Access Policy

Translink is the main provider of public transport in Northern Ireland. We are dedicated to providing co-ordinated bus and rail services throughout Northern Ireland that are easy to use, reliable and comfortable. We are also committed to making sure that our services are safe and affordable for everyone.

This policy sets out our current service levels for disabled people and those older people who may find using transport difficult. It contains information and advice on how to use our services, and contact details to help you plan your journey.

We are making our rail services easier for you to use. We will do everything we can to make your journey relaxing and enjoyable.

This policy tells you about our services and how we can assist you to use them. It also includes our plans to improve services and make them easier to use in the future to benefit all our customers. We want to improve accessibility. This means how easy it is to get on and off our buses and trains, and how easy it is to buy tickets and get travel information. 

Metro is the name of bus services that operate in the Greater Belfast area.

Ulsterbus covers other towns and villages across Northern Ireland as well as services to and from Belfast.

Goldline is the express coach service that runs between towns and cities in Northern Ireland and a number of cross-border services.

Our bus and coach services run from 22 stations (many of which are staffed) across Northern Ireland. We are also responsible for over 7,500 bus stops across Northern Ireland.

All of our coaches and buses meet General Accessibility targets. 100% of the Metro fleet is low floor and wheelchair accessible. 91.6% of our Ulsterbus fleet is wheelchair accessible while on the Goldline network, 82.1% of coaches are wheelchair accessible.

NIRailways Services

• Belfast to Bangor
• Belfast to Dublin
• Belfast to Larne
• Belfast to Londonderry
• Belfast to Newry
• Coleraine to Portrush

NIRailways manages 54 stations and halts throughout the network, and runs rail services to and from three staffed stations in the Republic of Ireland. There are usually staff at all the stations, but not generally at the halts for all or part of the working day.

NIRailways’ trains consists primarily of Class 3000 CAF trains which entered service during 2004. These trains meet current accessibility standards.

We will continue to improve accessibility for disabled people. We will always aim to provide high standards to all our customers.

We will follow best practice standards when improving the accessibility of our services.

We welcome you to use free and half-fare Smartpasses given by the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) on our buses, coaches and trains. You can find more information about free and half-fare travel on our website www.translink.co.uk or by contacting our contact centre on 028 90 66 66 30.

Trains

All of our trains both local and cross border, meet RVAR standards for accessibility including audio and visual information.

Buses and Coaches

Not all our vehicles meet accessibility standards. Where possible, we will use accessible vehicles on specific routes which we will advertise on timetables and on our website www.translink.co.uk. We recommend that you check the service you want to use is accessible before you travel.

We will try to provide buses and trains that are easy for you to use, together with excellent customer service. But, we cannot make all the improvements we want to until money is available. We have made major improvements to our stations and halts to make them easier for disabled people to use.

We have also improved some bus stops, for example by providing shelters with seating and information that is easy to understand.

We will continue to improve our stations, halts and bus stops as money becomes available.

Staff Training

We train all our staff to be aware of disabled passengers and to treat everyone equally. We will improve the quality of our training by speaking to IMTAC (Inclusive Mobility Transport Advisory Committee) and other organisations run by and for disabled people and older people.

Feedback and Information

We will make sure that information about all our services is available in alternative formats. We aim to constantly improve the quality of our information and how easy it is for everyone to understand. We will do this by speaking to IMTAC (Inclusive Mobility Transport Advisory Committee) and other specialist organisations.

We welcome comments from our customers, good and bad, and we will consider them when we review this policy and put it into action.

We have spoken to IMTAC and other organisations run by and for disabled people and older people. We will continue to do this when we are considering making changes to the policy in the future. This policy can be changed at anytime.

We will continue to improve how accessible our services are, including our buses, coaches, stations and bus stops as money become available.

We will continue to work with IMTAC, Department for Infrastructure (DFI) and other organisations to make more improvements to other parts of our services, including improving the information we provide and our staff training. We will look at the cost of improvements and the customer service benefits to all passengers.

We have published a Translink Access Guide to help you use our services and facilities. You can get a copy from your local bus or rail station. Or you can contact the Translink contact centre 028 90 66 66 30.

We introduced 20 new C4K trains in 2012 and refurbished our Enterprise trains in 2015 – 2016 and all of our trains meet RVAR standards for accessibility.

25 Optare Solo SR minibuses were added to the Ulsterbus Town Service Network during late 2014 / early 2015 while 12 Scania Caetano Double Deck Coaches were added to the Goldline Network during 2016. All new vehicles are fully accessible, fitted with Eco friendly Euro 6 Engines and offer high levels of passenger comfort.

The Translink Group Chief Executive and the Executive Group are responsible for setting this policy, and carrying it out.

The Translink Access Manager will check through internal checks and a regular review of comments from disabled customers acting in line with this policy. We will speak to IMTAC, DFI and other groups to identify other ways to evaluate whether we are meeting all the policies contained in this document.

The requirements of this policy are part of our business plan and the planning stage of station and fleet/rolling stock projects. This is done with briefings and giving the codes of practice and this policy to our designers, architects and project managers.

We give all our managers and staff information and training to make sure they know what their responsibilities are to disabled passengers.

Details on how to plan your journey, station facilities and services and how to get assistance have been published in the Translink Access Guide. You can also contact the Translink contact centre.