Éireann bus to stop various intercity routes for economic reasons

BUS ÉIREANN PLAN to close some of its intercity routes in the coming months for financial reasons.

The company’s Expressway services between Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Galway and Dublin and Limerick will cease, and service from Dublin to Belfast will be suspended indefinitely.

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said the move “is being taken in response to the significant medium-term challenges posed by Covid-19 to safeguard the remaining 14 national Expressway routes and meet the demand required in other cities and commuter services.”

The decision was made today at a meeting of the company’s board of directors “after considerable analysis and review over the past few months.”

The spokesperson said exact dates for the changes to take effect have not yet been determined, but it is likely early next year when current emergency government support to the Cork, Limerick and Galway routes will expire.

The X51 service from Galway to Limerick and the X1 service from Dublin to Belfast have not received emergency funding and services will formally cease on these routes in the coming months.

The National Transportation Authority (NTA) is responsible for transportation connectivity and “will review the requirements along these routes to mitigate any impacts,” the spokesperson added.

Call for government intervention

The National Union of Buses and Railways (NBRU) has criticized the decision and asked the government to intervene.

Secretary General Dermot O’Leary said the NBRU “has been warning that the threat to bus services in various communities has been evident for several years.”

The NBRU previously suggested that market saturation “would lead to the disappearance of off-highway bus services that serve intermediate cities and towns” that are not served by other companies, O’Leary said.

He said the issuance of licenses to private companies meant that “capacity exceeded demand on several of those intercity corridors”, such as services from Cork, Limerick and Galway to Dublin.

“Bus Éireann was morally expected, especially because of its state-owned model and its social contract to provide the nation’s bus service, would continue to serve those cities and towns that multinational bus operators did not consider profitable,” he said. Or Leary said.

Bus Éireann CEO Stephen Kent said the company has “a chance” through the July stimulus measures for public transport to increase urban services in Cork, Galway and Limerick, as well as other services as in Louth and Meath under contract with the NTA. However, other services will need to be cut for that to happen.

“This expansion will require more than 100 drivers, which we will be able to accomplish by consolidating our Expressway network and making the decision to withdraw from a small number of Expressway routes that would otherwise incur unsustainable losses and avoid job losses in a very difficult business environment, ”said Kent.

Eleanor Farrell, commercial director of Bus Éireann, added that all changes in services will be communicated to customers in due time and that the company “will work closely with the National Transport Authority on the schedule.”