Sinn Féin call for urgent bus plan
A plan is urgently needed for Cork’s bus service, the Sinn Féin party has said, following its meeting recently with Bus Éireann.
Some of the party representatives raised various issues at the meeting including bus reliability and the timetables and routes for some of the city services.
After the meeting, Deputy Thomas Gould said: “We are now at a critical juncture for Cork’s bus service. We were told all along that drivers were the issue but now, they have a full cohort of drivers and 44% of buses are still not on time. With 512 drivers, Bus Éireann still cannot deliver a reliable bus service to the people of Cork.
“I am very frustrated that a document was submitted to Cork City Council by Bus Éireann in October last year and Bus Éireann have indicated that no action has been taken on this. We need to see council, the NTA, gardaí, Bus Éireann and the unions working together to resolve this crisis.”
The northside TD said while reviews have been announced on many routes, the review of the 220 and the 214 will not be delivered until April or May this year. He said he was first told about these reviews in December 2023. He also said the timetables on many routes aren’t deliverable.
He explained: “The 215 has one additional minute to drive from Mahon to Blarney, through the city centre, in rush hour traffic. The 207 has an additional 3 minutes to travel through peak traffic. It has 43 stops driving all the way through Douglas village, through the city centre, up MacCurtain street and out to Glenheights via the Ballyhooley road and Kinvara. There is no city in Europe that that would be possible in. At peak times, more people are getting on and off buses and there is more traffic. The timetables need to recognise this!”
He also described the app as “completely outdated” and said it doesn’t work in realtime and instead operates off the timetable. “I made the point that I can open GoogleMaps on my phone and it tells me exactly how long my journey will take, including traffic.
“It’s an antique that is more vintage than it is functional at this stage.”
Cork City South West Councillor Joe Lynch said: “At the meeting, we received a number of assurances from Bus Éireann. From late April or early May, service frequency will return to every 15 minutes on the 220. This will include specific measures to increase reliability and punctuality on the 220 route going forward.
“Around the same time, Leap card validators are to be installed on the right hand side of buses as passengers enter. This will hopefully reduce the amount of time it takes to board buses. We remain committed to keeping Bus Éireann on their toes to deliver the best possible service to working with them to deliver improvements.”
Cork South Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said: “Too many people are being let down by our bus service in this city too often. That’s not the fault of the drivers who are doing their best, but up to now a lack of staff, a timetable system that is just not working, as well as traffic obstacles.”