A two-month night-time and early morning bus service to help people “get home safely” over the festive season is to be trialled in Portadown.
It follows on from a similar service which has operated in Lurgan.
ABC Council has been informed of the plans, which are being made possible as a result of an underspend by the local Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP). It will cost £3,600 to run and is covered by the PCSP budget.
Details were confirmed to the October meeting of the council’s Community and Wellbeing Committee.
Councillors were told: “The overall purpose of the PCSP Get Home Safe service in Lurgan has been to improve the safety of patrons frequenting licensed premises within the vicinity of William Street, Lurgan; to reduce the number of assaults in the vicinity; to reduce the number of incidents of criminal damage; to reduce the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour; to reduce the fear of crime; and to improve patrons’ awareness of the simple steps they can take to reduce the risk of being a victim.”
The bus company which provides the service is required to report every three months to the PCSP on usage numbers, in order to feed into the quarterly funding claim from the Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Probation Board.
Key issues and concerns – primarily focused around the need for potential expansion of the service into other areas – were discussed.
Portadown, according to a report to committee, was “highlighted as a key consideration”, as well as discussion of “other night-time economy safety concerns”.
The Lurgan service will continue, and now Portadown is to be added over the winter.
The report to committee confirms: “The PCSP agreed that there was merit in considering a pilot trial service for the Get Home Safe scheme in the Portadown area in order to help address some of the increasing night-time economy safety issues in the town.
“Following a review of current budget expenditure within the 2025/26 year, an underspend was identified within one of the other PCSP project areas that would enable trialling of a pilot service over a specified period of time.”
The pilot service for Portadown will now be trialled for a two-month period, from the start of December until the end of January.
It is expected the service will provide one bus with three town centre-based routes at set times. It would operate once a week – on a Saturday evening/Sunday morning.
The committee has been told that the trial service will be “closely monitored and evaluated”, while the PCSP will continue to deploy its community safety wardens “for night-time economy patrols in Portadown town centre”.
At this stage, consideration will be given to how best to develop and deliver the pilot in Portadown.
The report to committee adds: “The pilot will be reviewed by the PCSP on completion. In addition, the existing Get Home Safe service in Lurgan will continue to be closely monitored.
“Along with these areas of work, the PCSP team will continue to engage with Town Centre Managers and other officers and stakeholders to consider night-time economy safety issues.
“It is important to note that, depending on the review of the pilot, if consideration needed to be given to a potential continuation – or even a service at specific times during the year – additional funding options would need to be explored, as the PCSP budget would have limited capacity.”
Further information on the Portadown service will be brought back at the end of the two-month trial.
