Is anyone else sick of the **** bus service?

Rozie

It's absolutely terrible. Why is nothing being done about this?

I commute to UCC from the railway station. Sometimes two buses in a row just won't come. I here that some bus drivers don't bother going to the railway station as it means they can go straight to the depo instead.

A lot of the time they come and say "City Centre only" when they're meant to be going as far as CIT.

This is madness. You could blame the terrible Cork traffic but even when it's light the buses never seem to come on time(Except when they're 2 minutes too early and refuse to wait for anyone), which in turn hardly helps the traffic either, does it? A lot of the time the drivers get off when a bus pulls in, to go the toilet no doubt, and come back with bottles of lucazade and bags of crisps.

There must be something that can be done. If everyone wrote and complained, I don't know. We shouldn't have to put up with this ****.

Gauge

The bus I get frequently leaves too early. This is SO annoying because it means I (and everyone else along the route) misses it! I usually go to the bus stop about ten or fifteen minutes before it should arrive only to discover it's already passed- a lot of times I'll be at my bus stop BEFORE it's even supposed to have left, and it's already passed! I've been stuck out in the rain so many times over this- since when do you have to go to the bus stop 20 minutes early just to make sure you catch it?

The CIT buses are majorly messed up.

jaarius

I usually get the 8 which didn't should up the other morning and I asked the bus driver if he was late or was just that other bus had left early and got some attitude in return.

I also get the 5 to college from Patrick’s St at night and if I miss the 5pm one then the next two do not show up.

Two weeks ago I was on the 5 going up O’Donovan’s Rd and the bus stopped for about 15 minutes because it could not get through.

Is there a complaint line or address I could write to?


j

embraer170

I take the 10 now and again. Seems to be either 5-10 minutes early, 20 minutes (then I guess those two might be the same) or not run at all. I'm quite I happy I don't depend on it.

sound_wave

get a bike, you'll probably beat the buses out to CIT with the traffic in the morning and again coming home plus you'll get fit too

comet

Yeah its a disgrace, i'd love if there was an independent audit done (any interested politician? election on the way) monitor the buses on a few routes, it would tell a sorry tale, leaving everyone standing in the rain and cold day after day including old people. You have to have your own transport in this city be it bicycle, moped, motorbike or car.

ivuernis

It's bad at the best of times, chronic the last few weeks when the weather has been really bad.

It get the No. 2 and the No. 10 on regular occasions and traffic aside there are many occassions when drivers take no notice of the timetable. I've missed buses 'cos they take off 5-10mins before time, waited for buses that never come and others than are anywhere from 15-30mins late.

I've written many letters of complaint to info@buseireann.ie

Probably gets me nowhere but at least someone has to read it. Everyone should do it until the message gets through and the service is improved.

LivingDeadGirl

The 222 has to be the worst service in existence.

Rozie

Sounds like everyone has about the same experience then. Always leaving too early or too late.

The college bus times are completely wrong. The problem is if they bring them forward the Bus drivers will think they have extra time to get there.

parsi

just curious - are you the same Rozie that used frequent the UL boards ?

Stark

Got the No. 8 most mornings for about 4 years. So many wasted hours every morning. You'd be lucky if every second bus showed up. Despite their excuses, the traffic situation didn't seem to make a difference. In fact, the off-peak service was generally the worst. The "city centre only" thing was what really got my goat.

Rozie

Stark wrote:

Got the No. 8 most mornings for about 4 years. So many wasted hours every morning. You'd be lucky if every second bus showed up. Despite their excuses, the traffic situation didn't seem to make a difference. In fact, the off-peak service was generally the worst. The "city centre only" thing was what really got my goat.

Yes, the buses are horrible at night. You get buses packed full of drunken students or students waiting to get drunk who've been waiting an hour for one. Not pleasant and there is absolutely no guarantee on what time they'll come whatsoever, though they do at least come at some time for the most part, unlike the buses in the morning.

stev2604

LivingDeadGirl wrote:

The 222 has to be the worst service in existence.

Seconded.

Skud

ya i think the services in general is a disgrace, dont get me started on the 3... Friday evening between 4.50 - 6.00 no bus usually comes... disgrace. think that's mostly all evenings too

Kold

Try relying on the 8a, a bus that only goes every 2 to 3 hours, sometimes they don't even bother, sometimes they leave early. Also, between 4 and 6pm, if you're getting an 8 from town, you'd better not mind having your face in someone's armpit.


