[devnull]

I haven't been on a Volvo 9700 but I've heard that they indeed do have a number of quirks with the seating layout for tall people for someone who is quite tall that is sat near the back, can you tell me how bad this is? Is it similar to the coaches like this that National Express operate? If so then I can't see me liking them.

The seats that move forward when the back reclines I've experienced on other coaches though, and I must say I am not a fan of it, I quite like the Aircoach Setra's, they are very roomy and comfy, but are too small really with only 44 seats a little too luxury. The 2009 Volvo's are really nice coaches, great seats but no tables which sucks a bit.

It's good to see that Bus Eireann are upgrading, but if it's only the routes that the privates are competing on them with then that is disappointing because there are other routes that could do with the upgrade too. I too don't see why GoBus.ie would partner with Bus Eireann. In the short term I think it would give both parties a boost, but in the long term I don't see it being beneficial to GoBus as Bus Eireann could drop them at any time.

It seems Aircoach are not raising their fares on the Cork route, Bus Eireann I know recently did theirs, but the Aircoach Cork route has not been touched in the recent fare increases.

[BenShermin]

Don't have much time to reply but this is great news to a very regular Dublin to Cork travelller like myself, I can finally get to Cork at short notice if needs be without being charged €77 rtn for the train or having to worry about sitting on a coach for 4hrs 25mins.

Even though I prefer the comfort of BÉs SP class I'll sarcrafise that for a guaranteed 3hr trip.

[Jehuty42]

There is no actual confirmation on source on this, is there?

[kieran4003]

Bk I have good news for you. Irish Rail will soon be abolishing the credit card charge for bookings. They will also be introducing an online system to amend your booking if your plan changes. I agree at the moment a bus ticket is much more flexible. Though you may have moved to the bus by then!

Well the way BE are meant to be allocating coaches are rather dissapointing. Many are being allocated in an atempt to help 'muscle out competition'. There is actually a very smart way to allocate such coaches. If BE buy coaches and their main use is for cross border use then they can reclaim the VAT, saving themselves and the taxpayer a lot of money. This mainly applies to expressway route 1 (Dublin-Belfast) & route 32 (Dublin-Letterkenny). Route 1 is getting the new coaches however many other routes could of been allocated the new coaches and save money. Though to be fair aswell, The new coaches are needed for Cork - Dublin. A feature I forgot to mention is that there are powerpoints at every seat.

devnull, The Volvo 9700 does have tiered seating. I dont like it myself. So if you are tall, sit near the front is the best advice

Another clue that Go Bus are launching a Dublin - Cork service is that the buses they have recently bought have generic branding on them, whereas previouly they would of had Galway branding.

[DanWall]

A point missed here. My daughter like a lot of people cannot last long enough on a journey before she wants a pee. The bus cannot provide this, there is no services on the motorway, so the train is the alternative + you can have a snack and a cuppa on the way

[devnull]

Originally Posted by BenShermin

Don't have much time to reply but this is great news to a very regular Dublin to Cork travelller like myself, I can finally get to Cork at short notice if needs be without being charged €77 rtn for the train or having to worry about sitting on a coach for 4hrs 25mins.

I'm curious how busy are the Bus Eireann services between Dublin and Cork during the mid-week and what kind percentage of travelers are going the full way? I've never used them myself for a few years and I still don't understand why other people continue to do so when they are by far the least efficient way to travel between Dublin and Cork unless you know there will be a non stop service.

Aircoach also operate between Dublin City Centre and Cork City Centre, are 40 minutes quicker than Bus Eireann (3hrs 45 mins), cheaper by a euro for an open return, operate earlier and later services (7am & 7pm), offer an overnight service from Cork (1am) and an 8pm service from Dublin.

It astonishes me that people are prepared to pay extra for less choice and a longer journey time. I'll never understand this.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by Jehuty42

There is no actual confirmation on source on this, is there?

Believe me, they have been awarded a license. I would put my house on it if you asked me to.

