Bus Éireann route X20 - experiences?

foggy_lad

I took the 16.50 x20 from athlone to Dublin today and firstly it was very late getting into athlone. Considering the driver of the on hire bus did not take any break the but left over 30 minute late but would have been 45 minutes late if the driver had taken the normal break in athlone. Is this driver fiddling his times?

THe bus is really not suitable for a long distance journey, the individual reading lights don't work and the driver has to keep his window open to stop the condensation covering his side of the windscreen. There is no WiFi on board as advertised by bus eireann and the fact the driver has not hot a clear view because of the condensation is quite unnerving!

My first impressions of this new service from bus eireann is what a crock of a bus and pity the people that came from galway on it as well as concern over the driver not getting his break and the train has nothing to worry from this type of miserable service from bus eireann.

devnull

Nobody forces you to use the X20, you can always use Gobus.ie and Citylink, as they are both quicker from city centre to city centre, both have wifi and the former has toilets!

If you are going to the airport though and time is tight, the X20 is the fastest cheapest way to the airport.

AlekSmart

If you are going to the airport though and time is tight, the X20 is the fastest cheapest way to the airport.

With respect Devnull,based upon his past postings,Foggy_Lads main concerns when undertaking a journey by public transport appear to have little to do with either destination or timings...

Considering the driver of the on hire bus did not take any break the but left over 30 minute late but would have been 45 minutes late if the driver had taken the normal break in athlone. Is this driver fiddling his times?

It appears that the Train has the competitive edge as far as Foggy_Lad is concerned here and that`s all fair enough I guess ?

My first impressions of this new service from bus eireann is what a crock of a bus and pity the people that came from galway on it as well as concern over the driver not getting his break and the train has nothing to worry from this type of miserable service from bus eireann.

I`m confident that Foggy_Lad will already have notified the appropriate authorities about the Drivers alledged irregularities....Bus Eireann,Gardai and the Road Safety Authority and perhaps even the owner of the coach ?

gbob

There is no scheduled break in Athlone on that service.

The driver is not required or expected to take a break either.

foggy_lad

No air-conditioning, no reading lights, no WiFi, and an hour late getting to busaras but according to a bus eireann inspector "the timetable is wrong" yet it has not been withdrawn changed or otherwise notified to customers that it is wrong!

So much for a great new service its just more of the same auld "that'll do" rubbish!

Fo Real

In general, the intercity Bus Eireann services are poor. That's why private bus firms have proliferated in recent years. As another poster has pointed out, you have the choice of both Gobus.ie and Citylink on top of Bus Eireann for this route.

If I was in charge, I'd scrap Bus Eireann for intercity routes and save the country a wad of money. However, I can't complain about their regional services. They provide vital public transport for rural dwellers, and this warrants government subsidies.

foggy_lad

gbob wrote: »

There is no scheduled break in Athlone on that service.

The driver is not required or expected to take a break either.

fair enough on this point i stand corrected!

now back to the inspector in Busáras who is adamant that the x20 timetable is "wrong" and is off by almost an hour? so athlone to busaras should take three hours on the motorway?that just seems wrong to me! the bus was 30 minutes late leaving athlone where a bus eireann representative had said "he will easily make it up on the motorway" but instead of making time another 15 minutes at least was lost between athlone and the westlink bridge. it just doesn't add up!

gbob

foggy_lad wrote: »

fair enough on this point i stand corrected!

now back to the inspector in Busáras who is adamant that the x20 timetable is "wrong" and is off by almost an hour? so athlone to busaras should take three hours on the motorway?that just seems wrong to me! the bus was 30 minutes late leaving athlone where a bus eireann representative had said "he will easily make it up on the motorway" but instead of making time another 15 minutes at least was lost between athlone and the westlink bridge. it just doesn't add up!

