![\"Translink](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c7b26ef7-ab9b-4fae-9cf3-8db37ad99b5f.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFigures released by Translink show the sharp rise was driven by extended late-night festive services, as more people opted for public transport as a safe and reliable way to travel during the busy holiday period.<\/p>\n
Late-night bus services in Belfast accounted for more than 7,000 of the journeys, delivered as part of a year-long pilot funded by the Department for Infrastructure, the wider NI Executive and Belfast City Council.<\/p>\n
Translink said the increase highlights the role extended late-night services can play in supporting Belfast\u2019s evening economy, while encouraging safer and more sustainable travel choices.<\/p>\n
Chris Conway, Translink Group Chief Executive, said passenger numbers were \u201csignificantly higher than last year\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBus and train services have proved popular, with passenger journeys over the festive period significantly higher than last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditional late-night bus services, funded by the Department for Infrastructure and the wider NI Executive and Belfast City Council as part of the year-long pilot, have also delivered strong results.<\/p>\n
\u201cChristmas is traditionally the busiest time of year for late-night travel, and this year\u2019s success provides an excellent foundation to build upon in the months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Conway said the results demonstrated what could be achieved through collaboration, adding that public transport had helped \u201cenergise the city\u2019s nightlife while offering a greener, safer way to travel\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to building on this strong start for late-night services and will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to maximise the benefits of public transport for the city and for customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins welcomed the increase in usage, describing it as \u201cvery encouraging\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very encouraging to see the support that has been given to the introduction of late-night transport services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis demonstrates the need and underlines my commitment to ensuring safe and sustainable travel. The benefits are wide-ranging and the boost to the night-time economy is welcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope people continue to make use of public transport throughout 2026 so that together we can continue to build the case for public transport as a good choice for travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The year-long late-night bus pilot will continue to operate every Friday and Saturday night throughout 2026, supported by the NI Executive and Belfast City Council. Timetabled late-night rail services will also continue on Friday and Saturday nights.<\/p>\n
Separately, SDLP Belfast City Council group leader Councillor S\u00e9amas de Faoite said the figures showed \u201chuge demand\u201d for permanent late-night services.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Translink has hailed its late night services as a major success (Stock image).<\/p>\n
News Catch Up – Wednesday 7 January <\/p>\n
\u201cThe SDLP has been campaigning for many years for the introduction of permanent late-night bus services for Belfast and other parts of the North,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese figures clearly show the huge demand that exists and I\u2019m hopeful that this uptake will be reflected in the ongoing pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Figures released by Translink show the sharp rise was driven by extended late-night festive services, as more people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,1249,1435,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-681089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-kurtis-reid","10":"tag-liz-kimmins","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115856729943725645","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}