Originally Posted by DanWall

A point missed here. My daughter like a lot of people cannot last long enough on a journey before she wants a pee. The bus cannot provide this, there is no services on the motorway, so the train is the alternative + you can have a snack and a cuppa on the way

BE and Aircoach now stop half way through, but true for young kids this is not ideal and a new service with toilets would very much be able to deal with this issue.

Originally Posted by kieran4003

Well the way BE are meant to be allocating coaches are rather dissapointing. Many are being allocated in an atempt to help 'muscle out competition'. There is actually a very smart way to allocate such coaches. If BE buy coaches and their main use is for cross border use then they can reclaim the VAT, saving themselves and the taxpayer a lot of money. This mainly applies to expressway route 1 (Dublin-Belfast) & route 32 (Dublin-Letterkenny). Route 1 is getting the new coaches however many other routes could of been allocated the new coaches and save money. Though to be fair aswell, The new coaches are needed for Cork - Dublin. A feature I forgot to mention is that there are powerpoints at every seat.

Who are these coaches being funded by? I would hope it is not the taxpayer because if it is using taxpayer resources to compete with private companies is something I don't approve on, particularly when money is tight in this country. I have no problem with anyone using their own resources to compete against someone else. I also agree that we need subsidized public transport when this is the only way to provide a fully inclusive service and to stop cheery picking. However such subsidy should be used for providing such service. If Bus Eireann want to rival the privates I have no problem as long as it's with their own money.

devnull, The Volvo 9700 does have tiered seating. I dont like it myself. So if you are tall, sit near the front is the best advice

Please don't tell me the seats recline in the way I described as well? if so I think I'll give them a miss no matter what.

[bk]

Originally Posted by DanWall

A point missed here. My daughter like a lot of people cannot last long enough on a journey before she wants a pee. The bus cannot provide this, there is no services on the motorway, so the train is the alternative + you can have a snack and a cuppa on the way

GoBus buses have an onboard toilets.

Also no reason why you can't bring your own snacks and a cuppa with you on the bus, many people already do on the trains, due to Irish Rails prices for the same onboard.

It is good that BE are introducing new buses, but I don't think they will be competitive with this new service.

First, BE's new buses won't have onboard toilets, GoBus will (assuming the rumour is true and they use the same buses as their Galway fleet).

Second unless BE actually introduce a guaranteed direct service, people will more likely go with GoBus, rather then risk not getting a direct bus. And then there is the question if BE would even be licensed to do so.

I hope BE or Aircoach (or another operator like CityLink) are, as competition would keep the two operators on their toes and competitive. I believe the NTA recommendations for intercity services licensing allow for two different companies, operating hourly services at a 30 minute gap.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by bk

Second unless BE actually introduce a guaranteed direct service, people will more likely go with GoBus, rather then risk not getting a direct bus. And then there is the question if BE would even be licensed to do so

Some people will use Bus Eireann no matter what because it is the national bus company,

[dowlingm]

I would certainly think twice about using Aircoach or anyone else operating ex Dublin Airport for services south of there unless they had real time info after my last experience a year ago from Westmoreland St.

By the time a spare coach arrived it was an hour late, but because the driver used had not done the route previously (he had to double back twice) I arrived where I needed to be (Mitchelstown) two hours late. I picked Aircoach ironically because of BE's poor Sunday winter frequency on the Cork-Dublin route which I felt therefore would not arrive in Mitchelstown early enough!

Definitely a facility for private buses in Dublin with a proper departure board and company reps would be an improvement. The question is where would the best place for such a facility be and how would it be funded?

[devnull]

That would be a one off bad experience and I would not say is indictive of the quality overall. I've used the service about 8-9 times in the last couple of years and haven't seen it happen, I've seen two people turned away at Abbeyleix before though as the 53 seater coach was full once.

