AQW 38750/22-27

Miss Nuala McAllister
Alliance Party
North Belfast

Tabled Date: 21/01/2026
Answered On Date: 24/02/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail (i) how Translink’s rail planning process takes account of adopted Local Development Plans; and (ii) the rationale as to why a railway halt at Merville Garden Village, at the Abbey Centre, identified in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Local Development Plan 2030, is not currently reflected within Translink’s Shaping the Future rail strategy.

Answer:

The reference to a Merville halt in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Plan Strategy document and its omission from the Shaping the Future rail review reflects the differences in purpose and remit between these documents.

The Plan Strategy is the statutory first part of the Local Development Plan prepared by the Council under the Planning Act (NI) 2011. Its purpose is to set the longterm spatial planning framework for the whole council area through establishing a vision, strategic objectives, spatial growth strategy, strategic policies and detailed management policies that guide development decisions. The Council has identified the Merville halt in its Plan Strategy because it remains a valid local policy aspiration for the Council. While the Plan Strategy may identify infrastructure such as new railway halts, nothing in it should be read as a commitment that public resources will be provided and all proposals requiring public expenditure remain subject to economic appraisal and resource availability.

The Shaping the Future is based on a series of feasibility studies and is intended to support strategic rail investment planning and therefore prioritises major systemwide enhancements such as electrification, intercity journeytime improvements, reinstated lines, and airport connectivity. The proposal for a halt at Merville did not fall within any of the areas which were the subject of the feasibility studies. However, it is recognised that wider network capacity constraints would require that any such proposals to be considered after route electrification and capacity enhancement on the Antrim / Larne line.