March 2023 – The Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22 statistical report has been published.
The publication presents statistics on public transport operated by Translink in Northern Ireland and brings together information on public transport journeys, vehicles and staff. It is produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (Dfl). The key points covered are:
Public transport journeys
- In 2021-22, there were 59.3 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 33.6 million or 131% since 2020-21 when movement restrictions were in place due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of passenger journeys in 2021-22 was still much lower than in 2019-20 (83.4 million) with the advice and guidance around COVID-19 and working from home likely having an impact on public transport usage.
- During 2021-22, there were, 50.5 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 126% when compared with 2020-21 (22.4 million), but a decrease of 26% from 2019-20 (68.3 million).
- There were 8.7 million rail passenger journeys in 2021-22, an increase of 164% when compared with 2020-21 (3.3 million) but a decrease of 42% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
- In March 2022, the number of bus and rail passenger journeys reached their highest monthly levels since the beginning of the pandemic with 5.9 million and 1.03 million journeys respectively.
Public transport vehicles
- At the end of March 2022, there were 1,064 Ulsterbuses, 262 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation which were, on average, 9.4 years, 8.8 years and 3.6 years old respectively.
- At the end of March 2022, there were 143 rail carriages in operation, with an average age of 18 years.
Public transport staff
- The average number of staff employed by Translink in 2021-22 was 4,064, 74% of those in relation to buses (3,027) and 26% of those in relation to rail (1,037).
Read the full document: Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22