They have added an extra service from Dublin at 8pm, and as they continually stress to customers on literature, on coach and on the website "Don’t forget to book online, up to 5pm the day before you travel, to guarantee your seat on the departure of your choice.". Based on the number of people booking online they are able to get a good idea of demand for the service and if an extra coach is needed and have it ready and waiting.

Unfortunately in this country very few people seem to bother booking online unlike a lot of countries, but then are the first to moan when they are not able to get a seat on the bus - The advertising of online booking on the Cork route heavily I believe did not start until after your original bad experience, but experiences like yours are probably exactly why they have gone down that route.

[markpb]

Originally Posted by devnull

Unfortunately in this country very few people seem to bother booking online unlike a lot of countries

In my experience, booking online is more awkward than it should be, especially compared to airlines. With Aer Lingus, I can book my ticket, walk into the airport and give them my booking number, passport, or even my name and they figure it out.

On the other hand, Aircoach and Bus Eireann require you to print out your ticket which is awkward because most people I know don't own a printer at home.

Aircoach bookings must be made 5pm the day before which has caught me out several times.

Also, with Aircoach you get a 6% discount but restrict yourself to a specific outbound departure. BE give a 5% discount but restrict the outbound date you can travel on. Irish Rail give you a much heftier discount but you restrict the date and time of both trips. Why would people bother to book online when there's not much advantage for them (with the exception of Irish Rail)? If transit companies want people to book online, there should be a carrot as well as a stick, it's not enough to blithely say we're not like other countries.

[highlydebased]

I quite like the 9700, Personally it's probably the most comfortable coach I've travelled on in a while.

[BazNuge]

Went for the Aircoach on Friday, they had 2 buses, a direct to Cork and an indirect. Now, direct included 15 stop in Urlingfort, which wasn't awful given I expected some kinda break and I was dying for a coffee then. But still made it 8.30pm when we got there, so 3 1/2 hours run.

That said, saw an 8 from Dublin arriving into Cork just ahead of us, assume it was the 4.30pm. So direct vs indirected was a difference of an hour.

If GoBus do start the Cork route, and they can keep it to 3 hours, I'll be a happy camper.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by markpb

Aircoach bookings must be made 5pm the day before which has caught me out several times.

I believe it is so a manifest is printed for the driver so they can see who has booked online and who has not, as with everything in this world some people have decided to print out documents that mimic the official ones, which are not actually legit as there is no system to validate them on the bus by typing in a code etc. Presumably as this would be expensive.

Also, with Aircoach you get a 6% discount but restrict yourself to a specific outbound departure.

It's valid on any departure of the day, just simply you cannot guarantee having a seat other than on the coach you boarded and those with a booking on that coach will get priority. However you are still able to use the coach and drivers seem to give priority to people who have a ticket reserved for the same day over those who walk up and buy even if they initially booked on another coach.

Single Tickets purchased on the coach are only valid on the journey on which they are purchased or, if purchased from our Customer Service Team at Dublin Airport, on the next departures from the Airport.

Return Tickets purchased on the coach or from our Customer Service Team at Dublin Airport. The outward portion of your ticket is only valid on the journey on which they are purchased or, if purchased from our Customer Service Team at Dublin Airport, on the next departures from the Airport. You can use the return portion of your ticket on any journey, on any date, on your chosen route.

Single Tickets booked online will be accepted for travel on any departure on your chosen route, on the date specified on your booking. Your seat is only guaranteed on the timed journey (where applicable) specified on your booking.

Return Tickets booked online. The outward portion of your booking will be accepted for travel on any departure on your chosen route, on the date specified on your booking. Your seat is only guaranteed on the timed journey (where applicable) specified on your booking. On presenting your booking confirmation you will be issued with a Return Ticket. Please keep this Return Ticket safe as you will need it for your return journey. You will be unable to board the coach without the Return Ticket issued on your outward journey. For the return journey your seat is only guaranteed on the date and timed journey (where applicable) specified on your booking. You can, however, use the return portion of your ticket on any journey, on any date, on your chosen route.