transport Vehicles

At the end of 2021-22, there were 1,064 Ulsterbuses, 262 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation which were, on average, 9.4 years, 8.8 years and 3.6 years old respectively. There were also 143 rail carriages in operation, which were on average 18 years old. The number of vehicles in the following tables and figures refer to active fleet i.e. they include “normal” and “special” fleet (main service and others), but do not include reserve fleet.

Figure 9 Public Transport Vehicles: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Table 1 Public Transport Vehicle average age: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Vehicle Age 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Ulsterbus 10.4 10.1 9.4
Metro 7.9 8.2 8.8
Glider 1.7 2.7 3.6
Rail Carriages 16.0 17.0 18.0

In 2021-22, 100% of Ulsterbuses were diesel fuel engines. The majority of Metro buses were also diesel fuel engines (96%) with zero emission (3%) and diesel hybrid (0.4%) making up the remainder. Glider vehicles were introduced in September 2018 as a sustainable rapid transit system with all vehicles operating as diesel hybrid.

Table 2 Bus by fuel type: 2019-20 to 2021-22

2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Fuel Type Ulsterbus Metro Glider Ulsterbus Metro Glider Ulsterbus Metro Glider
Diesel 1065 257 0 1056 256 0 1064 252 0
Diesel Hybrid 0 1 32 0 1 32 0 1 34
Zero Emissions 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 9 0

At the end of March 2022, one quarter (25%) of buses had free WiFi on board, up from 17% at the end of March 2020. Almost one third (31%) of buses had charging ports (14% at end of March 2020). All buses (100%) had CCTV at the end of March 2022, whilst approximately one quarter of them (27%) had Audio Visual Information. Just over one quarter of buses (27%) also were equipped with an Automatic Vehicle Location device and 1 in 5 (20%) accepted card payments on board (acceptance of bank cards on board bus (tap on only) was trialled in November 2021 on selected pilot routes). All buses were also accessible to wheelchairs at the end of March 2022.

In 2021-22, all rail carriages had facilities for WiFi, Audio Visual, Card Payments, Automatic Vehicle Location devices, and CCTV and almost two-thirds (63%) had charging ports.

Figure 10 Bus by onboard facilities: at end of 2021-22

Infographic displaying bus by onboard facilities

Figure 11 Rail by onboard facilities: at end of 2021-22

Infographic displaying train by onboard facilities

All of the 1,360 buses that were used as Public Service Vehicles in Northern Ireland in 2021-22 were wheelchair accessible (98% in 2020-21).

Table 3 Buses used as Public Service Vehicles - compliance with accessibility regulations: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Financial Year Wheelchair accessible Non wheelchair accessible Total number of buses
2019-20 1,297 58 1,355
2020-21 1,317 31 1,348
2021-22 1,360 0 1,360

Figure 12 Buses used as Public Service Vehicles - compliance with accessibility regulations: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Of the 143 railway carriages used as Public Service Vehicles in 2021-22, all (100%) were wheelchair accessible.

Figures in Table 4 show the number of carriages compliant with the Technical Specification for Interoperability for Persons of Reduced Mobility (TSI PRM) (EU regulation 1300/2014) and the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (RVAR NI). For further information on TSI PRM and RVAR compliance standards please see user guidance.

Table 4 Rail carriages used as Public Service Vehicles - compliance with accessibility regulations: 2019-20 to 2021-22

Financial Year TSI PRM compliant carriages RVAR compliant carriages Wheelchair accessible carriages Total number of carriages
2019-20 129 129 143 143
2020-21 129 129 143 143
2021-22 129 129 143 143

Public Transport Staff

The average number of staff employed by Translink in 2021-22 was 4,064 (3,027 in relation to buses and 1,037 in relation to rail).

User Guidance

General information

This report presents statistics on public transport operated by Translink in Northern Ireland and it brings together information on public transport journeys, vehicles and staff. This is a new official statistics report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). It has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value and it will be published on an annual basis. The Translink Group consists of a Public Corporation, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC) which owns and controls seven private limited subsidiary companies (together referred to as the Group or Translink).

