Belfast Harbour has visited its automotive engineering partner Horiba Mira to test the Harlander – Northern Ireland’s first autonomous passenger vehicle – ahead of its delivery to Belfast in March 2025.
Harlander is Northern Ireland’s first self-driving vehicle and will operate in Belfast Harbour Estate from Titanic Halt Railway station to Catalyst through Titanic Quarter. It seats nine passengers and will have a safety operator on board. It aims to offer last-mile connectivity between public transportation networks and businesses, tourist attractions, and education and leisure facilities.
The pilot will run from March to September and will be free of charge. Belfast Harbour is leading the development of the service alongside a consortium of partners that includes eVersum, Oxa, Angoka, BT and Horiba Mira.
The initiative has received £11m (US$13.4m) joint government and industry funding, including £5.5m (US$6.7m) from Innovate UK, which is working with the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles to invest £41.5m (US$50.5m) in projects across the UK that demonstrate the benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles.
