Key points
Public Transport Journeys
- In 2024-25, there were 81.1 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 2.9 million or 3.6% since 2023-24 (78.2 million), but a decrease of 2.7% from 2019-20 (83.4 million).
- During 2024-25, there were 67.8 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 3.4 million or 5.2% when compared with 2023-24 (64.4 million) but 0.5 million (0.7%) lower than in 2019-20 (68.3 million).
- There were 13.3 million rail passenger journeys in 2024-25, a decrease of 0.5 million or 3.8% when compared with 2023-24 (13.8 million) and a decrease of 12% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
Public Transport Vehicles
At the end of March 2025:
- there were 1,420 buses in operation comprising, 1,083 Ulsterbuses, 303 Metro buses and 34 Gliders which were, on average, 9.9 years, 7.3 years, and 6.5 years old respectively.
- 15.0% of buses were zero emission vehicles, 2.4% were diesel hybrid and the remaining 82.6% were diesel vehicles.
- there were 164 rail carriages in operation, with an average age of 19 years.
Public Transport Staff
- The full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed by Translink in 2024-25 was 4,331, an increase of 4.2% on the number of staff in 2023-24 (4,156); 3,062 of those staff were in connection with buses (70.7%) and 1,269 with rail (29.3%).
Infographic
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 an annual accredited 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.
Context and uses of the data
This report is 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 first Public Transport Statistics report, a user engagement survey was carried out and an outcome summary of the responses has been published. This highlights that the statistics are also used for briefings to senior managers etc., for monitoring and benchmarking and for general information.
More broadly, these statistics are published at a time when Northern Ireland’s first draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027 has been issued for public consultation, in line with the commitment set out in Northern Ireland’s Programme for Government 2024-2027. In 2022, Northern Ireland passed its first climate legislation. The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 (the Act) sets an ambitious target to reduce Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net zero by 2050. The Act requires the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to prepare and publish a Climate Action Plan every five years. This plan sets out policies and proposals to achieve reductions in emissions and the actions which will enable this to happen. The focus of this draft Climate Action Plan is on meeting the first carbon budget. In December 2024, the Northern Ireland Assembly legislated that, for the period of this plan (2023-2027), greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 33% on average from the 1990 baseline, to set us on the right path to net zero and contribute to global climate targets.
The DfI Draft Transport Strategy to 2035 launched in June 2025 aims to deliver a cleaner, smarter and more inclusive transport network by 2035 with an emphasis on sustainability, innovation and accessibility. The strategic priorities are that transport is resilient and sustainable; supports connected and inclusive communities, is safe and healthy and supports green growth. The Department has a three-pronged approach to reducing the carbon impact of transport: switching fuels, shifting modes and reducing journeys. The Department will continue to work with Translink on the ongoing decarbonisation of the bus fleet which is in line with Translink’s aim to migrate all of their fleet to a zero-emission fleet by 2040. The Department will look to develop and support a public transport network system which provides an attractive and accessible alternative to the car, with the provision of services prioritised and focussed on where they will deliver the largest impact in terms of modal shift.
The Draft Transport Strategy recognises that data plays a significant role in understanding the state of the transport system; these Public Transport Statistics contribute to that broader understanding.
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 accredited 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 2024-25, there were 81.1 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 2.9 million or 3.6% since 2023-24 (78.2 million). The number of passenger journeys was still lower than in 2019-20 (83.4 million), a decrease of 2.7%. During 2024-25, there were, 67.8 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 3.4 million or 5.2% when compared with 2023-24 (64.4 million), but a decrease of 0.5 million or 0.7% from 2019-20 (68.3 million journeys). Of the 67.8 million bus passenger journeys, 56.0% were on Ulsterbus (38.0 million) and 44.0% were on Metro/Glider (29.8 million) (Figure 3). There were 13.3 million rail passenger journeys in 2024-25, a decrease of 0.5 million or 3.8% when compared with 2023-24 (13.8 million) and a decrease of 12% from 2019-20 (15.1 million). It should be noted that during 2024/25, there was an extended closure of rail services operating into Belfast City Centre in advance of opening Belfast Grand Central Station and bus substitutions were in place – see User guidance for full details.
