Lisburn stops for Enterprise on the horizon claims ex-Mayor

Lisburn City Council has long campaigned for the train to stop in the city and Mr Crawford has said this dream could now become a reality in as little as six months.

"NIR is working towards an hourly service on the Belfast - Dublin Enterprise," said Mr Crawford, Chairman of the Council's Planning Committee. "This will entail a shorter length of train which will remove the necessity for platform lengthening so the service can stop here."

He said he understood there could be two stops at Lisburn in the morning and a further two in the evenings.

"It is anticipated that the new service should be in operation within the next six months and will mark the end of a long campaign to provide a better service to the Lisburn public" Mr Crawford said.

"This will enable Lisburn Council to market the city centre in prospective markets in the Republic and should benefit the city centre economy."

A Translink spokesperson confirmed they were "reviewing" the possibility of having Enterprise stops in Lisburn but said no further details were available at this stage.

"We share long term strategic goals with Irish Rail in terms of an hourly service," she said. "We are currently reviewing the potential for stopping selected Enterprise services at Lisburn in conjunction with Irish Rail.

"No specific details or plans have been implemented as yet."

The news comes in the same week that Chair of Lisburn SDLP Pat Catney accused Translink of "snubbing Lisburn by its refusal to include the city as part of its cross border Enterprise train link."

Mr. Catney said he would be "demanding answers from the Department of Regional Development over Translink's lack of accountability towards the city".

He went on: "Translink is as an organisation charged with the responsibility of serving the travelling public. That is not happening in Lisburn. The stance the company has taken is turning Northern Ireland's newest city into an exclusion zone as far as availing of the Enterprise service is concerned. The message being sent out is totally negative. The policy being followed by Translink quite clearly is damaging to the economy of Lisburn."

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