A FERMANAGH politician has vowed to “push for more public transport links” in the county after she got a sneak look at a new multi-million pound hub in Belfast which will revitalise public transport.
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA, Deborah Erskine, was present at the opening of the Grand Central Station in Belfast awhich is reportedly set to cater for 20 million Translink journeys per year.
The Grand Central Station, which cost in the region of £340 million, has replaced the Great Victoria Street railway station and the Europa Buscentre in a major transformation of public transport.
Ms Erskine, a DUP MLA who is chairwoman of the Northern Ireland Assembly Infrastructure Committee, is committed to improving public transport means in Fermanagh.
“Along with Committee Infrastructure colleagues, I got a behind the scenes tour of the new transport hub in Belfast City Centre opening this weekend,” Ms Erskine posted on Facebook.
“This hub has capacity for more public transport and so I’ll keep that in mind as I push for more public transport links to our rural areas.”
Fermanagh residents were left disappointed recently when Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd, confirmed that the county was being left out of the All-Island Strategic Railway Plan.
A number of arguments were raised for inclusion in the new proposal, but the cost of building a line from Omagh to Enniskillen cited as the main reason for not including the county in the rail plan.
The Sinn Féin MLA did not rule out granting a private operator an application for an express service in Fermanagh, in what would be a major boost to the local transport industry.
“If a private operator files an application it will be looked at and given due consideration. I can’t comment on an application that hasn’t been processed,” Mr O’Dowd said.
“I see a role for private operators moving forward, I want to see investment in the public providers as well in terms of Translink. Let’s judge each application as it comes forward.”
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