Key Points

Public Transport Journeys

  • In 2025-26, there were 84.0 million journeys on public transport; an increase of 2.9 million or 3.6% compared with 2024-25 (81.1 million). This surpassed the number of passenger journeys in 2019-20 (83.4 million).
  • During 2025-26, there were 68.1 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 0.3 million (0.5%) compared with 2024-25 (67.8 million) but 0.1 million (0.2%) lower than in 2019-20 (68.3 million).
  • There were 15.9 million rail passenger journeys in 2025-26, an increase of 2.6 million (19.2%) compared with 2024-25 (13.3 million) and 4.9% higher than in 2019-20 (15.1 million).

Public Transport Vehicles

At the end of March 2026:

  • there were 1,416 buses in operation, comprising 1,078 Ulsterbuses, 304 Metro buses and 34 Gliders which were, on average, 10.7 years, 7.1 years and 7.5 years old respectively.
  • 17.4% of buses were zero emission vehicles, 2.4% were diesel hybrid and the remaining 80.2% were diesel vehicles.
  • there were 164 rail carriages in operation, with an average age of 20 years.

Public Transport Staff

  • The full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed by Translink in 2025-26 was 4,324, a decrease of 0.2% compared with 2024-25 (4,331); of these, 3,040 (70.3%) were employed in connection with bus services and 1,284 (29.7%) with rail services.

Infographic

Infographic showing Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2025-26.

Source: Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2025-26

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 principles 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. Official statistics on public transport support the independent and transparent monitoring of the Public Service Agreement with Translink and enable evidence-based decision making. Our user engagement survey shows 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 climate change continues to pose a significant global challenge. In line with the commitment set out in Northern Ireland’s Programme for Government 2024-2027, a summary of responses to the consultation on Northern Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2023-2027 has been published and will help inform the final Plan. The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 sets an ambitious target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and requires the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to prepare and publish a CAP every five years. These plans set out the policies, proposals and actions needed to reduce emissions and meet statutory climate targets. The current draft CAP focuses on meeting the first carbon budget. In December 2024, the Northern Ireland Assembly legislated that, for the period of this plan (2023-2027), GHG 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 latest GHG statistics show that domestic transport remained the second largest source of emissions in 2024, after agriculture, accounting for 21.3% of total emissions.

Following its public consultation, the Department’s Transport Strategy to 2035 is due to be published in Autumn 2026. The Strategy sets out a vision, “To provide a sustainable, safe, accessible and effective transport system which meets the region’s climate change requirements, serves the needs of urban and rural communities and supports economic growth.” It 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. The timetable operated by Translink during this time was flexed according to demand and COVID-19 movement restrictions. For further detail see the user guidance.

Public Transport Statistics for the latest full financial year are normally published following receipt of the Independent Auditor’s Report by the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC) and the subsequent laying of the NITHC Annual Report and Accounts before the Northern Ireland Assembly. This year, in balancing the need for timely publication with the need for accurate and reliable statistics, these statistics have been published in advance of the auditor’s report and the laying of the accounts. The completion of these processes has been delayed pending greater clarity on Translink’s budget position for 2026/27, and the timing of this remains uncertain. No impact on the published statistics is currently expected. However, if revisions are required, these will be made as soon as possible. Users will be notified via the website and email distribution list, and any revised report will be published in line with our Revisions and Errors Policy.

Public Transport Journeys

In 2025-26, there were 84.0 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 2.9 million or 3.6% compared with 2024-25 (81.1 million). The number of passenger journeys was higher than in 2019-20 (83.4 million), with an increase of 0.7% (0.6 million). During 2025-26, there were 68.1 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 0.3 million (0.5%) compared with 2024-25 (67.8 million) but 0.1 million (0.2%) lower than in 2019-20 (68.3 million). Of the 68.1 million bus passenger journeys, 56.3% were on Ulsterbus (38.4 million) and 43.7% were on Metro/Glider (29.8 million) (Figure 3).

There were 15.9 million rail passenger journeys in 2025-26, an increase of 2.6 million (19.2%) compared with 2024-25 (13.3 million), and 4.9% higher than in 2019-20 (15.1 million). Of the 15.9 million rail passenger journeys in 2025-26, 14.2 million (89.6%) were local journeys and 1.7 million (10.4%) were cross-border rail journeys (Figure 4).

Users should note that 2025-26 was the first full year of the operation of train services from Belfast Grand Central Station (BGCS) - see user guidance for full details.During 2024/25, there was an extended closure of rail services operating into Belfast City Centre in advance of the opening of Belfast Grand Central Station (BGCS) and bus substitutions were in place.

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 2025-26

In 2025-26, there were 84.0 million journeys on public transport which exceeded the pre-pandemic level of 83.4 million in 2019-20. Figure 2 shows monthly bus and rail passenger journeys over this period. In April 2020, passenger journeys fell to a low of 0.36 million as travel restrictions were introduced and schools were closed. Passenger journeys continued to fluctuate as COVID-19 restrictions were eased and tightened, and the timetable operated by Translink was adjusted in response to demand – see user guidance for further information.

