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Discussions will be held on how to try and provide further late-night public transport options following the popularity of the Translink Nightmovers scheme over the Christmas period.
Specific late-night services ran from December 2 to December 23 in a bid to get more people staying in Belfast and Derry for longer.
Translink Group Chief Executive Chris Conway said over 10,000 people had used the extended Metro, Urby, Foyle Metro, and train services right across the network.
Read more: Why is it still so hard to get a taxi in Belfast?
“The question is always: how do we do more?” he said.
“From our perspective, we want to try and look at later evening services going forward.
“We’ve been talking to other organisations across the UK and Ireland, we’ve met with Dublin Bus, the National Transport Authority, we’ve also talked to Transport for London and other cities that have developed these.”
He added that it needed to be an effort made on multiple fronts to get something sustainable for the long term.
Chris continued: “It’s not just a transport thing though, it’s a wider issue.
“If you talk to the Free the Night people, for example, there are licensing laws, there’s protecting venues and creative hubs, creating safe and inclusive spaces so people feel safe when they’re out in the evening too.
“It’s bigger than sticking on a few night buses and it’ll take a few years to develop.”
Mr Conway said that they would take what they had learned from the Festive period and put it into practice when it came to deciding on any extended services for the future.
“We will then put together a plan as to what we could potentially do in late spring and into summertime probably,” he said.
“Now, we won’t do exactly what we did at Christmas – we’ll pick out the routes that we found were most popular and look to address those first.
“We will then have to decide what the funding route is for that – some of the routes will be popular enough that you might have to do a late-night fare and that might be viable on its own.
“Some others mightn’t be, so we would have to decide how that’s all funded.
“At the minute we are mostly funded through the Department for Infrastructure but I would have to say funding is extremely difficult at the moment.”
Liam Dawson manages The Garrick bar in Belfast City Centre and said it was important that people had an easy route in and out of the city.
“There is a big issue with taxis at the minute and it’s putting a lot of people off, it’s putting people off staying until the bar closes,” he said.
“I know some bars have taken advantage of the relaxation in licensing laws that came into effect a while ago, but I’m not sure if it’s having any effect on people staying out.
“I know my friends and family, people that I know were all probably all heading into town a bit earlier and trying to get out a bit earlier, than potentially staying which would help maximise revenue for businesses.
“If they were able to facilitate a later night-time bus run I think it definitely would help.”
Joel Neill, Operations Director at Hospitality Ulster said: “The return of the Translink Nightmovers was especially welcome as we resumed the first Christmas period in three years unblighted by the pandemic.”
“The value of these services cannot be overstated; they provide a vital link that allows people to go out and enjoy our vibrant hospitality offer in the knowledge that they have a safe and reliable route home.
“It also supports the thousands of jobs and businesses that contribute to the evening economy of our towns and cities.
“We must now work with all the stakeholders to establish these services as a permanent fixture throughout the year.”
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