Data Quality

Readers can find out more information on the quality of the statistics in this report by accessing the Background Quality Report (BQR). The BQR informs users about the quality of the information upon which they may be drawing conclusions and making decisions.

A Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) report is also available. This contains information on the quality of the administrative data that is included in the Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland report. It covers a quality assessment of the data on the Merit SQL, Hexagon SQL, CoreHR Oracle, Agresso SQL, and the OmniMILE Mileage databases. These are the administrative data sources which are used to produce the ‘Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland’ report. The assessment found that the level of risk of quality concerns in these sources is low and that the public interest is low. More details can be found in the report.

Public Transport Journeys

Coverage

The data presented in this report cover Translink’s scheduled (timetabled) services only. However, non-scheduled services (such as private hire or tours) only account for a small part of Translink’s services.

Further information on commercial bus service permit operators in Northern Ireland is available on the DfI website.

Ulsterbus/ Metro/ Glider

Ulsterbus figures include Goldline and other Ulsterbus services.

The Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) system is operated by Translink under the brand name Glider. It connects West Belfast, East Belfast and Titanic Quarter via the city centre along the BRT corridor and became operational on 3 September 2018. Glider figures relate to Glider vehicles and the dedicated feeder services that are essential to running the Glider services. Metro and Urby services on the BRT corridors are included in the Metro and Ulsterbus figures respectively.

Impact of COVID-19

The data presented in the report include data on the use of public transport during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The operating timetable below as indicated by Translink was flexed according to demand and COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and the points below give a high level overview of the timetable in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.

April 2020 to June 2020 (schools were closed) -operating timetable was 51% of previous year.

August 2020 (timetable increased to assist with the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme ) -operating timetable was 64% of previous year; The Eat Out to Help Out scheme supported the hospitality sector throughout August 2020 by providing consumers with a discount of up to 50% off food and drink consumed in participating outlets.

September 2020 to December 2020 (schools were open) – operating timetable was 78% of previous year.

January 2021 to March 2021 (schools were closed) – operating timetable was 59% of previous year.

Throughout the financial year 2020-21 Translink operated bus and rail services for essential workers.

The majority (approximately 93%) of services were re-instated for Metro/Glider and NIR in 2021-22 compared with 2019-20. Translink have not reinstated the full rural Ulsterbus timetable due to lack of passenger demand (approximately 83% of services ran in 2021-22 compared with 2019-20).

Throughout 2021-22, there were no movement restrictions in place due to COVID-19 in Northern Ireland. However, at some points throughout the year working from home where possible was advised. This advice likely impacted passenger journeys across Northern Ireland during this period.

All remaining COVID-19 restrictions were lifted by the NI Executive on 15th February 2022.

The pandemic has prompted shifts in working and leisure patterns, which will likely change future transport patterns.

Passenger Numbers

Passenger Numbers - Passenger numbers include fare paying, concessions and school children. Free journeys given to health and social care workers during COVID-19 pandemic are excluded.

Cross border journeys, receipts and miles are included in overall figures.

It should be noted that a large proportion of Ulsterbus passenger journeys are taken by school pupils and therefore changes in the Ulsterbus trend will be partly driven by pupil numbers.

Translink operate dedicated school services along with scheduled bus and rail services to schools across Northern Ireland. Passenger journeys will be affected by school closures due to holidays (in July, August, Christmas and Half-Term etc).

The number of journeys taken using multi-journey tickets e.g. weekly, monthly and annual bus and rail tickets are not electronically recorded and are therefore estimated by Translink using journey factors.

Passenger Journeys by paying / non-paying

Paying passengers are any passengers who pay a fare on public transport. Non-paying passengers cover free concessions (60+, 65+) and Education Authority journeys which are subsidised by either DfI or the Education Authority.

Passenger Journeys by payment types

Journeys that are paid for in cash are classified as “cash” in Figure 7.
Non-cash payments cover payments that are made by card, ApplePay, ABT, or Smartcard.

ABT (Account-Based Ticketing) provides capped contactless fares across Northern Ireland.

Passenger Journeys by smart / non-smart methods of payment

Smart methods of passenger journeys use Smartcard (commercial/concession), mobile and ABT.

Non-smart methods use cash.

