Oral Answers to Questions — Regional Development – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:15 pm on 1 February 2016.
T1. Mr Lunn asked the Minister for Regional Development for her assessment of the prospect of a rail link to Belfast International Airport. (AQT 3411/11-16)
I thank the Member for his question. I imagine that he is talking about the Knockmore to Antrim branch line, which is maintained by Translink.
The DRD investment prioritisation strategy for Northern Ireland, which was published in May 2014, sets out a vision for future railways over the next 20 years. There is obviously an economic benefit relating to the Antrim to Knockmore line, and there are opportunities to establish a rail link to Belfast International Airport, although my understanding is that the usage of the airport would need to increase to around 10 million passengers to make that rail link viable. I suppose that, in some ways, it is aspirational, but if we were able to open such a line again it would be seen as very positive for Northern Ireland.
I thank the Minister for her answers so far. The economic case for reopening the Knockmore line, with the link from the Dublin line to the north of the country and the airport, is fairly obvious, although it would be expensive. Does she not agree with me that Ryanair coming to Belfast International Airport will obviously produce a major uplift in the number of passengers? Do we really need to wait until we have 10 million plus one passengers before we do something about it, or can we not anticipate what is liable to happen in the next few years?
I thank the Member for his question. Sustainability is obviously key in everything that we do, particularly in relation to our public transport routes. You need only speak to colleagues in East Antrim about the Larne line and Members from Newry about the services that they have. We need to look at cost. That is also key to where we are. The Member also needs to be aware that we have a very good bus link from the international airport to the city centre.