Translink has spent almost £2million renting private buses and coaches for its rail substitution services. In response to an FOI request from Belfast Live, Translink admitted that it had yet to finalise the total cost of the substitution services.
However, the public transport provider said it has so far spent "in the region of £1.95m" on the bus substitution services that ran from July through to mid-October. Translink added that these "costs were included under the capital funding of Belfast Grand Central Station".
The train line between Lisburn and Belfast was closed while engineering work was carried out ahead of the opening of Grand Central Station. Bus substitutions were provided from a number of train stations including Lisburn, while passengers using the Enterprise service from Dublin were bussed between Newry and Lanyon Station.
READ MORE: Translink responds to calls on tackling Belfast's traffic chaos in run-up to Christmas rush
Translink however, declined to answer several of Belfast Live's questions filed on Freedom of Information.
It did not reveal how many private buses and coaches were used to run the substitution services. In its response to Belfast Live, Translink said that disclosing this information "would be prejudicial to our commercial interests under section 43(2) of the FOIA Act".
It said: "To explain this, it is important firstly to point out that the disclosure of information under FOI is, legally, disclosure to the world at large and not just to the individual requesting the information. In that context, disclosure of this information could potentially
Be used by our supplier’s competitors to ‘undercut’ the pricing structures which would impact on the third party’s profit margins and sustainability. Cause reputational damage through a breach of trust between Translink and any company with whom we enter into contracts."Whilst we always seek to be as open as possible, it is our assessment that the public interest is weighted towards non-disclosure of this information in this case. This is because, although it may be considered more transparent to release the information, the detrimental impact to Translink, as a public sector company, could be significant and would run contrary to the aim of securing value for money in the public interest."
Translink also said it could not answer Belfast Live's question about how many bus drivers were employed to operate the substitution services. It said that those drivers were "employed by the company who supplied the buses" and that Translink "does not hold this information".
Translink also said that because the drivers were employed by the company supplying the buses, it was unable to reveal how much the drivers were paid per shift. It was also unable to say how much has been spent on fuel costs.
Translink added that it had "not yet finalised the cost" of running the substitution services. But it added: "When assessing the overall cost, it is important to note that Translink has also seen a concurrent reduction of around £250,000 in associated railway costs in this time."
Confirmation that the cost of substitution service is running close to £2m comes as Translink comes under fire for traffic congestion across the city centre and the impact on trade. Roadworks associated with Grand Central Station have been cited as a factor for the congestion.
To read more from Belfast Live go to our homepage here. You can also sign up to our daily newsletter here and get top stories and breaking news sent direct to your inbox.
English (United States) ·