Translink boss Chris Conway ‘really keen’ to get priority bus lanes rolled out in Derry

Mr. Conway said the company has already liaised with Derry City & Strabane District Council about the possibility in connection with the local authority’s radical plans to transform the city centre and riverfront.

“In talking about the north-west, we work closely with the council there.

“For the new scheme that it is planning, we have suggested a number of areas where bus priority could be better used. We are really keen to get some bus priority into Derry/Londonderry, for example.

"There are some good opportunities there. We have just invested in a new zero-emission fleet there, and encouraging more people to use public transport would be very helpful,” said Mr. Conway.

The matter was raised during a recent briefing of the Stormont Infrastructure Committee.

SDLP infrastructure spokesperson and committee member asked if Translink was working with councils to identify opportunities for increased bus infrastructure and bus lanes.

"There is a lack of bus lanes outside Belfast,” said the Foyle MLA.

Mr. Conway said: “The council has set up a group to look at how to encourage more people to use public transport, and we are very active with it on that. So, yes, we have been working on that. We engage with all the councils on their local development plans.

"However, sadly, even in Belfast, the last bus lane that went into Belfast was when Glider was implemented in 2018. We have not been growing our ambition on bus priority since that. There has been a big gap.”

New lane markings and expanded ‘yellow box’ planned for Ballyarnett roundabout