Volume XXI Issue 2 FREE
2nd October 2012
Changes To Bus Eireann Routes Complete Disaster
Darragh Roche Editor
T
he changes to Limerick city’s bus routes have been a massive disappointment. The extensive rout and timetable changes were meant to provide a more efficient service but it appears the opposite is true. Services to the University are scheduled for every 15 minutes but this is far from the reality. The new 304 route, which replaced both the 308 and 308A, now has to come in from Raheen. This is a much longer route and may explain the increase in late arrivals but it does
not adequately explain the number of scheduled busses that simply do not show up. Several students have reported waiting for an hour or more at William Street for a bus to the University. This is a result of busses not showing up at the scheduled times and busses that do show up arriving late. An Focal spoke to one bus driver who drives the University route who called the changes “scandalous”. “I don’t know who the National Transport Authority is,” said the bus driver, “But it’s like they’ve never been on a real bus in their life. People are
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waiting at William Street for 40 minutes to get to Castletroy, it’s ridiculous.” Similar problems have been experienced across the city as the sweeping changes were implemented. Bus Eireann claimed that the changes would improve the service but reports suggest that less frequent services and longer routes have resulted in delays and a higher proportion of busses not showing up at all. The previous 308 and 308A services were not perfectly reliable. However, they were markedly more efficient than the current service. The long waiting times and number of no-shows have
resulted in larger numbers of people getting on busses at any given time. This has meant that busses are more crowded. More than once, Bus Eireann has had to bring on a supplementary bus to handle the number of passages. This was as a result of previously scheduled busses not arriving. For students living in the city or across town, the bus service is vital. There is also a private bus that operates to and from the University, but this is less regular and does not take the same route. The lack of Bus Eireann services and lateness of busses that do show up will certainly mean inconvenience for
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students travelling to University. A large proportion of students make the commute each day and those living on campus and around the Castletroy rely on the bus service to get to and from town on a daily basis. The remarkable disimprovement in the bus service has already affected the day to day lives of UL students and unless the system is improved, students may have to get used to a less frequent and less reliable transport system. An Focal will continue to follow this story and report again on whether the bus system has improved or whether the disimproved system is here to stay.
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