Cork - Galway, early morning bus?

[GrayD]

Hi,
I'm in need of travelling from Cork to Galway in the early morning of the 30th of August. Basically I have something on in Cork that night but can't get off work the next day.

I've checked bus eireann and city link but the earliest they'd have me in Galway is about 10-11am... thats shocking. Two major towns and the transport links are aweful. Does anyone kno of any other private companies that run busses or anything early in the morning?

Thanks.

[Chris_533976]

I think thats it unfortunately. Citylink did do slightly earlier (and later) services but they were woefully underused.

[KC61]

Originally Posted by GrayD

Hi,
I'm in need of travelling from Cork to Galway in the early morning of the 30th of August. Basically I have something on in Cork that night but can't get off work the next day.

I've checked bus eireann and city link but the earliest they'd have me in Galway is about 10-11am... thats shocking. Two major towns and the transport links are aweful. Does anyone kno of any other private companies that run busses or anything early in the morning?

Thanks.

Hardly shocking - there is obviously no demand or one of the companies would be operating them.

[GrayD]

Originally Posted by KC61

Hardly shocking - there is obviously no demand or one of the companies would be operating them.

Well thanks a million for that big load of help buddy.

Actually it is quite shocking. I'm not talking about an early bus between 2 fields in the countryside.

I'm talking about a link between the 2nd and third largest cities in this country. There is no rail link, the national bus service doesn't have a continuous service between the two, in both cases you have to link two busses or trains which can easily take anything up top 6 hours. The best thing is a private bus service which still is not direct and very expensive. Despite both having airports, no services run between them.

If that is all we have between 2 large cities I rcon that IS pretty shocking to be honest but sure if ya want to just go on accepting the piss poor standards of this place then go ahead.

[T Corolla]

There is the 5:05am train from Cork to Limerick Junction. Check out Irish rail to see is there a bus from Limerick to Galway around 6:20 to 6:30 am

[corktina]

Originally Posted by GrayD

Well thanks a million for that big load of help buddy.

Actually it is quite shocking. I'm not talking about an early bus between 2 fields in the countryside.

I'm talking about a link between the 2nd and third largest cities in this country. There is no rail link, the national bus service doesn't have a continuous service between the two, in both cases you have to link two busses or trains which can easily take anything up top 6 hours. The best thing is a private bus service which still is not direct and very expensive. Despite both having airports, no services run between them.

If that is all we have between 2 large cities I rcon that IS pretty shocking to be honest but sure if ya want to just go on accepting the piss poor standards of this place then go ahead.

(I think Limerick would be third biggest would it not?)

There is not enough demand to make it worthwhile economically to have an early service, therefore anyone wishing to go this route must expect to pay their own way rather than enjoy the benefit of the economies of scale that a whole bus load of travellers would bring, therefore the indirect and expensive private bus is your option Im afraid.

[serfboard]

Originally Posted by corktina

There is not enough demand to make it worthwhile economically to have an early service

And that's the problem, OP. You want to go on the 30th of August. When are you likely to want to do this again?

Since you only asked about one day, the answer is - not that often. And neither does anyone else.

[KC61]

Originally Posted by GrayD

Well thanks a million for that big load of help buddy.

Actually it is quite shocking. I'm not talking about an early bus between 2 fields in the countryside.

I'm talking about a link between the 2nd and third largest cities in this country. There is no rail link, the national bus service doesn't have a continuous service between the two, in both cases you have to link two busses or trains which can easily take anything up top 6 hours. The best thing is a private bus service which still is not direct and very expensive. Despite both having airports, no services run between them.

If that is all we have between 2 large cities I rcon that IS pretty shocking to be honest but sure if ya want to just go on accepting the piss poor standards of this place then go ahead.

I wasn't trying to be smart. For a bus to get to Galway from Cork and arrive before 9am, it would have to leave Cork at about 0430. Citylink did operate such a service, but have now cancelled it.

That would suggest that there was little or no demand for it.

Bus Eireann operate buses every hour from 0725 to 1825 between Cork and Galway (without a change), and additional services to/from Limerick and both cities around those hours. Citylink also operate a direct service via Limerick, but at a reduced frequency.

As T Corolla suggests, it is possible to get there earlier by rail.

The 0505 train ex-Cork arrives at Portarlington for 0722. You can then catch a direct train to Galway at 0754 which arrives at 0955.

[Victor]

Do I have it right that the 30 August is a Sunday?

There is the flying option

www.aerarann.com/

Sun, 30 Aug, 2009 (Fare Rule)
Flight RE 604
08:00 Cork (ORK)
08:55 Dublin (DUB)

Flight RE 233
13:05 Dublin (DUB)
13:50 Galway (GWY)

1 Adult(s)
Tax € 49.99 EUR
€ 24.38 EUR

www.irishrail.ie

Cork Galway 30/08 08:30 14:36
Cork Dublin Heuston 08:30 11:20 InterCity
Dublin Heuston Galway 12:10 14:36 Railcar

[JustMary]

Originally Posted by KC61

I wasn't trying to be smart. For a bus to get to Galway from Cork and arrive before 9am, it would have to leave Cork at about 0430. Citylink did operate such a service, but have now cancelled it.

That would suggest that there was little or no demand for it.

I'm not sure if they operated it for long enough to give the demand time to grow: I did consider looking for work in Cork and doing the weekly commuting thing, but am glad that I didn't find anything 'cos having to go back on Sunday night would have make it un-liveable.

[shoegirl]

Originally Posted by GrayD

I've checked bus eireann and city link but the earliest they'd have me in Galway is about 10-11am... thats shocking. Two major towns and the transport links are aweful.

Yes, thats the contempt that is show to non-drivers in ireland. Sure only a failure in life would get the bus over the age of 26 as Mrs T is reputed to once have said!!

[Carawaystick]

Originally Posted by shoegirl

Yes, thats the contempt that is show to non-drivers in ireland. Sure only a failure in life would get the bus over the age of 26 as Mrs T is reputed to once have said!!

The first train from Dublin to Cork gets in at 9:53
The first train from Dublin to Belfast gets in at 9:45

The first bus from Belfast to Dublin gets in at 2:30 - which shows that Bus Éireann'll run a service if they think there'll be a demand for it.

There is just no demand to justify a service, like there's no direct service between Cork and Belfast.

If there was then BÉ or Citylink'd run the service.

[GrayD]

Thanks for all the replies.

Unfortunatlely even the brest option there still only has me in Galway around 11-12am so thats much too late.
Looks like I'm out of luck, thanks anyways guys and girls.

[parsi]

It shows really that the mantra of privatisation doesn't always produce results.

In this instance the fairly efficient private op has taken the decision to curtail early services because they're not economic.

If there wasn't a private op on this route we'd be hearing about how lazy Bus Eireann are etc etc.