Belfast commuter slams transport officials over 'dangerous overcrowding' on Glider service

A Belfast commuter has hit out at transport officials over the "dangerous overcrowding" she has experienced on her daily Glider journey.

Fiona McCullough got in touch to share her disappointment at the public transport service on the Glider West to Belfast city centre. As an office worker, she says the service recently has become "unusable" with each Glider arriving "completely full" to the point she believes it "must be breaching health and safety standards".

She told Belfast Live: "It’s been going on for months, I left my house at 7:45am this morning (Tuesday) and only got to the city centre at 9:15. On many occasions I have waited over 45 minutes on a Glider arriving that I could step onto. This morning it happened again when I purchased my ticket at 7:59am but didn’t manage to board a Glider until 8:28am so I waited 30 minutes before I could even start my journey to work.

READ MORE: Translink statement on tackling Belfast's traffic chaos in run up to Christmas

READ MORE: Cost of Translink spend on bus substitute services during rail closures outlined

"Three Gliders passed my stop completely full and unable to board. The design and layout of the bus is just not fit for purpose and the service is not suitable for people trying to get to work. The main issue is that the service is overcrowded many schoolchildren, leaving no space for working adults to get to their jobs in the city centre.

"The solution to the whole thing would be to put on a separate service for schoolchildren. One time the Glider pulled up to the stop and people shouted out from the bus that there was no room. Most of the time five people have to step off the bus to let one person off," Fiona added.

But for Fiona, it's not the first time in recent weeks that she has brought this to the attention of transport officials: "I contacted the Department for Infrastructure in October over the matter and was told by Minister John O’Dowd's office that it was not their responsibility and it was Translink's duty.

"When I contacted Translink they said they couldn’t supply a separate bus for schoolchildren and that that’s Department of Education’s responsibility. It seems to me each department is just passing the blame onto the next.

"They can't keep passing the blame, someone needs to take ownership and stop kicking the can down the road. This is not good enough for a capital city's public transport service. The main issue isn’t just overcrowding, which at some point someone will get injured, it’s the inability to get on the bus at all during peak times. I hope someone can address this ongoing problem to improve the service for everyone."

In a statement, Translink said: “The vast majority of our passengers experience safe and comfortable journeys - with over half a million Metro/Glider passenger journeys every week. We are seeing high demand for all of our Glider services with all our available fleet and resources in use across the network.

“Safety is our top priority. Where possible we will seek to provide additional capacity where we can, however Glider vehicles are designed to accommodate standing passengers. We encourage passengers to move into the vehicle to keep doorways clear to allow others to board.

“Local children travelling to and from school do avail of the Glider and Metro services as well as other scheduled public transport services across the network The Education Authority will fund specific dedicated school services that meet the Home to School travel eligibility rules”.

The Department for Infrastructure was also approached for comment.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.