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21-515: In 1973, Citybus took over the bus services of the Belfast Corporation Transport Department. Between 1971 and 1994, NITHCo ran Belfast International Airport through its subsidiary Northern Ireland Airports Limited (NIAL). In 1994, the government created Belfast International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which was sold to Belfast International Airport Holdings Ltd, a management/employee buy-out vehicle. In 1996,

42-471: A time in the early 1950s, these buses ran alongside both the tram and trolleybus networks run by the corporation until these networks were eventually abandoned, and like most mainland operators, Belfast Corporation ran a mixture of single deck and double-deck buses . The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company acquired the operations of the Transport Department in 1970, and in 1973,

63-626: A total of 17 Ulsterbus and Citybus employees were killed over the course of The Troubles. 1,484 buses from both fleets were maliciously destroyed from 1964 to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, with second-hand vehicles occasionally acquired from British operators. Bus services in and around Belfast often ran in competition with black cab taxis throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These offered lower fares and provided individual services for Belfast's Protestant and Catholic communities at times when bus services were forced off

84-702: A week prior in Newtownards in County Down . The hijackers claimed themselves to be from the Protestant Action Force , who have claimed the previous Newtownards attack to be part of a campaign against the Northern Ireland Protocol . As of 2021, Metro operates a fleet of 260 buses from four depots, namely Milewater, Newtownabbey, Falls Road and Short Strand predominantly bodied by Wrightbus of Ballymena . The fleet

105-658: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Citybus (Belfast) Metro is the trading name for bus company Citybus in Belfast , Northern Ireland . It is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , within the common management structure of Translink , along with Ulsterbus and Northern Ireland Railways . Bus services began in Belfast under the Belfast Corporation Transport Department. For

126-522: Is a 2-axle low-floor double decker built by Volvo . It replaced the B9TL as Volvo's Euro 6 2-axle double decker product for the UK and Irish markets. The B5TL is powered by Volvo's new 4-cylinder, 5.1 litre D5K-240 engine, which is rated at 240 bhp/177 kW. The move to a smaller engine is one of the weight-reduction measures implemented to the new bus. Along with its bodybuilding partner Wrightbus ,

147-453: Is also augmented by 34 Van Hool ExquiCity 18 articulated buses for the Glider network. All buses were equipped with a bus stop announcement system, announcing upcoming bus stops. All Metro buses were equipped with a dot-matrix display showing its route and upcoming bus stop. Glider vehicles were equipped with LCD displays supplied by Hanover showing upcoming four bus stops. Like Ulsterbus,

168-519: The Translink brand name was created to integrate the services of Ulsterbus , NIR , and Citybus . This Northern Ireland –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to government in the United Kingdom or its constituent countries is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This European rail transport related article

189-571: The Lisburn City Council but now falls under the Belfast City Council area. A Metro double-decker bus, which was operating on route 11b, was hijacked and set alight by sectarian rioters at the junction of Lanark Way and Shankill Road on 7 April 2021 during the 2021 Northern Ireland riots . Rioters attempted to put the £250,000 bus into gear before releasing the handbrake and setting it alight. No passengers on board

210-399: The Transport Department was renamed to Belfast Citybus and was integrated with fellow NITHC company Ulsterbus , with both companies being managed by Werner Heubeck . Citybus drivers and their buses were often caught in the crossfire of rioting and paramilitary action during The Troubles . Buses were often hijacked and used as burning barricades, and drivers were assaulted or robbed, while

231-612: The Volvo B5TL chassis for Lothian Buses . The first example appeared in London in autumn 2013, entering service with Go-Ahead London in October 2013 for evaluation. It remained until late February 2014 before being returned to Volvo. This bus was also used by Stagecoach London on other routes. Four further B5TL demonstrators have appeared in early 2014. One was trialed by Lothian Buses , before moving to Go North East . Another

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252-456: The blue and white livery of Ulsterbus, and the improved network of services was based on twelve quality bus corridors (QBCs) around Greater Belfast, promising a five to ten minute bus frequency. Over 540 complaints were made to Translink following the launch of Metro, largely due to buses arriving later than timetabled, however the launch was hailed as a success by Translink, citing a 6.3% increase in passenger numbers. Starting from 2014, with