Last year I was taking the orbital from CIT to Stiofan Naofe, it was ALWAYS late, from 20 mins to an hour.

betelgeuse

I find the Ballincollig service terrible as well, especially on a Sunday when they're only every few hours. Why it's still considered a "country" service is beyond me. And they charge €4.50 return, or at least they did a couple of years ago.. probably gone up by now.

(It might be some cold comfort that things aren't that much better in Dublin where I stay on the main route serving Beaumont Hospital into the city. The timetable is largely a work of fiction, and they frequently leave town up to five minutes early, making it very easy to miss. I plan on moving soon.)

Stark

betelgeuse wrote:

Why it's still considered a "country" service is beyond me.

Ballincollig is still considered "Co. Cork" afaik. There are moves to make it officially part of Cork City though.

betelgeuese wrote:

(It might be some cold comfort that things aren't that much better in Dublin where I stay on the main route serving Beaumont Hospital into the city. The timetable is largely a work of fiction, and they frequently leave town up to five minutes early, making it very easy to miss. I plan on moving soon.)

You really need to get closer to the city so that several routes pass by the same stop. That said, when I lived in Fairview, the 123 service was bloody excellent. Those were the days when if I saw a bus at the stop in front of me, instead of running for it, I'd stroll along calmy thinking "Ah sure, let it go, there'll be another one along in 5 minutes". Big difference in comparison the No. 8 route in Cork: "Ah feck. Looks like it's walk or get a taxi to college this morning".

betelgeuse

Stark wrote:

Ballincollig is still considered "Co. Cork" afaik.

That's true, but for all practical purposes it's a suburb of the city. At the moment you have ~ 20,000 people 12 mins from the city centre relying on buses coming from Tralee and places like that to get in. Ridiculous.

Stark wrote:

There are moves to make it officially part of Cork City though.

I saw the proposed new boundary.. it stops at Curaheen on the west :mad:

Stark wrote:

You really need to get closer to the city so that several routes pass by the same stop.

Yip, plans are afoot! In fact I want to be within walking distance of the CC, but need Dart access too. So my rent will probably be doubling but feck it, I'd only spend it on alcohol anyway

Stark

betelgeuse wrote:

Yip, plans are afoot! In fact I want to be within walking distance of the CC, but need Dart access too. So my rent will probably be doubling but feck it, I'd only spend it on alcohol anyway

I don't think it would increase that much. You should be able to get a room for around €400 within walking distance of the centre easily enough.

betelgeuse wrote:

That's true, but for all practical purposes it's a suburb of the city. At the moment you have ~ 20,000 people 12 mins from the city centre relying on buses coming from Tralee and places like that to get in. Ridiculous.

It's a bit stupid alright. Glanmire is in the same boat, a suburb of the city for the same purposes but part of Co. Cork and not getting what you'd call a "city bus service" at all.

In Dublin, Dublin Bus serves several counties, not just Dublin City. It serves Dublin City, the 3 "Dublin" counties and parts of Wicklow and Meath. The service to the outer areas might be **** compared to the inner city services but it's still comparable to what they term a city service in Cork. They tend to keep an eye on their drivers more in Dublin with occasional radio calls to the driver and I think they might have some sort of bus tracking facility as well. They don't seem to do that in Cork at all from what I can see.

bjd

stev2604 wrote:

Seconded.

thirded-ed-ed-ed - whatever the next one is anyway

the 222 is appalling, i just moved to carrigaline and its a third world service - all those houses built down there, its no wonder its the biggest car using town in Ireland - only way is to fix it is write to Bus Eireann and also its an election year next year so annoy the s**t out of simon coveney and michael mcgrath and all the other local politicians when they come to your door

carrigaline badly and sadly needs a nightlink as well

beer enigma

Having just seen this thread I was amused to see the number 10 bus running up to Mahon Point with a sign it side.....

"This is not a bus.....Its a Service"

comet

Hate to ruin the joke and all .............. but i think it actually says "This is not a bus......it's a venue" in an add for vodafone, downloading music and all that. But the buses in Cork are neither a service or a venue!

beer enigma

I've seen the Vodafone ones...this was very similar but definitely said 'service' & had a 'Happy & Safe New Year' message underneath from Bus Eireann logo on it.....

