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Metro (Belfast)
Metro is the trading name for bus company Citybus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, within the common management structure of Translink, along with Ulsterbus and Northern Ireland Railways. History Bus services began in Belfast under the Belfast Corporation Transport Department. For a time in the early 1950s, these buses ran alongside both the tram and trolleybus networks run by the Corporation until these networks were eventually abandoned, and like most mainland operators, Belfast Corporation ran a mixture of single deck and double-deck buses. The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company acquired the operations of the Transport Department in 1970, and in 1973, the Transport Department was renamed to Belfast Citybus and was integrated with fellow NITHC company Ulsterbus, with both companies being managed by Werner Heubeck. Citybus drivers and their buses were often caught in the crossfire of rioting and p ...
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Volvo B5TL
The Volvo B5TL is a 2-axle low-floor double decker built by Volvo. It replaced the B9TL as Volvo's Euro 6 2-axle double decker product for the UK and Irish markets. Design The B5TL is powered by Volvo's new 5.1 litre D5K-240 engine, which is rated at 240 bhp/177 kW. The move to a smaller engine is one of the weight-reduction measures implemented to the new bus. Along with its bodybuilding partner Wrightbus, the whole bus achieves a reduction of 1,000 kg comparing to its predecessor. Volvo stated that, with the smaller engine and weight reduction, the B5TL will achieve 10% improvement on fuel economy. Wrightbus currently offers the lightened Gemini 3 bodywork for the B5TL, which contributes 70% of the weight reduction. MCV is also offering their body as an alternative to the Wrightbus design, while Alexander Dennis have exclusively built 89 examples of their Enviro400 MMC body on the Volvo B5TL chassis for Lothian Buses. History The first example appeared in ...
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Single-deck Bus
A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a bus with two passenger decks and a staircase. These types of single-deckers may feature one or more doors, and varying internal combustion engine positions. In regions where double-deckers are not common, the term ''single-decker'' may lack common usage, as in one sense, all other main types of bus have a single deck. Also, the term may become synonymous with the name transit bus or related terms, which can correctly be applied to double-deckers too. With the exception of regions of major double deck or articulated bus operation, usually urban areas, the single decker is the standard mode of public transport bus travel, increasingly with low floor features. With their origins in van chassis, minibuses are not usually co ...
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2021 Northern Ireland Riots
A series of riots in loyalist areas of Northern Ireland began in Waterside, Derry, on 30 March 2021. After four nights of rioting in Derry, disturbances spread to south Belfast on 2 April, where a loyalist protest developed into a riot involving iron bars, bricks, masonry and petrol bombs. Following this, civil unrest spread to Newtownabbey on 3 April, where cars were hijacked and burnt, and petrol bombs were also used against police. Carrickfergus in southern County Antrim also saw serious civil unrest on the night of 4 April and morning of 5 April, where loyalists created roadblocks to keep police out of local estates and threw petrol bombs at police vehicles. Background The riots occurred within a background of tension within loyalism in Northern Ireland. Irish Sea border Loyalists and unionists argued that post-Brexit trading arrangements have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The Loyalist Communities Coun ...
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Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast and is lined, to an extent, by shops. The residents live in the many streets which branch off the main road. The area along the Shankill Road forms part of the Court district electoral area. In Ulster-Scots it is known as either ''Auld Kirk Gate'' ("Old Church Way"), or as ''Auld Kirk Raa'' ("Old Church Road"). In Irish, it is known as "" ("the road of the old church"). History The first Shankill residents lived at the bottom of what is now known as Glencairn: a small settlement of ancient people inhabited a ring fort, built where the Ballygomartin and Forth rivers meet. A settlement around the point at which the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, at the junction with Cambrai Street, was known as Shankill from the Irish ''Seanch ...
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Wright Eclipse Gemini 3
The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the third-generation Gemini 3 in 2013. Additionally, the body was available on Volvo Super Olympian chassis in Hong Kong between 2003 and 2005, marketed as the Wright Explorer. The original Eclipse Gemini was launched in 2001 on Volvo B7TL chassis; from 2006, the body was also built on the replacement Volvo B9TL chassis and, from 2013, on the B9TL's replacement, the Volvo B5TL. From 2008, the body was also available on Volvo B5LH hybrid chassis. Eclipse Gemini's exported to the Asian market have been offered a choice of the tri-axle Volvo B8L and the Scania K410EB. Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied buses were mass-introduced on London Buses services from 2001. It has also been popular with FirstGroup, who from 2003 onwards have purchased over 1,200 into serv ...
