Commuting on NI roads 'draining and expensive'

Two of Northern Ireland's busiest roads, the M1 and the A1, converge at Sprucefield near Lisburn.

For commuters from Newry, Banbridge, Portadown, Lurgan and beyond this is the major pinch point of the daily grind.

A slow-rolling virtual traffic jam of thousands of cars means early starts, patience and a full tank.

Jackie Coade is a teacher from Armagh city.

She has worked in schools across Northern Ireland and she says the morning commute into Belfast is dreaded by many.

“I usually leave Armagh about a quarter to seven in the morning if I’m working in Belfast,” she said.

“But that's not the time that you're up at. You're up at least an hour before that. It's a pretty stressful journey. Most of the time you're at a standstill from Sprucefield.

“It is extremely draining and expensive.”

Whilst the cost may vary based upon driving style, type of vehicle, car sharing and parking provision, Jackie said commuting from Armagh requires two tanks of fuel a week.

As such, while the concept of travelling to work by public transport seems ideal, it remains impractical for Jackie.

“I would love to be able to leave my car in Armagh every day and travel to work,” she said.

“But I worked in a school in east Belfast for a while, so even if there had been a train station here in Armagh, your journey doesn't finish once you get to Belfast, you obviously then have to travel to the other side of the city.”

It was recently recommended that Armagh should be reconnected to the rail network, while the further development of the Glider network should help give commuters greater choice once they arrive in Belfast.

For William Hutchinson of the Portadown-Armagh Railway Society (PARS) the Cathedral City’s inclusion in the All-Ireland Rail Review is promising but not a quick fix.

“The rail line here closed on the 1st October 1957 and it was a huge loss for the city,” he said.

“We've lobbied since 2014 to have the railway restored and that has progressed from the long term to the medium term.

"Now we would like to get it delivered in the short term. In 10 years time I would like to see a railway just where I'm standing now."

He said it is "great that Grand Central Station is opening".

"We're glad of the vision to open that huge hub," he said.

"It's going to have eight platforms, and we're hoping that there'll be a destination, a listing on that platform for the city of Armagh.

“It gives great opportunity for the people of Armagh to have that connectivity once again, and that people will have a better opportunity to work in Belfast.

"To get there early in the morning and to get home again at night. It also brings brilliant opportunities for tourism to come back to the city.”

But proximity to a rail line does not necessarily mean commuters will ditch their cars.

Frequency - or infrequency - of services or unsuitable final destinations often mean people keep hitting the road.

Among this group is Warrenpoint recruitment director Matthew Evers, who drives to Belfast for work most days rather than getting a bus or train from nearby Newry.

He said travelling by car remains the most realistic means of commuting.

“Driving, first of all, there’s ease,” he said.

“To get public transport I’d first have to go to Newry and then onwards to Belfast.

"I remember doing that on my first day and I was late for work."

Matthew said, for him, taking public transport would take "a lot more time just to get to work".

"I actually start at 8am and the traffic isn’t necessarily that bad at that time," he said.

“With my job I have to go out and see clients while I’m in Belfast so I need the car. If I’m at work and I get a call telling me that I’ve to see a client in Antrim, could I then get there on public transport in reasonable time?

“There’d need to be a more regular service that would ensure you aren’t late. Even Newry train station isn’t really in Newry, it’s on the edge of Newry.

"So if you were going on public transport from Warrenpoint you’d have to get a connection from Newry bus centre to the train station.

“But driving to work you can just get straight into your car, straight up the motorway and straight into work.”

The challenge remains delivering a service to regional towns and cities that offers fast, frequent, flexible and affordable transit.