Throughout March people in East Belfast will have the opportunity to avail of discounted travel on Metro services along the Newtownards Road corridor as part of a new Translink promotion. 

‘Metro Friends’ aims to encourage customers to use Smartlink, instead of paying by cash for each journey and take advantage of savings of up to £4.50 for the popular Metro City Zone or £5 on the Metro Extended Zone. The promotion is running from the 1st to the 31st of March 2012

Households along the Newtownards Road will receive a Metro Friends postcard containing two promotional codes.  These codes can be entered online at  here and customers can then purchase an Adult Metro Smartlink Card with five journeys at the special Metro Friends fare.  This provides savings of between £4 and £5. As two promotional codes are supplied with each postcard, there are two opportunities to purchase the Smartlink cards and take advantage of discounted travel.

Carol Marsden, Metro brand manager commented, “We want to encourage as many people as possible to consider using our Metro services as their preferred travel option as it offers good value, especially when using Smartlink, and the cost of running a car continues to soar and taxi costs are also rising.

“Public Transport can also offer health benefits to individuals by walking to and from bus stops and it will also deliver wider benefits to the community by reducing the number of cars on the road in these busy corridors.”

Naomi Long, Alliance MP for East Belfast, added her backing to the promotion, saying Metro Friends would bring a range of advantages for people in the area.
“I am a public transport user myself and know first-hand just what benefits it can bring.  Anyone who has ever travelled along the Newtownards Road at rush hour knows how busy it can get so Metro Friends is the perfect solution.

“I would encourage as many people as possible in East Belfast to avail of this promotion as it is the cheaper, safer, more environmentally-friendly way to travel.”

‘Metro Friends’ runs from the 1st to the 31st of March 2012.  The Smartlink Multi-Journey Card (5 journeys only) costs £3.00 for travel in the Inner Zone; £4.00 for the City Zone area, and £5.00 for the Extended Zone. The initial charge of £1.50 for a Smartlink card is also being waived during the promotion.

Full details of the promotion are available at  www.translink.co.uk/metrofriends

PicturedCarol Marsden, Metro, and Naomi Long, Alliance MP for East Belfast launch ‘Metro Friends’, the discounted travel promotion on Metro services along the Newtownards Road

Notes to editors

The savings available through the Metro Friends promotion can be seen in the table below.

This offer is only available at www.translink.co.uk/metrofriends, and not at Smartlinks Agents, PayPoint Agents or the Metro Kiosk.

The offer is not available for the purchase of higher journey multiples. For example, Metro Smartlink Cards loaded with 10 journeys and above are available online only at the current fare.

The offer is not available for Child Smartlink Cards.