In March 2024, bus passenger journeys reached their highest monthly level since the beginning of the pandemic, at 7.8 million journeys, while the highest monthly level of rail passenger journeys was recorded in December 2025 (1.65 million journeys).

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 2026

Figure 3 Bus Passenger Journeys: 2019-20 to 2025-26

Figure 4 Rail Passenger Journeys by Local and Cross-Border Travel: 2019-20 to 2025-26

Overall passenger receipts amounted to £225.4 million in 2025-26, an increase of 6.7% from the 2024-25 figure of £211.1 million. This may be explained by the increase in passenger journeys over this period.
Bus passenger receipts totalled £152.4 million in 2025-26, an increase of 1.6% from the 2024-25 figure of £150.1 million. Of the £152.4 million, £103.5 million was from Ulsterbus and £49.0 million was from Metro and Glider. Rail passenger receipts amounted to £72.9 million in 2025-26, an increase of 19.5% from 2024-25 figure of £61.0 million, in line with the 19.2% increase in rail passenger journeys.

Figure 5 Public Transport Passenger Receipts: 2019-20 to 2025-26

In 2025-26, there were 324.7 million passenger miles travelled by rail, an increase of 20.1% when compared with 2024-25, reflecting the increase in the number of rail passenger journeys over the year. There was also an increase of 8.3% in the passenger miles travelled from 2019-20 (299.9 million).

Figure 6 Rail Passenger Miles: 2019-20 to 2025-26

Approximately 53.3% (36.3 million) of bus passenger journeys in 2025-26 were made by paying customers, while 77.2% (12.2 million) of rail passenger journeys were made by paying customers. Full fare concessions comprised 13.4% of bus passenger journeys and 17.0% of rail passenger journeys in 2025-26. The remaining 33.3% of bus passenger journeys and 5.7% 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 7 Passenger Journeys by paid and subsidised travel: 2019-20 to 2025-26

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 75% in 2025-26. The percentage of rail journeys taken using smart methods of payment has also gradually increased from 34% in 2020-21 up to 74% in 2025-26.

Figure 8 Paid Passenger Journeys by smart / non-smart methods: 2019-20 to 2025-26

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 2026, there were 1,416 buses in operation, comprising 1,078 Ulsterbuses, 304 Metro buses and 34 Gliders which were, on average, 10.7 years, 7.1 years and 7.5 years old respectively. There were also 164 rail carriages in operation, which were on average 20 years old.

Figure 9 Public Transport Vehicles: March 2020 to March 2026

Table 1 Public Transport Vehicle average age: March 2020 to March 2026

Vehicle Age March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 26
Ulsterbus 10.4 10.1 9.4 8.9 9.4 9.9 10.7
Metro 7.9 8.2 8.8 6.3 7.1 7.3 7.1
Glider 1.7 2.7 3.6 4.5 5.4 6.5 7.5
Rail Carriages 16.0 17.0 18.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 20.0

In 2025-26, there were 40.6 million bus operating miles, an increase of 0.2% when compared with 2024-25 (40.6 million) but a decrease of 4.2% from 2019-20 (42.4 million). There were 4.1 million rail operating miles in 2025-26, an increase of 9.9% when compared with 2024-25 (3.7 million) and an increase of 2.0% when compared with 2019-20 (4.0 million).

Figure 10 Public Transport Vehicle operating miles: 2019-20 to 2025-26

At the end of March 2026, 247 (17.4%) of the 1,416 buses in operation were zero emission vehicles; this included 84 (7.8%) of the 1,078 Ulsterbuses and 163 (53.6%) of the 304 Metro vehicles. The remaining 994 Ulsterbuses and 141 Metro vehicles were diesel fuel engines (80.2% 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 2026

In 2025-26, the majority of operating miles travelled by buses were by diesel fuelled vehicles (83.5%); 13.2% were by zero emission and 3.3% 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 2025-26

At the end of March 2026, all buses had CCTV and accepted card payments on board. The proportion of buses with free WiFi, charging ports and Automatic Vehicle Location devices remained unchanged from March 2025, while the proportion equipped with Audio Visual information increased from 37% at the end of March 2025 to 47% at the end of March 2026.

At the end of March 2026, and in line with previous reporting periods, all rail carriages had facilities for WiFi, Audio Visual Information, Card Payment facilities, Automatic Vehicle Location devices, and CCTV, while the proportion with charging ports increased from 76% at the end of March 2025 to 80%.

