7th February 2012

Be a ‘Metro Friend’ and save up to £5 on bus travel

Throughout February people in North Belfast will have the opportunity to avail of discounted travel on Metro services along the Antrim and Shore Road corridors as part of a new Translink promotion. 

‘Metro Friends’ aims to encourage customers to use Smartlink, instead of paying by cash for each journey and take advantage of savings of up to £5. The promotion is running from the 1st to the 29th of February 2012

Over 30,000 households on the Antrim and Shore Road corridors have received a Metro Friends postcard containing two promotional codes.  These codes can be entered online at www.translink.co.uk/metrofriends and customers can then purchase an Adult Metro Smartlink Card with five journeys at the special Metro Friends fare.  This provides savings of between £4 and £5. As two promotional codes are supplied with each postcard, there are two opportunities to purchase the Smartlink cards and take advantage of discounted travel.

Carol Marsden, Metro brand manager commented, “We want to encourage as many people as possible to consider using our Metro services as their preferred travel option as it offers good value, especially when using Smartlink, and the cost of running a car continues to soar.

“Public Transport can also offer health benefits to individuals by walking to and from bus stops and it will also deliver wider benefits to the community by reducing the number of cars on the road in these busy corridors.”

MP for the area, Nigel Dodds DUP, added his backing to the promotion,

“I welcome this initiative by Translink to introduce this promotion for the month of February.  Everyone is glad of a special offer and I hope that this discount is successful in encouraging more people to use the Metro services along the Antrim and Shore Road corridors.

“I am keen to see steady progress in the enhancement of public transport in North Belfast and I welcome any measures which improve the value, frequency and usage of the Metro bus system.”

‘Metro Friends’ runs from the 1st to the 29th of February 2012.  The Smartlink Multi-Journey Card (5 journeys only) costs £3.00 for travel in the Inner Zone; £4.00 for the City Zone area, and £5.00 for the Extended Zone. The initial charge of £1.50 for a Smartlink card is also being waived during the promotion.

Full details of the promotion are available at www.translink.co.uk/metrofriends