Further breakdowns of bus passenger journeys by Ulsterbus, Metro and Glider are available in associated Excel and OpenDocument Spreadsheets (ODS).
Figure 1 Public Transport Passenger Journeys: 2019-20 to 2024-25
Figure 2 shows monthly passenger journeys by bus and rail between April 2019 and March 2025. 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 2024, the number of bus and rail passenger journeys reached their highest monthly levels since the beginning of the pandemic with 7.8 million and 1.55 million journeys respectively. From June 2024 to October 2024, monthly rail passenger journeys were lower than in the same period in the previous year reflecting the closure of rail services operating into Belfast City Centre at that time.
Monthly passenger journeys are also available on the NISRA data portal under the theme “Transport, environment and climate change”.
Figure 2 Monthly Public Transport Passenger Journeys: April 2019 to March 2025
Figure 3 Bus Passenger Journeys: 2019-20 to 2024-25
Overall passenger receipts amounted to £211.1 million in 2024-25, an increase of 9.8% from the 2023-24 figure of £192.2 million . This may be explained by the increase in passenger journeys over this period and the revisions to Translink’s fares. From 3rd June 2024, most fares on Metro, NI Railways and Ulsterbus were revised; Translink noted that the majority of passengers saw their fares increase by 6% on bus and 10% on rail. Details of recent revisions to Translink’s fares are outlined in the user guidance.
Bus passenger receipts totalled £150.1 million in 2024-25, an increase of 10.5% from the 2023-24 figure of £135.8 million. Of the £135.8 million, £100.5 million was from Ulsterbus and £49.6 million was from Metro and Glider. Rail passenger receipts amounted to £61.0 million in 2024-25, an increase of 8.2% from 2023-24 figure of £56.4 million despite the 3.8% decrease in rail passenger journeys. The revisions to Translink’s fares which saw the majority of passenger fares increase by 10% on rail may be an explanatory factor. See user guidance.
Figure 4 Public Transport Passenger Receipts: 2019-20 to 2024-25
In 2024-25, there were 270.4 million passenger miles travelled by rail, a decrease of 3.1% when compared with 2023-24, reflecting the decrease in the number of rail passenger journeys over the year. There was also a decrease of 9.8% in the passenger miles travelled from 2019-20 (299.9 million).
Figure 5 Rail Passenger Miles: 2019-20 to 2024-25
Approximately 53.8% (36.5 million) of bus passenger journeys in 2024-25 were made by paying customers, while 77.0% (10.2 million) of rail passenger journeys were made by paying customers. Full fare concessions comprised 13.2% of bus passenger journeys and 16.5% of rail passenger journeys in 2024-25. The remaining 33.0% of bus passenger journeys and 6.5% of rail passenger journeys were in relation to subsidised school journeys. See user guidance for further information.
Further breakdowns of bus fare paying journeys by Ulsterbus, Metro and Glider are available in associated Excel and ODS documents.
Figure 6 Passenger Journeys by paid and subsidised travel: 2019-20 to 2024-25
Of the 36.5 million paid journeys on buses in 2024-25, approximately one third (33%) used a standard paper ticket and 67% used an alternative product type such as mLink, yLink, 24+ and Commercial Smartcards. Of the 10.2 million paid journeys by rail, 42% used standard paper tickets. Figure 7 shows an overall decreasing trend in the use of standard paper tickets on public transport. Please refer to user guidance for information relating to Paid Passenger Journeys by product type and for proposed changes to future reporting.
Figure 7 Paid Passenger Journeys by product type: 2019-20 to 2024-25
In relation to paid passenger journeys, the percentage of bus journeys taken using smart payment methods (i.e. a Smartcard, mobile, Account Based Ticketing, Tap On Only contactless ticketing) has continually increased from 42% in 2019-20 to 69% in 2024-25. The percentage of rail journeys taken using smart methods of payment has also gradually increased from 34% in 2020-21 up to 61% in 2024-25.
Figure 8 Paid Passenger Journeys by smart / non-smart methods: 2019-20 to 2024-25
Public Transport Vehicles
The number of vehicles reported in this statistical bulletin refer to active fleet i.e. they include “normal” and “special” fleet (main service and others), but do not include reserve fleet. The average age of vehicles can change due to the addition of new vehicles to the active fleet and the withdrawal and / or disposal of older vehicles during the year.