Figure 13 Bus by onboard facilities: at end of March 2025 and March 2026

Infographic displaying bus by onboard facilities

Figure 14 Rail by onboard facilities: at end of March 2026

Infographic displaying train by onboard facilities

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 2026, 1,416 buses were wheelchair accessible, of these 1,225 (86.5%) were low-floor buses, 157 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 2025-26 are now included in the excel tables accompanying this report (see Table 3).

Figure 15 Compliance with accessibility regulations- buses: March 2020 to March 2026

Table 2 Compliance with accessibility regulations- rail: March 2020 to March 2026

Year end TSI PRM compliant vehicles 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
March 2026 150 150 164 164

Public Transport Staff

The full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff employed by Translink in 2025-26 was 4,324, a decrease of 0.2% on the number of staff in 2024-25 (4,331); 3,040 of those staff were in connection with buses (70.3%) and 1,284 with rail (29.7%).

Figures for FTE are only available from 2021-22 onwards.

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).

Change of figure numbers in 2025-26 publication

Users should note the following changes to the figure numbers in the 2025-26 publication.

Figure number in 2024-25 publication Figure number in 2025-26 publication
New Figure 4 added
Figure 4 Figure 5
Figure 5 Figure 6
Figure 6 Figure 7
Figure 7 Figure has been discontinued

Users should note that from Figure 8 onwards, there are no changes to the Figure numbers from the 2024-25 report.

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

2025-26:-

Services were disrupted during the following storms in 2025-26

• Storm Amy: - Friday 3rd October - Saturday 4th October 2025

• Storm Bramm: - Tuesday 9th December 2025

• Storm Chandra: - Monday 26th January - Tuesday 27th January 2026

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. The 2025-26 edition of Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland includes a breakdown of rail passenger journeys by local and cross border journeys. This breakdown has been backdated to 2019/20 and is available at Figure 3a.

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.

Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) Local Passenger Journeys

NIR “local travel” is a count of internal Northern Ireland only journeys. It includes sales on Translink’s ticketing equipment, mobile app and website.

Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) Cross Border Passenger Journeys

NIR Cross Border passenger journeys relate to Enterprise journeys that solely depict cross-border journeys i.e. passengers who travel across the border. It includes sales on Translink ticketing equipment and online sales, as well as any sales issued by Iarnród Éireann for journeys from Irish Rail Stations to NI Railways stations.

Local NI Railways and Iarnród Éireann internal rail passenger journeys are not included in these figures. Internal NIR journeys on Enterprise between Newry/Portadown and Belfast are not recorded within the NIR Cross Border passenger journeys.

Details of Iarnród Éireann journeys from Irish Rail Stations to NI Railways stations are received every financial period and manually added to NIR Cross Border passenger journeys by the Translink Ticketing team. The Iarnród Éireann manual journeys are cross checked and verified by Translink Finance team.

Public Transport Statistics on the NISRA data portal

Figures for monthly passenger journeys, facilities on board bus & rail, accessibility, 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 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.

Prior to 2025-26, editions of Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland included breakdowns of paid passenger journeys by product type. However, with the move to contactless payment on Translink ticketing equipment and with key stakeholder interest primarily being in payment type, there is now a focus on the payment data by smart / non-smart methods (see Figure 8).

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 2025-26 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
2025-26 29/03/2026

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.

Proposed Changes to 2026-27 publication of Public Transport Statistics

For ease of presentation, ASRB is proposing to exclude figures prior to 2020-21 in the 2026-27 Public Transport Statistics report. However, figures for 2019-20 will still be included in the accompanying excel/ODS tables. Users are invited to contact ASRB (via the contact details below) if they have any comments on this proposed change.

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 closed on 16th September 2025 and the engagement report is available.

Draft Climate Action Plan 2023-2027 - the consultation on this strategy closed on 8th October 2025 and a summary of responses to the consultation on Northern Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2023-2027 is available.

DfI’s Strategic Framework

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. Please send any comments you may have to .

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

ROI Transport Omnibus

Transport Statistics Great Britain

Annual Bus Statistics

Accredited Official Statistics

Infographic displaying train by onboard facilities

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 or via the OSR website.

Contact Information

Open Government Licence

You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Infographic displaying train by onboard facilities

© Crown Copyright 2026

To view this licence visit: Open Government Licence

Where we have identified any third party copyright information, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

Contact Details

An Accredited Official Statistics Publication Published by: Analysis, Statistics & Research Branch, Department for Infrastructure, First Floor, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Gasworks, Belfast, BT7 2JA

Published by: ASRB

Lead Statistician: Allan Nesbitt

Telephone: 028 9054 0099

Email: ASRB@nisra.gov.uk

Theme: Travel and Transport Coverage: Northern Ireland Frequency: Annual

Accessibility contact

Please contact ASRB for assistance with accessibility requirements or alternative formats. Contact details are:

Email:

Telephone: 028 9054 0099

Address:Analysis, Statistics & Research Branch, Department for Infrastructure, First Floor, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Gasworks, Belfast, BT7 2JA