Years / 52 week periods

All years in Figures and Tables cover 52 week periods.

Financial year end dates

Translink figures are financial period based. The financial year end date varies each year, but is always the last Sunday in March. The financial year end dates for 2019-20 to 2021-22 data are as follows:

Financial Year End Date
2019-20 29/03/2020
2020-21 28/03/2021
2021-22 27/03/2022

Public Transport Vehicles

Fleet

The fleet numbers refer to active fleet i.e. they include “normal” and “special” fleet (main service and others), but do not include reserve fleet (i.e. Tour Coaches, Training Academy vehicles and any other vehicles that are not used for normal timetabled service work).

Average age of vehicles

The average age of buses in Table 1 can go down from one year to the next if new buses are purchased during the year.

The average age of rail carriages is provided to the nearest whole number as is standard in the rail industry.

Onboard facilities

The following onboard facilities are available on Translink vehicles and reported in the bulletin:

• WiFi – a facility that provides passengers with free access to WiFi on board Translink vehicles.

• Audio visual – a facility that provides passengers with audio and visual information about their journey.

• Card payments - a facility that provides passengers with the opportunity to pay for their journey by card.

• Charging ports - a facility that provides passengers with the opportunity to charge personal electronic devices.

• AVL device – Automatic Vehicle Location is a facility that is used to track vehicle location in order to monitor punctuality and provide real time service information to customers.

• Closed circuit television (CCTV) – a facility that uses video cameras to monitor the inside of a Translink vehicle.

Buses used as Public Service Vehicles (Table 3, Figure 12)

Data are presented in Table 3 on the number of wheelchair accessible buses and non-wheelchair accessible buses based on compliance with the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2003 (PSVAR NI).

Data on the number of buses used as Public Service Vehicles are based on compliance with the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (PSVAR NI) as follows:

Wheelchair accessible buses are compliant with Schedules 1 & 2 of PSVAR NI. These are single or double decked buses. They also include wheelchair accessible coaches which are compliant with Schedules 1 & 3 of PSVAR NI. These are single or double decked coaches that meet step, handhold and destination screen requirements and are wheelchair accessible.

Non-wheelchair accessible buses are compliant with Schedule 3 only of PSVAR NI. These are single decked coaches built between 2003 and 2005 that meet step, handhold and destination screen requirements so that they are accessible to people with certain disabilities, albeit not wheelchair accessible.

More details are included in the PSVAR NI 2003 legislation.

Railway carriages used as Public Service Vehicles (Table 4)

Figures for railway carriages used as Public Service Vehicles are based on compliance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability for Persons of Reduced Mobility (TSI PRM) (EU regulation 1300/2014) and the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (RVAR NI).

More details are included in the RVAR NI 2014 legislation.

Further information on TSI PRM is also available.

Public Transport Staff

Yearly figures for Public Transport staff are in relation to the average number of staff employed for the year, calculated by adding monthly totals and dividing by 12.

Code of Practice

This report is published in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. It complies with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value and will be published on an annual basis.

Rounding

Figures in the report may not sum to totals due to rounding.

All calculations have been undertaken on the basis of unrounded figures.

A number of tables contain rounded data and therefore there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of the constituent items.

Revisions Policy

The data presented in this bulletin are revised by exception; therefore, any revisions to the figures in this report will typically be as a result of definitional changes or corrections to errors and the impact will be quantified where possible.

The Revisions and Errors Policy for statistics produced by DfI is available on the DfI Website.

Accessibility and format

Accessibility is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. This publication is published in HTML format and every effort has been made to comply with the AA standard under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.

If any document is not in a format that meets your needs, please contact ASRB with your requirements.

This statistical report and associated documents are available to download free of charge.

Acknowledgements

ASRB acknowledge the assistance received from colleagues in DfI and Translink and would like to thank them for their contributions to this publication.

User Engagement

We welcome feedback from users on this statistical report. Please send any comments you may have to .

Users can also provide feedback through our ongoing ASRB Customer Survey.

Associated Publications

The following publications may also be of interest to readers of this report: -

Travel Survey for Northern Ireland

Transport Statistics Great Britain

ROI Transport Omnibus

Annual Bus Statistics

Contact Information

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