[Article] Bus Éireann gets €20m extra funding

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0425/buseireann.html

Bus Éireann gets €20m extra funding
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 13:34
Bus Éireann has secured an extra €20m funding for the purchase of 75 new buses.

This is in addition to funding allocated under the Government's investment programme Transport 21 in September 2006 of €50m for the purchase of 160 new buses.

The Transport Minister, Martin Cullen made the announcement today at the presentation by Bus Éireann of its expansion plan (2007-2009) for the Leinster/Greater Dublin Area.

AdvertisementBus Éireann said its plans for the region include enhanced frequency, more destinations, more feeder buses, extra late night services, services from new residential areas and improved airport and college links.

The company expects to carry 8.4 million extra passengers by 2009, with the aim of reducing car journeys by 2 million each year up to 2016. Around 92 million passengers were carried by Bus Éireann last year.

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=9074&lang=ENG&loc=2126

Cullen - additional funding of over €20 million to be supplied to Bus Éireann for new buses
25 April 2007
Cullen welcomes Bus Éireann expansion plan proposals for Leinster Region

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen TD, today (Wednesday 25 April 2007) announced that he has approved over €20 million in additional funding under the Government's investment programme Transport 21, to Bus Éireann for the purchase and delivery of 75 new buses. This is in addition to funding allocated in September 2006 of €50 million for the purchase by the company, of 160 new buses. The Minister made the announcement at the presentation by Bus Éireann of its bus expansion plan for the Leinster/Greater Dublin Area.

Bus Éireann's key objectives (2007-2009) in the region - primarily covering Dublin, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare and parts of Westmeath/Laois/Louth - include enhanced frequency, more destinations, more feeder buses, extra late night services, services from new residential areas and improved airport and college links.

Thirteen new commuter routes form part of the plan proposed by Bus Éireann including, for example:

* Navan-Dunshaughlin-Dublin Airport-DCU
* Newry-Carlingford-Dundalk
* Portarlington Portlaoise Feeder.

Twelve routes which Bus Éireann would like to enhance include the Ashbourne to Dublin route (service every 12 minutes); Wicklow-Rathnew-Dublin (every 15-30 minutes) and Navan-Dunshaughlin-Dublin (every 15 minutes).

In the time frame 2007-2009, the company expects to carry 8.4 million extra passengers with the aim of reducing car journeys by 2 million per annum up to 2016.

Ninty-two million passengers were carried by Bus Éireann around the country in 2006.

Welcoming the ambition underpinning the proposals outlined, Minister Martin Cullen said: "I am delighted to be here today at Bus Éireann's announcement of its proposals for the development of its bus services in the Leinster/Greater Dublin Area for the next three years. The proposals, envisage substantial improvement and expansion in the level, frequency and quality of Bus Éireann's range of services in the Eastern Region. In addition to new services, existing service frequency will be improved, with integrated services for town, commuter and interurban services".

In September 2006, the Minister approved funding under Transport 21 of €50 million for the purchase of 160 new buses by Bus Éireann. Of the 160 buses, 75 buses will be deployed in the Leinster region.

Today, Minister Cullen announced additional funding support to the company. He said: "I am happy to announce today that I have approved additional funding of over €20 million for the purchase and delivery in 2008 of a further 75 new buses by Bus Éireann, including an additional 21 new buses for the Leinster Region".

Funding for the remainder of Bus Éireann's proposals for 2009 and beyond will be considered in the context of the capital allocations under Transport 21.

The Minister also spoke about bus priority measures. There has been strong investment since 1997 in the Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) Network throughout the GDA. That Network consists of almost 150km of QBC. Since 1997, over €290m has been invested in GDA traffic management and bus priority projects. Transport 21 has allocated almost €600m to traffic management and bus priority related projects in the GDA over the 10-year life of the programme.

The Minister also said he was pleased to see an emphasis in the Bus Éireann plan on increasing the level of integration with other transport modes and improved customer services. "On-line journey planners, cleaner buses, customer information systems are all areas, as set out in Bus Éireann's plan, where higher standards will assist in attracting more passengers. We need to get more people out of their cars and on to public transport".

Minister Cullen concluded: "Bus services are and will remain the work-horse of our transport system. This is recognised in Transport 21 which provides for ongoing investment in bus services, bus priority measures and park and ride facilities over the lifetime of the programme".

Editor's note

The approved funding for the purchase of buses by Bus Éireann (160 + the additional 75) is for use only on routes, which are the subject of a public service obligation.

Aquavid

To clarify the last bit:

"The approved funding for the purchase of buses by Bus Éireann (160 + the additional 75) is for use only on routes, which are the subject of a public service obligation."

This means that these additional buses cannot be used on tours, or Expressway services.

Bus Eireann classifies these as commercial, and *all* local or commuter stage services (as well as provincial city services) as PSO.

So these new buses, which will be lowfloor accessible and will include double-deckers will be working routes like Kildare, Ashbourne, Navan etc, but in theory should never be seen straying onto Dublin-Cork or other expressways.

