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(028) 90 899 400
Central Station
Belfast
County Antrim
BT1 3PB
Northern Ireland
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Translink reviews (19)
18/01/12
Bangor Park and Ride Facilities - It is a battle to get a parking space each morning. The park and ride carpark is usually full by 7.45am. I can’t get there any earlier than 7.40am on a good day, as I cannot drop my daughter off at her nusery any earilier than 7.30am.
Then I drive as fast as I can safely do so to the park and manage to get one of the last remaining 3 or 4 spaces. I am not prepared to park badly like some drivers I see when I return to my car in the evenings (double parked, up on the kerb, blocking other drivers).
It is only a matter of time before the car park is full at 7.30am.
But what about the adjoining pay and display car park? It is obvious that the free park and ride car park is entirely inadequate. What if 20 or 30 spaces were allocated from the pay and display car park? It could be very easily done.
We are living in an age where the green option is the only option, and anything Translink can do to encourage passengers to leave their cars behind surely must be a good thing.
I’m doing my bit for the economy and the enviromment - I’m a mother who works full time. I leave the car behind in Bangor and get the train in and out of Belfast every day. It’s time that Translink and North Down Borough Council did their bit for the economy and the environment.
19/12/11
Travelled alone on the 11.30 bus from Belfast to Derry on Sunday 18th December.
My partner used his swipe card and as I was boarding the bus the driver (Driver No: 223920) told me that as my partner was the card holder I was not entitled to use it to travel alone and would have to pay.
The bus had full capacity passengers and I was embarrassed so I did not argue but paid the Sunday Rambler fare of £8.00. The driver informed my partner that he would be unable to obtain a refund on his card, therefore, Translink was paid twice for one journey! I think not!
I did not have a problem with the driver and I know he is following the rules.
We were unaware of this rule and would like to know how thoroughly it is advertised. I want the fare returned to my partner’s card and I expect a reply from Translink today.
10/01/11
Yet again passengers let down on 77 city bound metro. I got on at belvoir drive to be confronted with an additional translink staff member blocking access. Once I managed to distract the driver from his deep and meaningful conversation with his associate I managed to present my ilink card before squeezing past to a seat.
The second translink employee leaned over the drivers door the entire way into belfast city centre. On a night pouring with rain I saw several passengers attempt to get past the employee and he didn’t have the decency to move out of the way.
This unacceptable behavior meant that the bus driver was distracted from his job… Transporting paying customers.
Obviously their conversation was much more important.
#TranslinkFail
10/01/11
I had to phone them re their arcane “journey-planner”, in order to obtain train times from Sydenham to Holywood.
It seems that, when you’re given a number of options on the system, you need to select entries with “NIR” thereon.
Now why wasn’t that explained more fully for the benefit of passengers?
At least I know now.
And, by the way, why don’t they get a decent journey-planner like that used on the London Underground? Too Dear?
10/01/11
Pretty reasonable fares - friendly and approachable staff and trains that usually arrive on time. I have never had any problems.
22/03/10
The bus to Dublin airport that runs every hour has never been late for me so fair play.
15/02/10
Bravo Translink.
A trip to dublin for a ‘day of fun’ started and finished on the enterprise train.
£12.50 return each (book early online). Train was on time, staff were friendly, carriage wasn’t packed and conductor turned a blind eye when we brought out the bottle of gin.
So well done.
12/11/09
I don’t drive and have relied on Translink for more than 12 years and I can say that about 80% of the time my experiences have not been good. I must admit I do occasionally encounter a polite, friendly or even helpful driver but they are few and far between.
I used the Bangor to Belfast train line from 2000 – 2005 which covered the horrendous period when both Bangor & Central Stations were being refurbished. I understand much of the ridiculous time-table and train issues were due to things outside the control of the staff at both ends but it was nearly impossible to get a train that ran on time or wasn’t overcrowded. I even experienced the insane Tuesday evening debacle when it took 2 and a half hours for a train to get from Central station to Bangor and I was standing in the divide between 2 carriages!!
I’ve experienced public transport in a few other cities in the UK and Europe and have to say ours is substantially worse in terms of service, availability, price and time-tables. It should not be the norm that a bus or train being on time is the exception to the rule.
I have had at least 5 recent issues between the website time-table, the bus stop time-table and the call centre having 3 separate times for a bus that was due, then the bus turned up at a completely different time anyway. I’ve missed so many buses because of incorrect information. Recent roadworks have meant diversions that aren’t posted anywhere, that staff at the call centre aren’t aware of & many drivers don’t bother to say anything until you jump up once they’ve by-passed your stop.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people knock on the door when the door has literally just closed and the driver has driven off, elderly people being knocked over because the drivers are speeding off so quickly, drivers not stopping when they’ve plainly seen you at the stop.
