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The Belfast Operational Review

The Belfast Operational Review (BOR) is a wide-ranging, comprehensive and detailed examination of public transport operations in the Greater Belfast Area.

The objective of the BOR is to examine all aspects of public transport operations in Belfast with the aim of tailoring services provided to meet the 21st century travel needs of the people of Belfast.

The BOR is a major exercise which requires significant staff resources.  To date over 60 members of staff have been involved with nearly 40 projects.  The detailed work is carried out by 6 working groups .  Each group is chaired by a senior manager.

All aspects of public transport operations are being reviewed including:

• ticketing and timetable information
• route structure and frequency
• accessibility to the network
• quality bus corridors (QBC)
• city centre management
• bus stop infrastructure
• fleet livery, etc.

The Belfast Public Transport Network was divided, for planning purposes, into 11 corridors.  Detailed evaluation and analysis was carried out on each corridor.  Separate development plans have been prepared for each corridor.

The BOR commenced in May 1998.   The membership of the working groups reflect the wide range of skills and experience of company personnel.  The BOR is being carried out in two phases:

• phase 1 - Planning (May 1998 - August 1999)
• phase 2 - Implementation (September 1999 to date) 
   
  

The Implementation phase commenced with the launch of the enhanced Centrelink Service in August 1999 and continued with the following projects:

• launch of new late night service, Nightlink (October 1999)
• implementation of the first Corridor Plan (March 2000)
• launch of Ormeau/Saintfield Roads QBC in association with the Department for Regional Development (June 2000)

Other projects will be implemented over the next few years.