Business

Council opposition to new bus service risks £3.5m annual income for Derry

Hannon Coach has said its proposed new express bus service between Belfast and Derry would create 15 new jobs
Hannon Coach has said its proposed new express bus service between Belfast and Derry would create 15 new jobs Hannon Coach has said its proposed new express bus service between Belfast and Derry would create 15 new jobs

COUNCIL opposition to an express bus service between Derry and Belfast has put a proposed 15 new jobs and £3.5 million annual income in jeopardy.

Family-run Co Armagh bus company Hannon Coach has said it will re-invest the £4 million earmarked for the new service into its European markets if its application for a permit to operate the route is refused by the Department of Infrastructure.

Invited to express their views on the application, members of Derry City & Strabane District Council "expressed concern at the potential impact it could have on current Translink services" in their written correspondence to the department, plunging the major investment into doubt.

Hannon Coach marketing manager Owen McLaughlin said the council opposition was a "significant blow" and their viewpoint was "uninformed".

Mr McLaughlin said the planned £4 million investment would "stimulate" demand and increase annual visitors to Derry by 30 per cent.

"Our application is robust, we've been talking to professors of transport economics at Westminster College in London and experts in the area who all say if you provide an express service you will stimulate demand.

"The people and the businesses of Derry will benefit to the tune of about £2.5 to £3.5 million per annum, just by providing this. It will be 15 plus jobs definitely and a £4 million investment," he added

The proposed new express service would run 19 times a day in each direction Monday to Friday and be scaled down to 10 and nine respectively on Saturday and Sunday. The bus company also hopes to provide a dedicated bus stop at the SSE Arena in Belfast to facilitate demand from Derry for major events.

The application for a service permit is now with the Department for Infrastructure and a final decision is expected next month. If unsuccessful the company would have the option of a judicial review, but Mr McLaughlin believes that would be a "waste of money" and the firm would instead consider other options.

"We could have diversified further into Holland or the German market, which would have been very straightforward, but the boss wanted to bring some money back into Northern Ireland," he said.

"If unsuccessful we'd probably just re-invest the money in northern Europe and Germany. The margins would be better, the confidence is better - you know where you are, you're in the EU, it was just be dead straightforward."

Translink currently operate thirty nine 212 Goldline services from Foyle Street to Belfast each weekday and 37 from Belfast to Derry Monday to Thursday, with 46 on Friday to cater for extra demand for students.

On Saturday it operates 26 buses from Derry to Belfast and 27 in the other direction, while on Sunday there 23 from Derry and 22 from Belfast.

“We await the decision of the Department for Infrastructure on the Hannon Coach application," a spokesperson said.

The Department for Infrastructure is responsible for the issuing of commercial bus service permits for all new and existing public transport services. It has confirmed an application has been received by Hannon Coach to operate an express Belfast to Derry service.

"This application is currently under consideration," they said.