A NEW £28 million engineering depot in south Belfast is a symbol of Northern Ireland Railways commitment to passenger service Transport Minister Danny Kennedy said yesterday.
Mr Kennedy performed the official opening at the new depot at Adelaide which has been constructed to maintain the Translink NI Railways fleet of 20 new Class 4000 trains and Class 3000 trains which entered service around six years ago.
“This new building is one of the components of the New Trains Two programme for which my department and the Executive provided funding of some £150 million,” he said.
“The programme delivered the purchase of the 20 new trains and the extension of around 20 platforms on the railways network to accommodate the new trains. Our aim is to deliver a high quality, accessible and comfortable public transport system and in doing so make it more attractive for people to use buses and trains.”
The existing train cleaning and maintenance facilities based at York Road and Fortwilliam in Belfast, he said, were operating at full capacity prompting the need for new facilities for the Class 4000 fleet which began service last year.
Translink Group Chief Executive Catherine Mason said the firm was focused on giving attractive, reliable and good value services that would encourage customers to travel more often and entice new people on board.
“The construction of this excellent new engineering facility is a tangible sign of our commitment to delivering high standards of quality and excellence and is an important addition to our rail network,” she said.
“The new depot also brings 14 new jobs providing opportunities for new people to learn new skills. This is great news as it helps us to benefit the wider local economy.”