Express Services in Northern Ireland

Waiting for an internal review by Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland) of their handling of this request.

Owen McLaughlin

Dear Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland),

The Transport Act (NI) 2011 was enacted to allow for the introduction of regulated competition between public transport operators.

Further to the Act, in 2015, Translink was awarded exclusive rights through a Service Agreement to operate all of its public transport services. All Translink services covered by the Service Agreement were included within Schedule A of the agreement.

The Department also introduced the Commercial Bus Service Permit system. The Commercial Bus Service Permit system was introduced to enable the Department to issue Service Permits to licensed operators who wish to run public passenger transport services within Northern Ireland.

The Commercial Bus Service Permit systems included two distinct classes of service:

a) Regular Stopping Service; and

b) Express Service

The definition of an Express Service read "Each passenger journey must include a ‘closed door’ element, which is not less than 30 miles (taking the most direct route by road), during which passengers must not be picked up or set down. The reason for this condition is to prevent an Express Service undermining any existing Regular Stopping Service operating along the route."

I would like the Department to provide the following information:

1) A list of all the Express Services included within the Translink Service Agreement when the agreement was signed;

2) The total number of permits for Express Services issued by the Department under the Commercial Bus Service Permit system since its inception in October 2015; and

3) A list of all Express Services currently operating in Northern Ireland (both Translink & Commercial)

Yours

Owen McLaughlin

DFI PTDDSO, Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    DFI 2020 0134 McLaughlin Details of express bus services in Northern Ireland Signed Response.PDF.pdf

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Mr McLaughlin,

Please see attached.

Thanks

Geraldine Finnegan
Public Transport Division, Department for Infrastructure
Room 3-29
Clarence Court
Belfast
BT2 8GB
Telephone: 028 9054 0077
Email: [email address]

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Owen McLaughlin

Dear Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)'s handling of my FOI request 'Express Services in Northern Ireland'.

I requested 3 items of information:
1) A list of all the Express Services included within the Translink Service Agreement when the agreement was signed;
2) The total number of permits for Express Services issued by the Department under the Commercial Bus Service Permit system since its inception in October 2015; and
3) A list of all Express Services currently operating in Northern Ireland (both Translink & Commercial)
I would like a review of the responses provided to items 1 & 3 above.

1) A list of all the Express Services included within the Translink Service Agreement when the agreement was signed.

Your response to item 1 states “the Public Service Agreement provides for Translink to deliver the extensive public transport within Northern Ireland however it does not stipulate ‘Express Services’ within it and, therefore, we cannot provide this information. It is worth noting that Express Services are defined within the Commercial Bus Service Permit operator guidelines and do not apply to services provided under a service agreement.”

Both the Translink Service Agreement and Commercial Bus Service Permit scheme were introduced pursuant to Public Passenger Transport (Service Agreements and Service Permits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.

The Public Passenger Transport (Service Agreements and Service Permits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 were pursuant to the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007.

The Service Agreement which the Department holds with Translink is therefore subject to both the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007. The Department is required by the legislation to establish in advance and set out in an objective and transparent manner the nature and extent of any exclusive rights granted through any Service Agreement.

It is not possible for the Department to maintain that it had fulfilled this obligation prior to awarding Translink its exclusive rights through its public service contract while subsequently claiming that it does not hold any information as to the nature of the basic service category of services awarded though that same public service contract.

In Addition, section 2.1 of the ‘Service Agreement’ that the Department holds with Translink states that the Department granted Translink exclusive rights “to provide the public transport services specified in this Service Agreement”. The use of the word ‘specified’ clearly reflects the requirement under the legislation to describe the Services clearly and exactly. The Service Agreement states that it is within Schedule A that these services are set out. As a minimum this will have required the broad service category to determine the basic nature of the Services and to understand whether they were ‘Stage Carriage/Regular Stopping Service’, routes covered, etc.

Again, it is not possible for the Department to maintain that services were ‘specified’ if it subsequently claims not to know the basic nature of the services included within the public service contract. By claiming not to hold the information requested, the Department is effectively stating that it awarded exclusive rights to 99%+ of all Northern Ireland’s public transport network to a single operator without a basic understanding of the nature of the services it was awarding.

The Department, therefore, ought to hold the information requested and should make it available.
If only Stage Carriage / Regular Stopping Services and no Express Services were included within the public service contract the Department should provide clear confirmation of that within its response to this FOI request.

The above highlights the legal, regulatory and contractual requirement for the Department to hold the information requested. It is also worth noting the clear requirement for the Department to hold the information requested in order for it to effectively administer its own commercial bus service permit scheme.