At the end of March 2025,there were 1,420 buses in operation, comprising 1,083 Ulsterbuses, 303 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation which were, on average, 9.9 years, 7.3 years and 6.5 years old respectively. There were also 164 rail carriages in operation, which were on average 19 years old.
Figure 9 Public Transport Vehicles: March 2020 to March 2025
Table 1 Public Transport Vehicle average age: March 2020 to March 2025
| Vehicle Age | March 2020 | March 2021 | March 2022 | March 2023 | March 2024 | March 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulsterbus | 10.4 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Metro | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.8 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| Glider | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 6.5 |
| Rail Carriages | 16.0 | 17.0 | 18.0 | 17.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 |
In 2024-25, there were 40.6 million bus operating miles, an increase of 1.6% when compared with 2023-24 (39.9 million) but a decrease of 4.4% from 2019-20 (42.4 million). There were 3.7 million rail operating miles in 2024-25, a decrease of 1.8% when compared with 2023-24 (3.8 million) and a decrease of 7.2% when compared with 2019-20 (4.0 million).
Figure 10 Public Transport Vehicle operating miles: 2019-20 to 2024-25
At the end of March 2025, 213 (15.0%) of the 1,420 buses in operation were zero emission vehicles; this included 78 (7.2%) of the 1,083 Ulsterbuses and 135 (44.6%) of the 303 Metro vehicles. The remaining 1,005 Ulsterbuses and 168 Metro vehicles were diesel fuel engines (82.6% of all buses). All 34 glider vehicles (2.4% of all buses) are diesel hybrid. The changes illustrated in Figure 11 reflect one of the transport measures outlined in the Draft Transport Strategy. The Department will continue to work with Translink on the ongoing decarbonisation of the bus fleet
Figure 11 Bus by fuel type: March 2020 to March 2025
In 2024-25, the majority of operating miles travelled by buses were by diesel fuelled vehicles (86.8%); 10.0% were by zero emission and 3.2% by diesel hybrid vehicles.
Data on buses and bus mileage by fuel type are also available on the NISRA data portal under the theme “Transport, environment and climate change”.
Figure 12 Buses and bus mileage by fuel type: 2019-20 to 2024-25
At the end of March 2025, the proportion of buses with free WiFi, charging ports, Audio Visual Information and Automatic Vehicle Location devices had all slightly increased when compared with March 2024. The biggest change however was in the proportion of buses which accepted card payments on board; by the end of March 2025 all buses accepted card payments (tap on only) increasing from 43% at the end of March 2024.
At the end of March 2025, and in line with previous reporting periods, all rail carriages had facilities for WiFi, Audio Visual Information, Card Payments, Automatic Vehicle Location devices, and CCTV and just over three-quarters (76%) had charging ports, up from 72% at the end of March 2024.
Figure 13 Bus by onboard facilities: at end of March 2024 and March 2025
Figure 14 Rail by onboard facilities: at end of March 2025
One of the Department’s strategic priorities, outlined in the Draft Transport Strategy, is that Transport supports connected and inclusive communities and the Department continues to engage with Translink about improving accessibility on services. The statistics below highlight compliance with accessibility regulations for the Translink fleet but further information on station accessibility is reported by Translink.
At the end of March 2025, all 1,420 buses were wheelchair accessible, of these 1,234 were low-floor buses (86.9%), 152 were Goldline and the remaining 34 were Gliders.
All 164 rail carriages in Translink active fleet were wheelchair accessible. Figures in Table 2 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.
Data on bus and rail carriage facilities and acessibility are also available on the NISRA data portal under the theme “Transport, environment and climate change”.Data on rail service assets including route miles of track, rolling stock and stations from 2019-20 to 2024-25 are now included in the excel tables accompanying this report (see Table 3).
Figure 15 Compliance with accessibility regulations- buses: March 2020 to March 2025
Table 2 Compliance with accessibility regulations- rail: March 2020 to March 2025
| Year end | TSI PRM compliant carriages | RVAR compliant carriages | Wheelchair accessible carriages | Total number of carriages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2020 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| March 2021 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| March 2022 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| March 2023 | 150 | 150 | 164 | 164 |
| March 2024 | 150 | 150 | 164 | 164 |
| March 2025 | 150 | 150 | 164 | 164 |
Public Transport Staff
The full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed by Translink in 2024-25 was 4,331, an increase of 4.2% on the number of staff in 2023-24 (4,156); 3,062 of those staff were in connection with buses (70.7%) and 1,269 with rail (29.3%).