273-671: The bus were injured and the driver was left "unhurt but very badly shaken". Translink employees staged a protest at Belfast City Hall a day later against the rioting, threatening to withdraw bus services in East Belfast between 6pm and the morning. Another Metro double-decker bus, which was operating on route 2e, was hijacked and set alight in Newtownabbey in County Antrim on 7 November 2021. The incident followed another hijacking and burning of an Ulsterbus double-decker

294-522: The former Citybus standardised on Alexander -bodied Bristol REs , Leyland Leopards , Leyland Tigers and Volvo B10Ms before the advent of low-floor buses , many of which were maliciously destroyed in sectarian violence. No further double-decker buses were purchased following Citybus' integration into the NITHC, with high maintenance costs being cited for the move to single deckers. However, in 2001, double decker buses were reintroduced to Belfast through

315-497: The introduction of the new solid pink painted Volvo B5TL , existing buses were gradually repainted into same livery as them. Metro operates 12 quality bus corridors (QBCs) in Belfast and a number of additional routes. It also operates 5 bus stations situated in the city. On some routes the buses extend beyond Belfast into neighbouring towns, notably Newtownabbey and Dundonald , as well as outlying housing estates such as Poleglass , Twinbrook and Lagmore that used to fall within

336-399: The last of them carrying the further redesigned version. In May 2014, Lothian Buses had ordered for 25 buses, all of them were Wright Gemini 3 bodied. Translink placed a second order in 2017 for 32 B5TLs, 10 of which being long wheelbase models for use on its Airport 300 service, with the remainder for use in Belfast. All of these have the new style front. Outside the UK, a B5TL demonstrator

357-790: The purchase of 20 low-floor Volvo B7TLs with Alexander ALX400 bodywork for both Citybus and Ulsterbus. Following the delivery of three Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner fuel cell buses , the first hydrogen buses in Northern Ireland, to Metro in December 2020, the first buses from a later order of 100 zero-emissions Wrightbus buses, including 77 Wright StreetDeck Electroliner battery electric buses and 23 more StreetDeck Hydroliners, began entering service in Belfast from March 2022. 60 more of Wrightbus' Electroliner single and double-decker buses have been ordered for delivery to Metro by summer 2024. Volvo B5TL The Volvo B5TL

378-421: The road by disorder and paramilitary action. The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company was rebranded to Translink in 1996. The Citybus name was initially retained through this rebranding process, however in 2004, it was announced that Citybus would be rebranded to 'Metro' in a network shake-up. The Metro network was launched on 7 February 2005. Buses were painted in a pink and white livery, in contrast to

399-604: The whole bus achieves a reduction of 1,000 kg comparing to its predecessor. Volvo stated that, with the smaller engine and weight reduction, the B5TL will achieve 10% improvement on fuel economy. Wrightbus currently offers the lightened Gemini 3 bodywork for the B5TL, which contributes 70% of the weight reduction. MCV is also offering their body as an alternative to the Wrightbus design, while Alexander Dennis have exclusively built 98 examples of their Enviro400 MMC body on

420-537: Was delivered to Dublin Bus in early 2014 for evaluation. A batch of 70 (SG-class) were subsequently ordered by Dublin Bus with deliveries commencing in August 2014. In 2015 Bus Éireann took delivery of 25 B5TLs, while Dublin Bus ordered a further 90 examples. Dublin Bus have continued to place orders, and by the end of 2017 it had a total of 370 in service. Further orders were placed for 2018-2019 deliveries, building up to

441-427: Was trialled by operators such as Transdev on service 36. Both of these have now been purchased by East Yorkshire and operate on the company's 66 route between Hessle and Hull. The other two were delivered to London General and Metroline and placed in service on routes 12 and 297 respectively. In March 2014, Translink of Northern Ireland, placed an order for 42 buses with the new Wright Gemini 3 bodywork, with

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