Plans to extend the Belfast Glider route to the north and south of the city have been put back by a further three years.

It means if the already scaled-back rapid transit route does go ahead, it won’t be completed for at least another seven years.

It was originally intended to be operational next year.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has revealed that the funding secured so far for extending the Glider service is at least £76m short of the £124.5 required. The cost of the project has previously been reported to be £148m.

Last year, the Sinn Féin minister announced that the original plans to extend the northern section to Glengormley and the southern section to Carryduff were being scaled back because it was “not economically viable”.

To date, £35m has been allocated for the Glider from the Belfast Region City Deal, while Ms Kimmins’ department has committed £13m, which the minister said “will enable the commencement of a phased delivery”.

She said that while a “detailed delivery programme will be developed”, completion of the project was conditional on “securing the additional funding required”.

In her response to a written Assembly question from South Belfast MLA Matthew O’Toole, the minister said that if the extra funding was found, the rapid transit route extension “could be completed by 2033”.

Translink’s Glider service began operating in 2018, using 105-passenger articulated buses to connect east Belfast, west Belfast, and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre.

Mr O’Toole said the north-south Glider route was supposed to be completed in 2027.

“Instead progress has barely started and the first buses won’t run until at least 2030s – more than half a decade behind schedule,” he said.

“The Ormeau Road is among the worst roads on these islands for congestion, air quality and the worst in Belfast for bus delays. It’s deeply frustrating that meaningful improvements won’t be in place until the middle of next decade.”

The SDLP representative said there was no allocation for the project in the finance minister’s draft multi-year budget.

“If the minister is serious about delivering this crucial project then both she and the finance minister should put the money where their mouth is to fund this crucial upgrade to Belfasts transport infrastructure,” he said.