Anyways - it splashed me so I wasn't a happy customer

Solair

Cork urgently needs control of its own transport. Bus Eireann is a total joke. Actually suggesting that they provide a bus service in Cork is misleading. They do operate busses in Cork, but I'm not sure that you could call it a "service".

A good bus service in Cork could work so well too. It's an ideally sized city for busses and it has generally good roads.

Effectively a bunch of over-unionised driver who wouldn't know what a "service" was if it jumped up and bit them and Bus Eireann management who I sometimes suspect don't even know where Cork is are holding the development of the city's transport network up.

Something has to be done about this and done very urgently.

This may take a few mins but it's worth doing!

E-mail your local TD & CC their party's spokesperson on transport.
Labour: (check www.labour.ie for your local TDs and councillors & candidates)
Transport spokesperson: Rosin Shorthall
http://www.labour.ie/roisinshortall/

Fine Gael: (www.finegael.ie [check for local tds/councillors and candidates])
Transport spokesperson : Olivia Mitchell
http://oliviamitchell.finegael.ie/Representatives/common/index.cfm

Fianna Fail:
E-mail Micheal Martin : http://www.michealmartin.ie/ (Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment)

Martin Cullen (Minister for Transport)
http://www.fiannafail.ie/person.php4?show=Minister&pid=59&bid=214

and contact all local FF TDs and Councillors.

Progressive Democrats:
Transport Spokesperson : http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/our_people/member/8/ Tom Morrissey (Senator)

Senator John Minihan (Cork South Central Dail Candidate)
http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/our_people/member/12/

Candidate : http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/our_people/member/129/
Dave Buckley (Cork North Central Dail Candidate)

Greens:
Contact Dan Boyle TD, Cork South Central
http://www.danboyle.ie/
His peice on Cork Public Transport :
http://www.danboyle.ie/index.php?pageID=1352

Angels

No mind bus services to the city, but to the country places like rathcormac,fermoy mitchelstown etc that route is a nightmare. I used to take the bus from fermoy to Cork everyday when i was in college & those buses were brutal & sometime never turned up at all. I think this is still happening but hey it's Bus Eireann for ya nothing like a ****e service!!

Raskolnikov

bjd wrote:

carrigaline badly and sadly needs a nightlink as well

Carrigaline had a Nitelink only a couple of years ago. I seem to remember insurance reasons being cited for it's discontinuation. It's a shít excuse though as Dublin Bus are capable of providing a Nitelink services to tens of destinations.

Fabio

The Bus Eireann service is crap and the worst thing is - it does not have to be.

The busses are actually not that old, most being pretty modern and the road system isn't bad for busses here either.

Bus Eireann managment, Dublin bases managament, just does not seem to give a toss.

I depend on the no.2 and no.10 to get to and from UCC and yet they are almost always either too early or too late or do not run at all.
Its happned a few times that I would wait near UCC for the 10 and ened up walking into ttown, thinking there's bound to be one wiaitng there and evenb if the timetable says one is on the way, it nbever comes!

I have written to Bus Eireann but have gotten no response.

Solair

Only way you'll get it changed is to start putting it on the political agenda.

Tell any politican you meet that you will not vote for them if nothing's done.

If they call to your door, ask them what they propose to do about it.

And write/ring/fax/email.

Bus Eireann won't get back to you, and if they do they'll give you a bland standard response.

run_Forrest_run

folks, why waste yer energy getting all worked up. The problem is:

Bus Eireann are a state monopoly. They don't care, civil servants with a job for life..who can even compete with them? No one can!

As one person said, get a bike and cycle, faster and you'll get fit (if you aren't knocked down and killed in the meantime of course).

ivuernis

Was on the No. 10 a few times last week, observations:

• the bus I was on had this horrendeous noise coming from the engine every 5-10 secs
• WHY isn't there a bus shelter at the stop outside MP and again at the stop near the CSO where there always seems to be loads of people WAITING FOREVER IN THE RAIN for the bus to arrive
• the service is far too infrequent at peak hours and the traffic around MP during these hours means the buses are hardly ever on time.
• why is there no knee room for anybody much more than average height
• the single decker buses take forever to disembark from when full if you're not at the front

As has been said here Cork needs to be seperated from Bus Eireann á la Dublin Bus.

