Wrightbus will manufacture the buses along with Volvo

Wrightbus in Ballymena is working in conjunction with Volvo to make 110 school buses for Translink which are fitted with seatbelts.

The buses are being built as part of a �37m government scheme to make school buses safer.

It followed calls for more seatbelts on buses after the death of five girls in a bus crash in County Meath in 2005.

The buses will be delivered for the start of the school year in September 2007.

The 110 12-metre school buses will feature three seats abreast on one side and two on the other and will provide seats with belts for 66 school children.

At the moment three pupils are legally allowed to sit on a seat designed for two adults, without belts.

The government has said it wants to end this practice and also eliminate the need for standing on buses by 2009.

The chassis for the new buses will be manufactured by Volvo in Boras, Sweden, and Wrightbus will produce the bodies.

Translink chief executive Keith Moffatt said the safety of its passengers remained top of the company's agenda.

"We have enjoyed an excellent safety record to date in school transport carrying around 60,000 schoolchildren every day, representing two-thirds of the total school population which travels by bus in Northern Ireland," he added.