Local bus routes axed by half
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Services are to be cut by up to fifty per cent on the 459 and 459A routes. AV0546
Seamus Enright
THE FREQUENCY of the 459 and the 459A which service the town of Athlone and surrounding areas are set to be reduced as Bus Éireann seeks to implement its cost recovery plan in areas with services suffering low customer support. The move, which received backing from the Labour Court, although not confirmed by Bus Éireann, may also see the redundancy of up to 11 drivers at Athlone bus depot. The changes will come into affect from February 28 later this month.
Furthermore, the Cork to Roscrea serving Athlone is to cut in its entirity.
It is something which local Sinn Fein Councillor Paul Hogan has described as a 'recipe for disaster for many people' and that the 'announced cutbacks of services and routes is a devastating blow for the community, which will inflict further hardship on people who use the service'.
Speaking to The Voice, spokesperson for Bus Éireann, Andrew McLindon confirmed that services on the two routes serving Athlone and areas from Garrycastle, Baylough and Monksland, which currently operates 100 departures per day would be halved from the end of the month"
“Those routes are to be reduced by half to 50 departures per day but we will try to retain as many of those services as possible in the peak times as we can.
“The reason for the change is that the average load per bus journey on the routes is as low as five people per departure and this can be as low as even zero in some cases. It's just not sustainable in the current economic climate".
He further added that more cuts may be on there way and that any current reductions are as part of Phase 1 of the overall national recovery plan.
“Regarding the cost recovery plan, about 100 routes will be affected altogether. Certainly in the midlands area there will be further changes to services to take place. The current changes as part of Phase 1 will come into affect February 28 and as with these we will give people notice, four weeks at least. The next batch of changes will be announced in a couple of weeks time."
Commenting on the changes to local public bus routing, Cllr. Hogan said, "this drip feed of cutbacks is a disgrace and is designed to lessen the impact on service users.
“I believe that Bus Éireann as a semi-state body has a responsibility to serve all areas particularly routes that may have small numbers utilising the service, because the private operators will not serve areas where there is low demand.
“People pay taxes for services such as these. Bus Éireann claim that their customer numbers have fallen by 10% in 2009. I refute any suggestion that the Willow Park and Monksland service are losing money and would challenge Bus Éireann to publish figures proving such a claim."
And the outcry of opposition is not only being made within the main town itself, where in the Monksland area Fine Gael Roscommon County Councillor John Naughten has called for the Council to meet with Bus Éireann to urge it's management to protect the route serving the Monksland area
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