DoubleJoe7

Angels wrote:

No mind bus services to the city, but to the country places like rathcormac,fermoy mitchelstown etc that route is a nightmare. I used to take the bus from fermoy to Cork everyday when i was in college & those buses were brutal & sometime never turned up at all. I think this is still happening but hey it's Bus Eireann for ya nothing like a ****e service!!

Agreed - posted my latest experience recently.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055035909&referrerid=&highlight=

ShevY

I'm back using the bus the since last week. I had forgotten how horrible it is.

The 19 doesnt seem to follow any kind of timetable. Yesterday the number 5 decided to get jammed between a lorry and a car on donovans rd.
"we'll be here for a while, ye might as well get off" was all we got.

Soaked the last few days waiting in the rain. Late for work today again.

so... i...

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Bought a car tonight! :D:D

run_Forrest_run

yes I agree the bus service needs to separated from Bus Eireann but not a la Dublin Bus please...let's learn some lessons and open up the routes to private bus companies for a more efficient regular service in Cork. A bit of competition never harmed anyone (unless U are a semi-state company top heavy with inefficient management and workers with zero motivation!).

craichoe

I had a bit of an El Car Crasho and have been relegated to the bus

Although the company i work for has a free bus in the morning from Cork City Centre, big coaches too, nicer than the Bus Eireann contraptions.

I think theres around 6 buses in the morning and the evening and its great! because its at the same time every morning so i know exactly when to leave the house and what time i'll be in work at.

I got Bus Eireann once or twice .. not only was it a ripoff 2.40 each way to Ballincollig, it was always late.

Lots of Polish girls on the bus too .... great eye candy

hynesa

craichoe wrote:

I had a bit of an El Car Crasho and have been relegated to the bus

Although the company i work for has a free bus in the morning from Cork City Centre, big coaches too, nicer than the Bus Eireann contraptions.

I think theres around 6 buses in the morning and the evening and its great! because its at the same time every morning so i know exactly when to leave the house and what time i'll be in work at.

I got Bus Eireann once or twice .. not only was it a ripoff 2.40 each way to Ballincollig, it was always late.

Lots of Polish girls on the bus too .... great eye candy

Ha that must be the EMC bus you're talking about, man I miss that bus, changed companies a while back and started getting the number 8. I don't think the number 8 has been on time even once since I started getting it, if it comes within 5 minutes of it's scheduled time I have to examine it to make sure it's a real Bus Éireann bus. It can put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day, standing in the cold and rain for 30 minutes and then having to actually hand money over (€1.35 now!) just to get to work.

I got sooo sick of waiting for the feckin no. 8 that I brought my old bike up from home, got it fixed and started cycling to work. It's a half-hour cycle, but that's a lot faster than the number 8 is most mornings/evenings (and as mentioned in this thread already it does get you fit too).

Rozie

Right, prices went up recently for this ****e service. This is the last straw.

I'm emailing Bus Eireann with a letter of complaint, and I'm going to contact various politicans to see what they have to say, and also private coach/bus companies to see if they'd be interested.

Their comments box doesn't even work though.

parsi

I look forward to seeing what private companies will be willing to provide a regular all day service not just to salubrious Bishopstown but also up the Northside where their buses will be subject to eggings, stonings and robbings.

I'd also love to hear the politicians - we got rubbish from John Dennehy (FF) this evening who welcomed the new terminal in the airport and criticised the opposition for not providing a new runway when they were in power but forgets to mention the debt millstone that FF have left up at the airport.

The politicians don't care - they don't take the bus.

~Rebel~

Whats simply hilarious is some of the routes (or lack thereof)!

So, we've got Carrigaline. A satalite town with over 15,000 people im sure very few of which actually work in Carrigaline. And we've got Ringaskiddy, one of the biggest pharmaceutical hubs/employers in Ireland (and quite possibly Europe). They're about 15minutes drive apart and there are no public transport links between the 2. You have to get a bus to town and then another one back out again. Surely there should be a steady stream of bus's in the morning that would have people on time for work and then home again in the evening at say, half 5.

Surely any executive with any cop on would see this route would seriously milk in the money if a decent service was provided.