Being interested in why busses sat with their engines idling, I contacted Translink, first through X/Twitter.

This was the reply:

I thought it not a good idea to board a bus and challenge the driver, so interaction continued.

This is what happened next:

Dear Mr Sefton 

Thank you for your email. 

We do have a whistleblowing policy in place however this is an internal document and available to Translink staff members only. 

You can request a copy of this as a freedom of information request to foi@translink.co.uk, however this kind of information is never guaranteed. 

I hope that this helps you. 

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan 
Customer Services Department 
Adelaide Depot
Building B
8 Falcon Road
Belfast, BT12 6PU
02890 666630 option 3

I pointed out that I was not a whistle blower, then this:

Good afternoon Peter,

Thank you for being in touch and I am sorry to learn of the incident that occurred. 

Further to your comments, I can confirm that the information you have provided has been logged in accordance with Translink’s Complaint Handling Policy, and will be retained for the attention of Ulsterbus for feedback purposes.

Should you wish us to investigate further, however, we will require more detailed information to include route number, reg (if possible), time and date of the incident/s .Please respond by return, ensuring that you include as much detail as possible in relation to the incident that took place.

Please be advised, for the protection of both our staff and customers, all our public service vehicles are equipped with CCTV. Incidents of this nature will have been recorded and can be downloaded and retained for the purposes of investigation.

Thank you again for taking the time to bring this to our attention, and for giving us the opportunity to investigate and put things right.

Going forward, I wish you well and sincerely hope you will not be deterred from using our services in the future.

Kind regards

Aaron

Being convinced that Aaron was a bot, I replied:

Dear Aaron

Thank you for your reply, sent this morning but with the salutation “good afternoon”.

This might be a clue that you are in fact, a robot.

The enquiry which I made related to pollution caused by stationary busses leaving their engines idling at Market Square Antrim. No incident occurred as you have suggested.

Perhaps you would pass the correspondence to a human being, for an answer.

Peter Sefton

I tried again:

Dear Aaron

I fear I have not made my question clear. 

Is there a general instruction that busses, stopped at a terminal , should not sit with their engines idling?

Can I make my point any better?

Peter

Aaron leapt into action:

Good morning Peter,

Can you please advise of any route numbers of these services so I can forward to the relevant depot (they could be from a number of depots) to investigate and take necessary action. The registration of buses is also very helpful if available. 

Thank you for this.

Kind regards 

Aaron

Enter “Assistant Service Delivery Manager”

Hi Peter

Thank you for contacting Translink.

If buses are stopping at any point for any length of time the driver is expected to switch off the engine as excess idling is not permitted. The newer fleet that has arrived in Antrim over the last 18 months are fitted with an automatic switch off which activates when the bus stops and the door is opened.

Furthermore, our drivers go through refresher courses each year and they are reminded of this policy.

If at any time you come across a bus that is sitting idling I would welcome the details, i.e. Fleet or Reg No and time of incident, as the driver can then be challenged on this.

Once again thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.

Best regards

Enda Sheridan

Assistant Service Delivery Manager

Ulsterbus Antrim/Ballymena/Larne

Assuming that Enda knew what he was talking about, I was reassured that Translink had a robust policy, forbidding idling. Furthermore, new technology would render idling otiose. I enthusiastically entered into touting on drivers and provided details of several.

Then this bombshell from the “TCSA”:

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your recent feedback regarding bus PEZ 7281 idling, please accept our apologies.

Drivers are permitted to leave an engine running in colder months to heat their bus, but I have notified the depot responsible for the bus of your feedback. 

Translink’s policies on Environmental issues is available on our website.

Translink are very grateful you have brought this to our attention, allowing us the opportunity to respond and apologise, correct errors on our part, and look at ways we can improve our service to you.

Kind Regards


Gerald Smyth
Translink Customer Services Administrator 

Bitterly disappointed, I replied:

Gerald 
So the on the new busses the engines don’t stop when the doors open, as stated by your colleague? I had expected your excuse about the cold weather. The odd thing is that the passengers are usually dressed in warm clothes, since they have been outdoors. Perhaps it’s to warm the driver. 
I look forward to the pollution free and silent summer months in Market Square. 
Peter

I searched for the Translink environmental policy. Here it is:

Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time, with overwhelming scientific evidence that we need to act now. The scale of the challenge demands a step change in both the breadth and scale of ambition, and we all have a duty to act quickly and decisively to reduce emissions. For Translink, transport has a huge role to play in the economy reaching Net Zero.  

Translink’s Climate Positive Strategy has three main aims: 

• Achieve at least a 50% reduction in our current emissions by 2030 in line with our Climate Action Pledge  
• Place Translink at the forefront in the journey towards zero emission public transportation, and for all our buses, trains, and buildings to be Net Zero by 2040. 
• Be Climate Positive by 2050, going beyond achieving net zero to create an environmental benefit by removing additional carbon dioxide from the environment while growing our business.  

To achieve these aims, a climate positive philosophy will be applied across the whole range of Translink’s operations. This includes the transport fleet, buildings, estate, and all associated aspects.  

Having an aspirational Climate Positive Strategy will help us further improve our local air quality, keep the population active and moving for a healthier region, and help rebuild our economy to be fit for a low emissions future.  

Our Climate Positive Strategy provides a measured, coordinated approach to achieve our targets, with a framework of priority objectives and high-level actions across all three of our Go Eco work-streams (Energy and Carbon, Biodiversity, and Resource Efficiency). 

Planning for a future without fossil fuels

Translink is already planning for the day we stop buying fossil fuels. We have purchased 100% renewable electricity since 2020. Over 100 of our fleet of 1,400 buses are already zero-emissions and we have over 100 more on order. In 2023 Foyle will become the first city in the UK or Ireland to have a zero-emission public transport service. Our support fleet is already substantially electrically driven, and we continue to plan for delivery of a higher capacity but zero-emission railway during the 2030s. 

Translink’s project teams are currently embedding an understanding and evaluation of the carbon impacts within our infrastructure and engineering works. Many projects are re-using materials on site, on other Translink projects, or in partnership with local communities, schools, or wider environmental programmes. 

Our infrastructure and land provide a huge opportunity to help reach our targets, by offsetting residual emissions where we don’t yet have the technology to do so, through planting trees and carbon sequestration. Our land may also provide opportunities for renewable energy generation. 

Let’s Change Together 

As part of our #LetsChangeTogether campaign, we have produced a Climate Change Animation detailing plans and targets to be Climate Positive by 2050 and acting as a call to action for others to join us in making sustainable changes.  

Achieving Climate Positive

The ‘Translink SPIRIT’ is a set of guiding principles that are a fundamental part of everything we do. These core values are embedded in the culture of the organisation and enable us to lead, inspire, and succeed in delivering our goals for Translink. To achieve our targets, our values of Safety, People, Innovation, Responsibility, Integrity, and Teamwork hold strong. By following these principles, we can develop and deliver viable, credible, behavioural, and technical climate positive actions. 

As you would be aware , Dear Reader, there are people who are paid handsomely to produce that drivel. 

All the buzz words are there, I’ve highlighted them for you.

The same themes are present in Translink as in the Housing Executive , PPS PSNI , local councils, NI Assembly etc etc.

They are :

• Get someone to write buzz words
• Publicise them, virtue signalling
• Ignore them internally
• Talk nonsense to any member of the public that might ask a question
• Continue on their own merry way and pocket the salary

As Translink boldly goes towards Climate Positive by 2050, busses are still idling, to keep the driver warm.