Aquavid

Aquavid

Slice

In the Metro this morning Olivia Mitchell claimed the funding was already provisioned under T21. Who is to be believed?

markpb

Slice wrote:

In the Metro this morning Olivia Mitchell claimed the funding was already provisioned under T21. Who is to be believed?

I too read somewhere this morning that DoT/DoF confirmed that the money was coming out of the T21 pool.

Victor

Victor wrote:

...the Government's investment programme Transport 21

Victor wrote:

...including an additional 21 new buses for the Leinster Region

What is it about the number 21?

icdg

There's some articles in the newspapers today about this. Particularly amusing is the picture of John Lynch and Martin Cullen standing beside a double-decker coach. Owned by Ulsterbus!

(In fairness, they had "Bus Éireann" transfers applied for the occasion, but the fact that it was in Ulsterbus livery and had a northern reg plate didn't escape the Irish Times...)

Victor

http://www.buseireann.ie/site/news_centre/press_centre.asp?action=view&news_id=534

Bus Éireann Launches Expansion Plan


New Buses + New Routes + New Departures = More Options for Commuters

Bus Éireann will today announce details of a major expansion plan set to transform public transport for commuters in Dublin and the Eastern region.

A major increase in buses, routes and departures is planned.

The expansion is underpinned by Transport 21, the government’s ten year infrastructure investment programme.

- Key Improvements -
The key improvements in the Bus Éireann Expansion Plan include the introduction of:

* A new ‘city-style service frequency’ on all major Commuter routes into Dublin, with buses running as regularly as every 12 minutes throughout the day. Examples:
**Ashbourne/Dublin: a bus every 12 minutes all day
**Navan/Dublin: a bus every 15 minutes all day
**Naas/Dublin: a bus every 15 minutes all day

* A range of new services to provide more choice for commuters E.g. new, direct hourly services connecting Dublin Airport with Commuter locations such as Navan/ Dunshaughlin, Newbridge/Naas, Mullingar/Enfield and Wicklow/Bray on a ‘dawn-till-dusk’ basis

* New Fleet: The expansion in service and frequencies will be enabled by the introduction of 70 new buses and coaches – all low floor, wheelchair accessible and bio fuel compatible (including high capacity accessible double deck coaches)


Speaking at the launch of the Bus Éireann Expansion Plan, Dr John Lynch, Chairman of CIE and Bus Éireann said:

“New buses provided to Bus Éireann under Transport 21 will enable us to deliver, in a very short time frame, significant and tangible improvements for our customers in Dublin and the Eastern region.

Buses will operate on a 12 minute frequency, not just at peak times but throughout the day, new services will commence including direct connections between Dublin Airport and all the major commuter towns in Leinster and these will be provided on a modern fleet of low floor wheelchair accessible, bio fuel compatible vehicles.

The implementation of these plans is vital – not only if we want to provide for the needs of the next generation of commuters but also if we want to reduce congestion car usage, traffic volumes and ultimately carbon emissions in the Greater Dublin Area.”


Planning for Needs of Commuters in a rapidly growing Region

The Bus Éireann Expansion Plan is driven by the need to provide for a developing region.

The recent fast-paced growth of Commuter towns in the Eastern region around Dublin such as Navan, Drogheda, Mullingar and Wicklow means many are now effectively small cities and need to be planned for accordingly through the provision of high frequency departures and new services.

Changing Work Patterns and Lifestyles are also driving the demand for more services.

The continued growth of shift working and flexi time, the longer hours that people work and the longer distance people travel to get to and from work are creating a rising demand for transport outside of the traditional 9 to 5.

Bus Éireann is already catering for the off peak market through innovations such as its 24 hour service on the Dublin/Belfast route. It also operates one of the earliest Commuter services of all transport providers - at 05.20hrs on the Drogheda/Dublin route. The intention with the Bus Éireann expansion plan is to further extend hours of operation and implement additional 24 hour services, in line with demand.


- Benefits of the Bus Éireann Expansion Plan -
The Expansion Plan Benefits the Customer, Environment and the Community

* New Fleet: New buses and coaches for customers
* More Choice: New services - new routes - more often
* User friendly: Clock face departures -no complicated timetables
* Accessible: Low floor wheelchair accessible vehicles
* Green: Vehicles are bio fuel compatible
* Less congestion: Plan will reduce car journeys by 2m per annum
* Value: Modest investment delivering major benefits
* Time Frame: Improvements can be implemented quickly

- Expansion Underpinned by Transport 21 –


The Bus Éireann Expansion Plan is underpinned by Transport 21. The plan represents a comparatively modest total investment of €55 million, the tangible benefits of which would be felt in a short time frame, with fewer cars on the road and less congestion.

The funding provided by government for 75 new vehicles under Transport 21 will enable Bus Éireann to implement Phase 1 of its development plan. These new buses are due for delivery from September 2007.

The provision of funding for an additional 90 vehicles (a total of 165) will enable Bus Éireann to fully implement the Bus Éireann Expansion Plan in its entirety.