North and South Belfast Ulster Unionist spokespeople Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston and Stephen McCarthy have submitted their party consultation response on the proposed extension of the city’s Glider network into North and South Belfast.
Speaking on the proposals for North Belfast, Julie-Anne said:
“I more than welcome a significant investment in public transport in North Belfast, not least given the success of the Glider in East and West. However, I think current proposals are lacking in imagination and scope.
“North Belfast is home to the country’s widest motorway, one of its busiest road junctions and, in spite of having several miles of rail on two key train routes, we have only one station. We are overly car-dependent and poorly served in terms of transport.
“I support the extension of services along both the Shore and Antrim Roads, but believe that car ownership and dependence on public transport is higher on the Shore Road. The Shore Road would be my choice.
“However, if the evidence supports the Antrim Road being chosen we need to see investment in transport on the Shore Road to complement that. We need to see the development of train stations at the Abbey Centre and Fortwilliam, with park and ride facilities and well-integrated with current bus services.
“I also think the current proposal to terminate the new route at O’Neill’s Road is disappointing. The new route should extend into Glengormley and even serve Mallusk, with new park and ride facilities there.
Speaking on the South Belfast proposals, Stephen McCarthy said:
“I welcome the current proposals, not least given that we will see two routes serving the south of the city with the extension of the Titanic Quarter G2 route to Queens University and the City Hospital, and the new route along the Ormeau and Saintfield Roads.
“However, I have two key concerns. I am at a loss as to how the Department for Infrastructure can be concurrently developing two major transport schemes and not think to integrate them. The G2 or the new southern extension needs to serve the new Transport Interchange currently under construction at Sandy Row.
“It makes little sense to have every regional and cross-border train and coach arrive into Belfast to a beautiful new station and not have the city’s flagship transport system passing the front door.
“Equally, the current proposal for the southern terminus at Cairnshill is a perfect example of short-termism. The urban sprawl of Belfast extends far beyond Cairnshill, and given the number of major developments proposed and underway in Carryduff I urge the Minister to extend the southern route in response to this. A new park and ride and terminus at Carryduff would meet that need for many years to come.”