Status
|
Construction
scheme (future) |
Where
|
To
expand the Glider rapid transit system
to the north and south of the city. |
Total
Length
|
As yet unknown -
circa 12 km (7 miles) |
Dates
|
2018 - Phase 1 of BRT
opens (East, West and Titanic Quarter)
2018 - Phase 2 received a funding
commitment in the Belfast Region City
Deal
Late 2020 -
preliminary route options to be
published
No date for construction as of Apr 2020
- likely several years away
|
Cost
|
£70-80m (as of
2018)
|
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straight down to updates for this scheme.
Even before Phase 1
of Glider was launched in September 2018, there
was talk within Translink and DFI of a "phase
2". Phase 1 saw an East-West route connecting
Colin Town Centre in west Belfast, through the
city centre to Dundonald (route G1), along with
a shorter route to Titanic Quarter (G2). Phase 2
would see a similar route added north-south.
As of April 2020 DFI
have not yet decided on a route, but we can
speculate based on some conversations that have
taken place:
- The route will probably share the same city
centre loop as the East-West route does.
- The southern route would almost certainly be
along the Ormeau Road and Saintfield Road,
perhaps beginning on Cromac Street. An obvious
place for the southern terminus is Cairnshill
Park-and-Ride.
- There is a suggestion that the southern
route could include some kind of spur/loop to
serve Queen's University.
- The northern route could be along either the
Antrim Road or the Shore Road, and there is a
bit of political difficulty here, since the
former is majority Catholic and the latter
majority Protestant.
- If the northern route used the Antrim Road
an obvious route would be to go up Clifton
Street to Carlisle Circus (serving the Mater
Hospital) and then all the way along Antrim
Road to a terminus in or near Glengormley. A
park-and-ride near Sandyknowes Roundabout is
tempting, though DFI have tried unsuccessfully
for some years to find a suitable P&R site
there.
- If the northern route used the Shore Road
then a route could go out of the town centre
along York Street, York Road and the Shore
Road. It could terminate somewhere in
Newtownabbey, eg near Rathcoole, the
Abbeycentre or perhaps a Park-and-Ride near
Greencastle interchange (junction 2) on the
M2.
Updates
10 Apr 2020: The scheme was included in
the Belfast Region City Deal of 2018, and for
this reason DFI are progressing the plans. This
doesn't appear to mean that the scheme will
definitely go ahead. The DFI Minister explained
in February that "...the next stages will
require close working across all departments
and with the other Belfast Region City Deal
partners. The work will include reaching
agreement on funding and on which projects are
most capable of delivering the City Deal
objectives." The first part of the process
is to carry out a feasibility study which will
identify route options. This will also include
cost estimates and cost/benefit analyses and
will help to determine whether the scheme will
be progressed. DFI have said that this
feasibility study is due to be completed before
the end of 2020.
|