The Public Passenger Transport (Service Agreements and Service Permits) Regulations came into operation on Monday, 5th October 2015 - the Department’s Service Agreement with Translink was signed the next day: Tuesday, 6th October 2015. The Service Agreement and Service Permits are, therefore, inexorably linked both through legislation and regulation – the Department’s attempt to separate the definition of Express Service seeks to ignore this fact.

Additionally, the Department’s own Commercial Bus Service Permits Guidelines for Bus Operators contain many references explicitly referring to both ‘Regular Stopping Service’ and ‘Express Service’ as existing and defined service types. The guidelines also explicitly state that the ‘Regular Stopping Service’ category was formerly known as a ‘Stage Carriage Service’.

It is clear therefore, that the ‘Stage Carriage’ and ‘Express Service’ categories both predate the Public Passenger Transport (Service Agreements and Service Permits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and both terms were in common and regulatory use prior to the introduction of those regulations. For example, up until March 2015 the ‘Stage Carriage’ definition was used to determine a service’s eligibility for Fuel Duty Rebate.

The guidelines go on to explicitly and repeatedly highlight that the issuing of any permit will be heavily dependent upon whether or not another operator, either through a Service Agreement or permit, operates a service of the same category along the route applied for.

It is clear that it would be impossible for the Department to independently determine whether or not Translink operated any ‘Regular Stopping Services’ or ‘Express Services’ within its Service Agreement unless the Department held a record of the services included in the Service Agreement classed by service category.
References include but are not limited to:

Paragraph 3.2 states:
3.2 When making an application for a Service Permit under the Regular Stopping Service or Express Service categories (see section 4), an operator should take account of the existing service provision. Operators who currently provide these existing services are protected by what is known as “the 30-minute rule”, which is designed to prevent another operator from providing a service within 30 minutes of an existing service on the same route (unless that operator can demonstrate that a particular need for the new service exists). [Section 3.2 Commercial Bus Service Permits Guidelines for Bus Operators]

4.12 As with the Regular Stopping Service category, an application will not usually be granted on a route which is already being served unless the operator can (i) demonstrate that the proposed service is timetabled to depart at least either 30 minutes before or after an existing Express Service, or (ii) provide evidence that demand for such a service exists.
[Section 4.12 Commercial Bus Service Permits Guidelines for Bus Operators]

Therefore, in addition to the clear link through the relevant legislation and regulation, the Department’s own published guidelines explicitly state that there is a requirement for the Department to hold the information requested.

If only Stage Carriage / Regular Stopping Services and no Express Services were included within the public service contract the Department should provide clear confirmation of that within its response to this FOI request.

3) A list of all Express Services currently operating in Northern Ireland (both Translink & Commercial)
Your response to item 3 states “A list of all live Commercial Bus Service Permits is available on the Department’s website”

The FOI request explicitly asked for a current list of all Express Services both Translink and those provided by commercial operators. Your response simply provided reference to a list of all live Commercial Bus Service Permits only. I would ask the Department to supply a list all Express Services currently operated by Translink in Northern Ireland.

If Translink is not currently providing any Express Services within Northern Ireland the Department should provide clear confirmation of that within its response to this FOI request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

Owen McLaughlin

DfI Information Management Unit, Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)

Dear Mr McLaughlin

Thank you for your email.

The DfI Departmental Information Manager will carry out an internal review of the handling of your request and respond as soon as possible.

Hugh Murnaghan
DfI Information Management Unit

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DfI Information Management Unit, Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    Response DFI2020 0134 McLaughlin D l Express Service Permits issued since October 2015 3 all current services..PDF.pdf

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Dear Mr. McLaughlin,

 

Please see the attached letter.

 

Thank you.

 

Hugh Murnaghan

DfI Information Management Unit

Dear DfI Information Management Unit,

The Public Passenger Transport (Service Agreements and Service Permits)
Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 were pursuant to the Transport Act (Northern
Ireland) 2011 and Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007.

The Service Agreement which the Department holds with Translink is therefore
subject to both the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and Regulation (EC) No.
1370/2007. The Department is required by the legislation to establish in advance
and set out in an objective and transparent manner the nature and extent of any
exclusive rights granted through any Service Agreement.

It is not possible for the Department to maintain that it had fulfilled this obligation
prior to awarding Translink its exclusive rights through its public service contract
while subsequently claiming that it does not hold any information as to the nature
of the basic service category of services awarded though that same public service
contract.

Your response indicates that the Department for Infrastructure (NI) has no grasp as to
the nature or extent of Regular Stopping Services or Express Services operating
within Northern Ireland as it does not hold a basic list of the information required.

Yours sincerely,

Owen McLaughlin