The Green Party has criticised the Minister for Regional Development’s decision to abandon plans to develop a light rail system for Belfast city, despite the fact that Northern Ireland’s main city is experiencing unprecedented levels of traffic congestion.

Green Party MLA Brian Wilson said: “The Minister’s decision is short sighted and will leave Belfast lagging behind every other city in Europe. With the price of fuel going through the roof, buses will not be cost effective. And to make matters worse the bus based system is not even guaranteed its own free lane, so ‘rapid’ may turn out to be a misnomer. If the most the Department of Regional Development can promise is priority at junctions, passengers on the bus system will just become another victim of the daily gridlock.”

Assembly Member Wilson said: “Belfast needs buses and a light rail service – we need more than just one public transport system, an issue like congestion needs to be tackled from different angles.”

See Brian Wilson on UTV