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Railway 'is the right way' to reunite towns
By Nevin Farrell

MILLIONS of pounds are to be spent on re-opening a dis-used rail link between Belfast and Antrim town which transport chiefs hope will boost train usage by 100,000.
The £14 million railway plan was unveiled yesterday by Environment Minister Lord Dubs at a transport conference in Belfast where he also announced what is considered to be a 'world first' which allows road-users to check on road congestion, via the Internet.
Lord Dubs hailed the new Internet link, which makes use of live pictures, as being immensely significant. It will help passengers to plan their journeys before leaving home or the office.
Lord Dubs also spoke of plans to make buses more environmentally friendly by using special low-polluting fuel and revealed that electric-powered buses were now being tested in Ballymena.
Bus lanes and initiatives to encourage more cycling have also been launched.
The far-reaching plans, announced at the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT) conference, were given general welcomes by key figures in the transport industry and politicians.
Lord Dubs said he wanted to tackle the twin evils of road congestion and pollution.
The Bleach Green to Antrim line will see journey times from Antrim town northwards slashed by at least 20 minutes, as trains currently have to travel south to Lisburn before doubling back towards Belfast.
Work is due to start before the end of year with the first passenger trains set to run on the revamped Bleach Green line - which shut in 1978 - early in 2,000, Lord Dubs told the Irish News.
He also said that he hoped car-users would realise that using the train was competitive and that if more people used trains the cost would fall.
If nothing was done, he said, car-users would soon end up sitting in big traffic jams.
New stations will be provided at Mossley West and Templepatrick.
Ted Hesketh, managing director of Translink - parent company of Northern Ireland Railways - said the line re-opening was "excellent news" and said they expected that Belfast commuters living in the area would use the new link.
Antrim Borough Council Mayor, Paddy Marks, said the new railway should be of "enormous benefit" to the area and if well used could help to ease the increasing road congestion in Belfast.
Alliance Party leader Sean Neeson also welcomed the new line but said improvements still needed to be made to railways in areas like Larne.
Other rail developments include the refurbishment of Belfast's Central Station and the relaying of the line between the city and Bangor while work on the Belfast to Dublin line will continue to bring journey times between the two cities down to 100 minutes.
Lord Dubs said buses had a key role to play in transport but that environmentally-friendly fuels were needed.
"Working in conjunction with Ulsterbus, Ballymena coach builders Wrights will be trialling an electrically powered bus on town services in their home town next month. We will watch the results with interest to see if such vehicles can provide a modern circulatory transport system in Belfast city centre."
The minister added that Translink's hundreds of buses, along with DOE, vehicles, will also use ultra-low sulphur 'city' diesel from next year will "serious consideration" was given to a Phoenix Gas proposal to use compressed natural gas in some new buses.
More bus lanes are planned with an initiative to create a bus lane on the hard shoulder of the Ml at Belfast well advanced.
Lord Dubs is also keen to increase cycling and walking and £1.6 million of European cash is being channelled into developing a cycle network including a link from Belfast city centre to the University of Ulster at Jordanstown.
Northern Ireland Cycling Initiative spokesperson Liz Fawcett welcomed the cash injection but said a more wide-ranging scheme was needed to encourage commuters to use bikes instead of cars.
Lord Dubs said a special 'Traffic Buster' for Belfast is also a possibility, with plans under consideration for a Director of Traffic who would look at transport in the city into the new millennium.
Lord Dubs also praised transport workers for keeping services running as much as possible during the worst times of the troubles and praised the Omagh bus drivers who helped ferry the injured to the Tyrone County Hospital after the August 15 bomb.
Workers Party spokesman Paddy Lynn welcomed the transport initiative bus said Lord Dubs should declare Belfast as an "environmental action area."
At the Waterfront conference, Billy McCoubrey, president of the IHC, said that funding for road schemes may not be available in the future and warned schemes like "full tolling" for certain roads and "congestion charging" may have to be considered.