Ambassador Elena promotes taking the train

Translink’s Life’s Better campaign promotes the benefits that public transport has to offer which are leading more people to make the bus and train their preferred way to travel.

The campaign encourages Translink passengers from across Northern Ireland to sign up as ambassadors and share their experiences about using public transport amongst their colleagues, peers, friends and family.

Local ravellers Elena Aceves-Cully and Jonathan Paterson are keen to get the message across.

Elena is the current secretary of the Larne Line Passenger Group, an association set up to lobby for better rail services on the Larne Line, and says she wants to share her experiences of using passenger transport to encourage other people to get involved.

“I travel from Islandmagee to Bangor for work, Monday to Friday, taking the train at Ballycarry Station before changing trains at Central Station onto the Bangor Line.

“I particularly enjoy the walk to and from the station as I get to appreciate the beautiful scenery at Larne Lough and the train journey is really scenic with amazing sun rises and sunsets, plus the odd seal sunbathing itself on the rocks.

“I love the fact I can use the free wifi and listen to my favourite radio stations using my mobile phone and I also can catch up on my emails and texts, so by the time I get back home, I can relax and forget about checking my phone again.

“I have made many good friends and met loads of people on the train. I have even managed to persuade some of my work colleagues to use the train, so we have some great craic on our journeys,” Elena said.

Fellow Larne Line passenger Alexander Paterson outlined another benefit,

“I have to admit to having a snooze on the journey home sometimes and I’m thankful to the Translink conductors who take it upon themselves to waken me as I near my stop.

“They know their regulars and tend to keep an eye on them!”

Service Delivery Manager for Larne explained, “This is a really exciting initiative, it follows a range of service enhancements which have already attracted many more new people to give our services a try - over 1.5 million more last year.

“Our customers regularly tell us the reasons they prefer using the bus and train – it gives them more time to relax free from the stress of driving in traffic, more time to catch up on work or social activities making use of free wifi on board trains and coaches, reduced journey times, as well as money savings compared to paying for fuel, parking and car maintenance costs – these are just some of the more popular ones – there are many more!

“The novel Translink Life’s Better Ambassador initiative is an opportunity for our passengers to convey what they like about bus, coach and train travel and help inspire more people to get on board and start enjoying the benefits too! We would also encourage people to follow us at #translinklifesbetter and get involved with the online conversation. We post regular updates and look forward to hearing the feedback.”

Passengers can sign up to become an ambassador through the Translink website www.translink.co.uk/lifesbetter; call 028 9066 6630 or complete the collateral which will be available across bus and rail stations.