Ulsterbus’s half century

Ulsterbus will turn 50 years old on Easter Monday. The operation started on 17 April 1967 after the Ulster Transport Authority ceased. To mark the milestone, the operator is to take vintage buses on tour around its stations and offer 50% off the day return fare for customers after 09.30 throughout the Easter Week (17 to 22 April). Ulsterbus’ 50th Anniversary will also be the theme of the rally at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum on 22 April. One of its modern fleet is also being repainted in the first Ulsterbus livery and will operate scheduled services across Northern Ireland over the next 12 months. More details at www.translink.co.uk

Translink’s Group Chief Executive, Chris Conway, said, ‘Ulsterbus operates over 42,000 bus journeys every week, which ensure people get to work, education, shops, hospitals, social activities and so much more, helping to build vibrant, sustainable and successful communities, towns and cities. Over this time, we have continued to modernise and grow and one of the key highlights has been the success of our Goldline coach services. We have also seen fleet enhancements, new stations built and advances in technology in relation to passenger information and ticketing. But there is always more to do, we continue to develop and change with plans for projects like the new transport hubs in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry, further upgrades to our fleet and facilities, and new state of the art ticketing set to be introduced from 2018. These will help us to further grow for the next generation and attract more people on board as part of our drive to make Translink and Ulsterbus “Your First Choice for Travel”.’