More than 10,000 Metro bus services in Belfast were cancelled or did not show in the last 12 months, according to data from Translink.
The data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request from The Irish News, showed that 10,836 Metro services were cancelled between December 16 2023 and December 15 2024.
That figure comes from a total of just over one million scheduled Belfast bus services in the last 12 months, equating to 1% of all services being cancelled in the city.
The Department for Infrastructure and Translink has urged people travelling in the city to use public transport in recent months in response to significant traffic congestion in Belfast city centre.
However, critics have said the public transport system across the country is “disconnected” and “unreliable”.
The FOI response from Translink also showed that there were 398 cancellations out of a total of 116,038 rail services operated in the last 12 months, a cancellation rate of 0.3%.
Translink says Goldliner services, which operate primarily for longer distance journeys from outside Belfast, had a total cancelled mileage of 15,679 out of a total mileage of more than 32 million throughout the year, a cancellation rate of 0.05%.
In a statement the public transport operator said it sets high standards for all its services, and stated that independent research had shown 9 out of every 10 Translink passengers were happy with their services.
“Translink have set high standards for performance on the 12,500 bus and train services we operate every day and continually monitor and adjust services where we can to maintain a high-quality service for our customers,” a Translink spokesperson said.
“Recent independent research showed that nine out of 10 passengers were satisfied with their level of service.
“It is important to note that since April last year, NI Railways, Ulsterbus, Glider and Metro have consistently met the 95% target for punctuality, also aligning with the Passenger’s Charter Performance Standards.
“Service adjustments including cancellations and part cancellations are undertaken to ensure frequency or ‘headways’ are maintained across the network in order to minimise the knock-on impact to our customers.
“Service adjustments will take place due to traffic congestion, road traffic accidents, bad weather, defective vehicles/infrastructure, driver unavailability, road works and road closures and other reasons.”
