Late-night Buses Driving Belfast Into the Modern Age

By Emily Toolan

November 6th will see the launch of the late-night bus service in Belfast. This trial scheme will have buses running across the city until 1:30 am on Friday and Saturday nights. [1]. This pilot scheme – supported by Stormont, Belfast city council and Translink – will run for a whole year, and should it show signs of success, Translink will explore the potential for the late-night operations to become permanent.

Currently, the last service of all Translink Belfast Metro routes leaves Belfast City Hall at 11 pm, and for most routes it is earlier. The late-night service will make Belfast City Centre more accessible to the public for a further two hours. Extended hours are planned for all current Metro routes, as well as the Glider, but not all routes will be extended to 1:30 am. 

These later times for last services (even if it’s only on Fridays and Saturdays) are the first steps in steering Belfast into the modern day. In an age where most cities have transport regularly late into the night (some even having 24-hour public transport), Belfast is slowly being left in the past. This trial scheme can transport Belfast into the 21st century, which will bring about positive implications for the city, both economically but also in terms of public safety.

Driving steps in making Belfast safer for all

In a time where Northern Ireland is one of the most dangerous places in Europe to be a woman, providing a bus up until 1:30 am has the potential to be the first step in tackling the ongoing femicide epidemic that is happening in Northern Ireland. 

98% of women in Northern Ireland report having faced some form of abuse or violence, and since 2020, there have been 28 women violently killed by men. [2] This is the highest rate across Europe. There has been a clear rise in violence against women, yet few steps until now have been taken by the government or local councils to begin to tackle the ongoing epidemic. Could late-night buses set a precedent for action?

Despite many campaigns taking place across the country to call for action to be taken, few have come to fruition. One of the most recent efforts is the ‘Work Safe / Home Safe’ initiative, a campaign to make it an employer’s duty to ensure a safe route home for employees after 11 pm. In conversation with a representative for this campaign, Cameron, it was discussed how the campaign is pushing for politicians to put into legislation that all employers must provide a safe means of transport home for employees after 11 pm, as part of a licensing requirement. In addition, the campaign is also advocating for fully funded transport that runs throughout the night, to protect the 42% of workers who regularly walk home alone at night. [3] Work Safe Home Safe view the beginning of this trial as positive, but acknowledge that it is only a small step in making Belfast safer at night. 

Resurrecting Belfast’s dying nightlife

The late-night bus service could be the latest driving force in reviving the dying night scene in Belfast, which, in recent years, has seen a steady decline following the closure of many loved clubs and bars in the City Centre. With new ventures breathing life into once forgotten spaces in a bid to revive Belfast’s nightlife, the recent takeover of the old Europa Bus Centre by HALT marks a significant step. Could the new late-night bus services be the final push needed to reinvigorate the city’s night-time economy? The extra two hours of bus service gives people the safety net of knowing they can stay out that little bit later and still have a way of getting home without battling queues for a taxi, with uncertain prices and departure times.

A step in the right direction, or a facade of improvement?

As it stands, the late-night buses will only run on Friday and Saturday nights and cost £6 as a standard fare. At a surface level, this appears to be a good scheme and a step in the right direction, but a deeper glance may reveal it to be a performative display by the council – attempting to put effort into improving safety and the economy, but lacking any real force or drive behind it. 

Traditionally, Friday and Saturday are the popular late nights to ‘go out’; however, recent years have seen more and more people, especially students, going out mid-week, with Thursday creeping in as the new ‘Friday night out’. It could be argued that if the late-night buses were to become a set feature, they should run every night and later than the proposed 01:30, with most people staying out until at least 2 am, not to mention the employees of these late-night venues who travel home even later. 

As for the trial scheme, buses will run at a minimum from Thursday to Saturday, but campaigns like ‘Work Safe / Home Safe’ claim they are needed every night of the week. So, will we see this late-night bus service extended in the future?

References

[1] McKee, Ross. “Funding Agreed for Late-Night Buses Pilot.” BBC News, October 17, 2025. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjd70nyz4po.

[2] Murphy, Stephen. “Calls for Tougher Sentencing Guidelines in Northern Ireland to Tackle ‘Epidemic’ of Violence.” Sky News. Sky, September 4, 2025. https://news.sky.com/story/women-and-girls-in-northern-ireland-face-perfect-stormof-violence-as-victims-call-for-tougher-sentences-13425233.

[3] Instagram. “Unite Hospitality NI (Work Safe/Home Safe) on Instagram,” September 18, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DOwNg9VDGst/?igsh=MTRjaHlydmhqcjg0Zg%3D%3D.