To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) for her assessment of the accessibility of the 212 bus route to people living in rural areas surrounding Dungiven who do not have a car; and (ii) to detail any consideration she has given to creating a connecting shuttle service for these communities to link up with the 212 service at given times.

The accessibility and inclusivity of our public transport network is important for me. In addition to the 212 Belfast to Derry service, public transport users can avail of the 246 Express Service from Limavady to Belfast via Dungiven. There are also 6 local service routes providing connectivity from local communities to Dungiven which allow onward connections on the 212 and 246.

In examining this issue I have been advised that to date shuttle services connecting to Express Bus or Rail have not proven to be very successful and can be disproportionately costly to provide. Park & Ride solutions have proven to provide good access to the network in rural areas however, it is accepted that this is not a solution for those without access to a car. It is also worth noting that my Department provides resource funding, via the Rural Transport Fund, to support eight Rural Community Transport Partnerships (RCTPs) to provide Dial-a-Lift (DAL). DAL is a specialised transport service open to those living in rural areas who do not have access to a car and have a reduced mobility and/or who find it difficult to avail of public transport due to rurality. As well as providing access to local services, these providers can link our rurally isolated citizens to the public transport network within their specified operational areas.