BÉ bus to Wicklow

Aquitaine

I travel to dublin from wicklow on a bus eireann bus each day. lately i have been having trouble getting on the bus in stillorgan in the evening because it is packed. what annoys me is that this bus serves kilmac and newtownmountkennedy, both of which are well served by the 84x. i think it is unfair of people travelling to these places to get the BE bus as others like myself going further do not have an alternative and so are forced to get later buses.

Mushy

Sometimes I've trouble getting on at UCD. The 84X doesnt always go to Newtown, not as often as they go to Kilcoole. Hardly anyone gets off Kilmac as it is either, sure the numbers on the 145 at that hour are crazy, always over-packed(assuming around half 5 or 6, the times the BÉ leave town).

loyatemu

Aquitaine wrote: »

I travel to dublin from wicklow on a bus eireann bus each day. lately i have been having trouble getting on the bus in stillorgan in the evening because it is packed. what annoys me is that this bus serves kilmac and newtownmountkennedy, both of which are well served by the 84x. i think it is unfair of people travelling to these places to get the BE bus as others like myself going further do not have an alternative and so are forced to get later buses.

you can't blame people for getting on whichever bus is going to get them home quickest - the commute to places like Newtown is long enough as it is, and only a couple of 84x services actually go there.

Write to Bus Eireann and ask them to put on extra services, or add some express services (i'm sure there's enough demand in Wicklow to justify this).

AlekSmart

"Write to Bus Eireann and ask them to put on extra services, or add some express services (i'm sure there's enough demand in Wicklow to justify this)."

Whilst in a "Normal" public transport situation this might be a useful approach,it will not make any difference in modern day Ireland.

Just as with many other locations,such as Tullow,Bus Eireann`s plans for improvements or extensions to services do exist.

However,the current convention within the DEPT of TRANSPORT appears to centre around any CIE group application being first run-past local private operators with a request for their opinions.

This virtually guarantees an objection from at least one operator who may hold or be applying for a licence over all or part of the Bus Eireann application.

Interestingly,the same principle does NOT apply in reverse as Bus Eireann/Bus Atha Cliath are not notified of any decisions to grant new services which may operate along their pre-existing routes.

Once again the problem here is NOT the 1932 Transport Act,it is the CURRENT interpretation of several sections of that leglislation.
The Department is taking a particular line on what they see as not encouraging the "Dominant" position of the CIE group.

The reasons behind this appear to be bound up with what the DEPT perceive as current EU market liberalization policy,far from clear though that may be.

In the meantime our Public Transport system is fast losing ground to the Car......and nobody is telling the Minister....

My advice is Don`t write to Bus Eireann...instead send your opinions to the Dept of Transport...... and don`t forget to start it with......À Chara....

trellheim

Alek, while the OP may be sympathetic ... he just wants to get home and he is probably not really aware of this level of powerplay

JohnR may be along shortly and he may know more.

Aquitaine

while i agree there are not that many 84x going to newtown i know that one does go by me while i wait for the BE bus and it is generally fairly empty. in fact on one occassion i got the 84x to newtown and picked up the wicklow bus there (once it had emptied out a bit). this for me is a alot of hassle and alot more expensive. i know everyone just wants to get home so im sure everyone encounters similiar problems. thanks for the replies.

loyatemu

also - Newtown commuters using the (more-frequent) BE services are likely to have commuter tickets that do not cover DB services. Newtown is in a slightly odd situation having both BE and DB buses, but the DB service is not great.

Victor

Aquitaine, do you have a Medium Hop / Giant Hop ticket that can be used on both services?

Pauldavid

If the problem is all the commuters getting on the BE bus to newtown / kilmac or whereever why not get the 84x to newtown / kilmac where the BE bus will empty and have loads of room for you.

Aquitaine

Pauldavid wrote: »

If the problem is all the commuters getting on the BE bus to newtown / kilmac or whereever why not get the 84x to newtown / kilmac where the BE bus will empty and have loads of room for you.

well as i said i tried that once and it is an extra expense as i have a BE ticket that i cant use on Dublin bus. also as the both buses run around the same time there is a good chance i will miss it in Newtown. believe me i have tried all this.