Figures for FTE are only available from 2021-22 onwards.
Figure 16 Full time equivalent number of staff employed by Translink: 2021-22 to 2024-25
User Guidance
General information
This annual 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 an accredited official statistics report produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). 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/U4 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, Foyle Metro 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 (more than 94%) of services were re-instated for Metro/Glider and NIR in 2022-23 compared with 2019-20. Translink have not reinstated the full rural Ulsterbus timetable due to lack of passenger demand (approximately 87% of services were reinstated in 2022-23 compared with 2019-20 baseline).
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.
Disruption to Translink Services
2024-25:- There was an extended closure of rail services operating into Belfast in advance of the opening of the new Belfast Grand Central Station (BGCS). The old Great Victoria Street station closed on 10 May 2024. Belfast Grand Central opened for bus services in September 2024, train services in mid-October 2024 and hourly Enterprise services commenced from BGCS on 29 October 2024.Bus substitutions were in place during this work phase and an indication of these changes is available on the Translink website.
Services were disrupted during the following storms in 2024-25
• Storm Ashley: - Sunday 20th to Monday 21st October 2024
• Storm Bert: - Friday 23th November - Saturday 24th November 2024
• Storm Darragh: - Friday 6th December - Saturday 7th December 2024
• Storm Eowyn: - Friday 24th - Saturday 25th January 2025 (all services suspended Fri 24th January)
2023-24:- During 2023-24, there was disruption on the rail and bus network due to flooding in November 2023. There was also a number of days of industrial action during December 2023 (4 days), January 2024 (1 day), and February 2024 (1 day).
Passenger Journeys
Passenger Journeys - Passenger journeys include fare paying, concessions and school children. Free journeys given to health and social care workers during COVID-19 pandemic are excluded.
Children aged 0-4 travel for free on Translink services and there is no assumption or adjustment made to the passenger number figures to account for the number of journeys travelled by 0-4-year-olds.
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. daily, weekly and monthly bus and rail tickets are not electronically recorded and are therefore estimated by Translink using journey factors.
Public Transport Statistics on the NISRA data portal
Figures for monthly passenger journeys, facilities on board bus & rail, buses by fuel type and mileage by fuel type are also available on the NISRA data portal under the theme “Transport, environment and climate change”.This allows users to view and filter the dataset, plot and visualise data on interactive charts, create favourite tables and widgets, share your results, access data in multiple formats (CSV, JSON-stat, PX and XLSX) following the Open Data recommendations and automate processes by reading data via API queries.
Translink footfall figures
The accredited official statistics on passenger journeys are as reported in this publication - footfall figures are used operationally by Translink to track passenger flow through stations but these data are not included as accredited official statistics in this report as this is not the official measure and there is the potential for double counting.
Passenger Receipts
Public Transport Passenger Receipts include receipts from paying passengers and income from pupil and concession fares.
The passenger receipts figures are nominal values (i.e. absolute money amounts without adjusting for inflation).
Translink made revisions to its fares for Metro, Glider, NI Railways, Enterprise, Goldliner and Ulsterbus, effective from Monday 6th March 2023. The changes, which affected travel on Metro, Glider, NI Railways, Enterprise, Goldliner and Ulsterbus services saw standard fares increase on average by approximately 7%.
Further changes to rail fares on some routes were implemented on Monday 6th November 2023. Typical increases were around 50p on a standard adult single fare.
Further price increases were announced by Translink on 23 May 2024 and took effect from Monday 3 June 2024. As a result of these price increases, the majority of passengers saw their fares increase by 6% on bus and 10% on rail.
Passenger Journeys by paid and subsidised travel
Paying passengers are any passengers who pay a fare on public transport. These include passengers who receive a half-fare concession.
Subsidised school journeys are journeys subsidised by the Education Authority.
Full-fare concessions are subsidised by DfI for people aged 60-64 and 65+, war disablement pensioners and people who are registered blind. The Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares scheme was established to promote accessible public transport for members of the community who are most at risk of social exclusion, through discounted fares.
