Bus services have come under scrutiny

Public transport users in Northern Ireland are still not happy with the standard of service they receive, a report has said.

Only half of passengers are satisfied with the punctuality of buses and trains, according to a report published by the General Consumer Council, Translink and the Department of Regional Development.

While new station facilities, buses and trains are going down well with passengers, poor punctuality and complaints handling still concern passengers, it said.

Alan Walker of the Consumer Council said the figures, released on Wednesday, were disappointing and much more needed to be done.

He said: "We are disappointed that two years into the Regional Transportation Strategy, punctuality is still a problem.

Passengers want a greater focus on delivering frequent, punctual and affordable services with these vehicles Alan Walker Consumer Council

"A late bus can make or break a passenger's day and we want to see higher and more consistent standards on all buses and trains.

He said a major step forward was to provide more Quality Bus Corridors promised in the Regional Transportation Strategy with bus priority measures that were effective and enforced.

He added: "Over the last ten years we have seen bus use fall from 79.6m journeys per year in 1993-94 to 65.9m in 2002/03.

"While the benefits of more modern buses are welcomed, passengers want a greater focus on delivering frequent, punctual and affordable services with these vehicles."

However, the council pointed out that the results were not all bad and showed improvements which had been highlighted by passengers.

Ulsterbus performance had improved in the past year in terms of value for money, comfort, cleanliness and helpfulness of staff, Mr Walker said.

However, the results also showed that 44% of Citybus, 21% of Ulsterbus and 35% of NIR passengers felt that they had reason to complain in the past year.

Owing to the increased traffic congestion, bus speeds have been suffering Keith Moffatt Translink

Less than half of these passengers actually made a complaint. Of those who did take action, one in three was dissatisfied with Translink's response.

Translink's Chief Executive Keith Moffatt said the survey showed that passengers believed that standards were improving.

"It is good news that more passengers are telling us they are receiving a better service, they are beginning to see the benefit of recent investment in new stations, passenger facilities and many new modern buses added to the fleet," he said.

However, he agreed that punctuality had become a major concern on city centre bus services.

"Owing to the increased traffic congestion, bus speeds have been suffering," he said.

"However, we are continuing to work towards an extensive Quality Bus Corridor network within Belfast which will concentrate on service frequency and reliability," he added.

He said the results showed that the punctuality of Translink services compared "very favourably" with counterparts in other parts of Great Britain.

The survey was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company as part of the monitoring of Translink Passenger Charter.

The Customer Performance Index (CPI) score consists of factors including punctuality, value for money, passenger comfort, cleanliness and staff helpfulness.