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Lisburn City Council
Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Created in 1974, the council was the second largest in the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Council headquarters were in the city of Lisburn. It was the second-largest council area in Northern Ireland with over 120,000 people and an area of of southwest Antrim and northwest Down. The council area included Glenavy and Dundrod in the north, Dromara and Hillsborough in the south, Moira and Aghalee in the west, and Drumbo in the east. The council area consisted of five electoral areas: Downshire, Dunmurry Cross, Killultagh, Lisburn Town North and Lisburn Town South. It had 30 councillors, last elected in 2011. The final composition was: 14 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 5 Ulster Union ...
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Poleglass
Poleglass () is an area of west Belfast in Northern Ireland. It is the name of a townland, a modern electoral ward, and a housing estate. The townland is situated in the civil parish of Derriaghy and the historic Barony of Belfast Upper. It is mainly an Irish nationalist area. Due to its proximity to both Belfast and Lisburn, it has become popular with commuters. This has led to the swift growth of housing in the area and a sharp rise in house prices. Addresses in Poleglass are classed as being in Belfast, and the telephone numbers in the area generally start with '90' as with the rest of Belfast. Early history The area currently known as Poleglass has a long history of human habitation, with a ringfort having existed in the area yielding artefacts from the early Christian era. A thirteenth century silver coin was also excavated. By the early 20th century the area had become part of the green belt between Belfast and Lisburn and was largely uninhabited. Cloona House is a substa ...
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Dundonald, County Down
Dundonald () is a large settlement and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often considered a suburb of the city. It is home to the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald International Ice Bowl, Dundonald Omnipark (Cinema and various eateries), has a Park and Ride facility for the Glider (Belfast Rapid Transit system), access to the Comber Greenway and several housing developments. John de Courcey established a keep including a motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. This is known as Moat Park and can be accessed from Church Green, Comber Road and the Upper Newtownards Road. History Dundonald refers to a 12th-century Norman fort, or Dún, Dún Dónaill, that stood in the town. One of the largest in Ireland, the man-made hill that the fort stood on is still in existence. Although the mound is commonly referred to as 'the moat' this is, in fact, a corruption of the word 'motte' and refers to the fact that this defensive structure was built in the s ...
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Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of several small villages including Whiteabbey, Glengormley and Carnmoney. At the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census, Metropolitan Newtownabbey Settlement had a population of 65,646, making it the List of settlements in Northern Ireland by population, third largest settlement in Northern Ireland. It is part of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. History Founding Newtownabbey Urban District was founded on 1 April 1958 to cover seven villages north of Belfast: Carnmoney, Glengormley, Jordanstown, Monkstown, County Antrim, Monkstown, Whiteabbey, Whitehouse and Whitewell. Before this, the area fell under the jurisdiction of Belfast Rural District. Newtownabbey Urban District Council was succeeded by Newtownabbey District Council (1973–197 ...
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Bus Rapid Transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadways that are dedicated to buses, and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may interact with other traffic; alongside design features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or paying fares. BRT aims to combine the capacity and speed of a light rail or metro system (LRT, HRT) with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system. The world's first BRT system was the Busway in Runcorn New Town, England, which entered service in 1971. , a total of 166 cities in six continents have implemented BRT systems, accounting for of BRT lanes and about 32.2 million passengers every day. The majority of these are in Latin America, where about 19.6 million passengers ride daily, an ...
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Hackney Carriage
A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on the streets of the UK. The hackney carriages carry a roof sign TAXI that can be illuminated at night to indicate their availability for passengers. In the UK, the name ''hackney carriage'' today refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities) or the Department of the Environment depending on region of the country. In the United States, the police department of the city of Boston has a Hackney Carriage Unit, analogous to taxicab regulators in other cities, that issues ''Hackney Carriage'' medallions to its taxi operators. Etymology The origins of the word hackney in connection with horses and carriages are uncertain. The origin is often attribut ...
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Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had prevailed since the late 1960s. It was a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. It is made up of the Multi-Party Agreement between most of Northern Ireland's political parties, and the BritishIrish Agreement between the British and Irish governments. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. Issues relating to sovereignty, governance, discrimination, military and paramilitary groups, justice and policing were central to the agreement. It restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of "power sharing" and it included acceptance of the principle of consent, commitment to civil and political rights, cultural parity of esteem, p ...
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