Paid Passenger Journeys by product types
This was previously labelled as Paid Passenger Journeys by payment types. Data in Figure 7 were formerly broken down by payment type and labelled as ‘Cash’ and ‘Non Cash’ payments. Until the introduction of contactless payment on Translink ticketing equipment, standard paper tickets could only be purchased by cash. With the introduction of contactless payment, the data are now being broken down by product type and labelled as ‘Standard Paper Tickets’ and ‘Other’ to reflect this payment change. The published totals remain unchanged. Standard Paper Tickets include Standard Single/Return/Weekly/Monthly paper tickets. Other includes Half Fare, mLink, yLink, 24+, Commercial Smartcards and TOO (Tap On Only contactless) ticketing. See Translink website for details on travel cards.
ASRB is proposing to move away from publishing the data currently included in Figure 7; with the move to contactless payment on Translink ticketing equipment and with key stakeholder interest primarily being in payment type, ASRB would like to focus on the data included in Figure 8. We welcome user views on this proposal, please email ASRB@nisra.gov.uk.
Paid Passenger Journeys by smart / non-smart methods of payment
Smart methods of passenger journeys use Smartcard, mobile, Account Based Ticketing (ABT) and Tap On Only contactless (TOO) ticketing.
ABT provides capped contactless fares across Northern Ireland.
Non-smart methods use cash.
Following engagement with key stakeholders, it was concluded that the statistics included in Figure 8 should focus on paid passenger journeys. This is considered to be more informative for users and is in line with performance monitoring under the PSA between DfI and Translink. This change was introduced in the 2023/24 statistical report and further detail is provided in the user guidance section of this report.
Passenger miles for rail
Translink calculate passenger miles for rail by multiplying the number of passenger journeys on a particular flow by the number of corresponding track miles between stations.
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 2024-25 data are as follows:
| Financial Year | End Date |
|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 29/03/2020 |
| 2020-21 | 28/03/2021 |
| 2021-22 | 27/03/2022 |
| 2022-23 | 26/03/2023 |
| 2023-24 | 31/03/2024 |
| 2024-25 | 30/03/2025 |
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.
Operating Miles
Operating miles are the number of miles operated by buses and trains on public transport services.
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.
Compliance with accessibility regulations - buses and rail carriages (Figure 15 and Table 2)
Data are presented in Figure 15 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).
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.
Figures for railway carriages used as Public Service Vehicles wheelchair accessibility 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
Full-time equivalent (FTE) figures for staff are presented in this report.
In previous reports (2021-22 and 2022-23), figures were reported on the basis of the average number of staff.
However, after receiving stakeholder feedback, the number of staff is now based on the FTE figure. This change was introduced in the 2022-23 report.
Figures for FTE are only available from 2021-22 onwards.
Useful Information
Useful links
The following publications may also be of interest to readers of this report who would like to know more about the broader strategic environment for the Department and/or Translink.
Programme for Government Northern Ireland 2024-2027 The Programme for Government (PfG) sets the strategic context for both the Budget and the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland.
Draft Transport Strategy to 2035 the consultation on this strategy closes on 16th September 2025 and stakeholder views will be used to help shape the transport system in Northern Ireland.
Draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027 the consultation on this strategy closes on 8th October 2025.
DfI’s Annual Report & Accounts
Translink’s Corporate Publications
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
The outcome of a previous user engagement on Public Transport Statistics can be viewed on the DfI website.
We welcome feedback from users on this statistical report. We particularly welcome comments on the broader context we have added to the 2024/25 report. Please send any comments you may have to ASRB@nisra.gov.uk .
Users can also provide feedback through our ongoing ASRB Customer Survey.
Associated Publications
The following statistical/research publications may also be of interest to readers of this report: -
Travel Survey for Northern Ireland
Transport Accessibility Statistics
Public Transport and Journey Planning
Accredited Official Statistics
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in June 2025 in the Assessment of Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland with accreditation confirmed in July 2025. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and are therefore labelled accredited official statistics.
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For further information, please refer to the OSR accredited official statistics webpage.
Producers of accredited official statistics are legally required to ensure they maintain compliance with the Code. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the OSR which sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards.
Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
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