Transport

Overview

Transport has been a natural and shared priority for the British-Irish Council’s eight Member Administrations since the council was established in 1999.  Today, it is axiomatic that modern and clean transport systems and infrastructure are crucial to achieving the decarbonisation and green transition goals of the BIC’s eight member administrations.  Transport is also a sector which has strong overlap with other work sectors.

Lead Administration

The Transport Work Sector was established at the first BIC Summit in 1999 and is currently chaired by the Northern Ireland Executive.

Current Focus

In October 2021, Ministers meeting in Belfast agreed a work programme, focussing on:

• Exploring the challenges in moving away from 5–15-mile journeys towards other sustainable forms of transport.
• The decarbonisation of public transport vehicles.
• The decarbonisation of the freight fleet.

The work sector has subsequently undertaken a range of activities, including a visit hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive in June 2023 to Derry-Londonderry to view the city’s award-winning multi-modal transport hub and to Belfast to view Translink’s Electrical Vehicle charging and Hydrogen refuelling depot.

A Ministerial meeting is due to take place in the first quarter of 2025, to consider a revised programme of work for the group.