The case for transport infrastructure investment | Studio Sessions with Gerard Carlin, Translink

Suzanne Wylie, Chief Executive of NI Chamber, is joined by Gerard Carlin, Group Chief Executive of Translink, three months into his tenure, to discuss the scale of the organisation he has taken on and the case for investing in public transport in Northern Ireland. They discuss the scale of an operation running 13,000 services a day with around 4,500 staff, moving roughly 300,000 people daily, how Translink is funded across both operating and capital spend, and how its efficiency and punctuality compare with operators in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Gerard also reflects on what Grand Central Station has done for the city since opening, including the lift in Enterprise passenger numbers and the part the station played during the Fleadh, and on his own route into the role, from studying engineering at Queen’s to working on Crossrail, Thames Tideway and the national grid cable tunnels in London, and later at London Underground and SONI. The conversation also covers the All-Island Strategic Rail Review and whether a five billion pound programme is realistic, the funding models used on major projects elsewhere that could apply here, the second phase of the Glider, the rural network and the Better on Board partnership programme, and why only five per cent of journeys in Northern Ireland are currently made by public transport and how that can change. Watch the full discussion for an assessment of where Translink stands today and what good transport investment can do for a regional economy. #Translink #PublicTransport #Infrastructure #NIChamber #StudioSessions #GrandCentralStation #Rail #BelfastBusiness #Economy #Investment