On top of all this are the astronomical prices! If the powers that be want everyone to stop using their cars and go green with public transport they need to realise the difference in costs makes that impossible for so many people. The bus fares are not cheap but the trains are ridiculous and I can’t understand how they can justify high prices when the whole service is below par.
12/11/09
It’s impossible to rate a utility fairly so I’m just judging NIR Holywood - Belfast which is really very good. It was a mess a few years ago but it has improved. Yes, sometimes the trains don’t run on time - but that appears to have improved. I also did Belfast - Derry and Belfast - Coleraine over the last 12 months and that was OK - refreshments would have helped a lot, though. But all in all, 4 stars for the service I get. Your experience may be different.
12/11/09
I use Translink at least twice every day, I can understand buses being late sometimes due to traffic but it doesn’t mean the bus drivers have to be extremely rude.
With my experiences, I find Translink an unreliable service.
12/11/09
There is way too much to complain about! So i will just say that it is a farce they have no competition here to make them take their finger out of their ass!
I have been approached whilst on a train by soeone who works for translink about complaining about them on twitter, and that isnt going to stop me!
(also, why is lookaly making me give them at least 1 star, they dont deserve it!)
06/10/09
A driver for Translink cursed at me recently, after I demanded his badge number.
The response I got from Translink was that they couldn’t prove it, and it was my word against the drivers.
And also that the driver ‘appeared calm’. The drivers are aware the are being video recorded, but NOT audio recorded. So, if they smile and then swear at you, nothing can be done.
Its a shame there isn’t any competition for this company, they would be out of business within weeks.
09/04/09
Where do I start with Translink? Well this is specifically targeted at the rail service.
Seems to be that after 7pm or 8pm things become slack. I remember back when I used to get a train to University on a Sunday night from Central to Jordanstown and the train was late every week.
Tonight I had another typical Translink experience. Checked the website for the next train; it’s it 10min (& I already had a return ticket). Headed to the train station to be told that there were no trains running. There were buses running as substitutes but they couldn’t tell me when the next one would be. Could they refund my ticket? No, I have to go to the station the ticket was issued for a refund.
So lucky enough I was just heading from one side of the city to the other and wasn’t time restricted so I could walk it. Went to the station I got the ticket and they gave me a ‘Delay-Repay’ form. I have to fill this and send it off to get my refund. Considering my ticket value is only worth 70p it isn’t worth my while filling this in (but might do it anyway to see what happens).
And don’t get me started on their website. It’s a usability nightmare. Get it redesigned, keep it up-to-date , make the timetable data public & hopefully someone will make a useful website and/or iPhone app that will be useful to everyone.
30/03/09
I’m glad I am coming to by final year at Jordanstown University as getting the Uni Link will be a thing of the past. The service runs pretty well Monday-Thursday but on a Friday it seems the drivers operate on a different schedule to the timetable we have.
For 4 weeks in a row I was left standing in Jordanstown for over an hour (at different times of the day) waiting on a bus that simply didn’t turn up. This resulted in having to get a train to Botanic and from leaving the labs to getting home took around 1hr 45mins. The journey is just under 10 miles!
I’m also disappointed with the toilets at Europa Bus Centre as the men’s toilets seem to be closed on a regular basis with no other amenities offered close to hand.
30/03/09
A 40 minute bus to the airport in Liverpool / Manchester is £1.60 / £2 - the same journey from Aldergrove to city centre is £7 - Translink are absolute jokers
They keep putting the prices up saying that it’s to do with the price of oil increasing but they didn’t bring them down again when they price of oil fell
Buses are usually late or don’t turn up - drivers love pulling off as you tap the door to get on
They’d almost 1600 accidents last year - that’s four a day, everyday - can they not drive?
28/02/09
Sure they are now usually on time, but the trains are overcrowded and overpriced. Coupled with limited parking at the stations and halts that they serve.
They’ve come a long way over the past few years (seems like a lot of the old guard staff have left which has improved things significantly), but there’s still a ways to go.
Getting there is getting better, but translink seemed to have forgot that this is a continual process of improvements to take them where they need to be.
28/02/09
I’ve been pretty pleased with the service Translink has provided over the last few years.
I grew up in the Newington area on the outskirts of the city centre and a stones throw away from shops, bars, etc. I never really needed to get a bus. In 2006 I was uprooted by my parents and moved up to Glengormley.
One thing I wasn’t looking forward to was having to use public transport regularly as I’d heard dire reports about the service provided by Translink.
I could count on one hand when a bus I’ve been waiting on has failed to turn up. Granted they’ve been up to fifteen minutes late at times and I’ve encountered drivers who have been anything but friendly; however generally the service on the Antrim Road corridor is satisfactory and continues to get better.
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