The running time on that service from Athlone is 1hr 40 mins, and may well be achievable in optimum conditions, how many times have any of us seen optimum driving conditions on Irish rds? how many times have we heard lately of 30 minute delays or more getting out of galway? How many times have buses broken down and having to be replaced, causing delays to the service, or accidents causing tailbacks, or technology failures (wifi), nothing& noboby is perfect, get used to it. And as for the timetable being wrong, do you think its possible that management deliberately advertise unacheivable times in order to keep pressure on drivers? After all, its the drivers who are in the front line and get the stick from all angles when something goes wrong !!! I've been driving buses& coaches 16 years and I've never known a bus to be late or malfuntioning because of the driver.

foggy_lad

So the managers were out driving the route at 4.30am just like the boffoons on the 145. It seems they don't really care about their own jobs as the more they screw around with their incompetent antics the more chance there is of all in CIE losing their jobs!

THEre was one woman in athlone who formed the opinion that bus eireann was just not reliable to trust them to get to the airport on time(the timetabled time) and spoke of alternative arrangements in future.

serfboard

devnull wrote: »

Nobody forces you to use the X20, you can always use Gobus.ie and Citylink, as they are both quicker from city centre to city centre, both have wifi and the former has toilets!

Fo Real wrote: »

As another poster has pointed out, you have the choice of both Gobus.ie and Citylink on top of Bus Eireann for this route.

No he doesn't. He is going from Athlone to Dublin. GoBus does not stop in Athlone, neither does the Citylink express service. The Citylink stopping service scheduled time to the city centre is 1:50 - the X20's is 1:40.

I actually think that the X20 as a concept is a good one. Stop in Loughrea, Ballinasloe and Athlone only, and then go to the airport via the M50. It goes to the city centre after the airport (as opposed to GoBus/Citylink who go to the city first).

In theory at least, you won't get a better service from Athlone to the airport.

I would be interested to hear from other X20 users to see how their experience compares. I would also like to know from Bus Eireann how often the X20 leaves Athlone at the scheduled time.

CIE

foggy_lad wrote: »

No air-conditioning, no reading lights, no WiFi, and an hour late getting to busaras but according to a bus eireann inspector "the timetable is wrong" yet it has not been withdrawn changed or otherwise notified to customers that it is wrong!

So much for a great new service its just more of the same auld "that'll do" rubbish!

No AC? No WiFi? Oh dear. Good thing you didn't grow up with the old forced-air Leyland Leopards...

foggy_lad

the thing about those old busses is they are not a bit relevant today as the busses used and hired by bus eireann are supposed to be of a certain standard but they are not meeting those standards on most occasions!

from their own charter

When You Travel on our Services

* It is our policy to update our fleet on a planned basis.
* We will ensure that the heating, ventilation and lighting on board our vehicles are working and set to a comfortable level.
* We will clean the inside and outside of all in-service buses and coaches at least once a day.
* Our drivers will be well presented, friendly, helpful and courteous to you at all times.
* Smoking and the consumption of alcohol are prohibited by law on our services; we will continue to enforce these laws with the assistance of the relevant authorities.
* Buses and coaches will display correct destination information and/or route number at all times.

while most of the bus eireann fleet is fairly up to date and usually complies with their own charter the awful bangers they seem to hire from some companies are definitely not up to the standard!

it boils down i think to local depots like waterford galway etc hiring from local companies owned by friends of managers etc but this is only my opinion, why else would they hire such awful busses when so many other proper coaches are available from different companies in the same areas? so that some areas are served by brand new coaches while others are left with shabby dingy sometimes unsafe bangers that are over 10 years old and well past their use on long distance services.

richard2010

foggy_lad wrote: »

I took the 16.50 x20 from athlone to Dublin today and firstly it was very late getting into athlone. Considering the driver of the on hire bus did not take any break the but left over 30 minute late but would have been 45 minutes late if the driver had taken the normal break in athlone. Is this driver fiddling his times?

THe bus is really not suitable for a long distance journey, the individual reading lights don't work and the driver has to keep his window open to stop the condensation covering his side of the windscreen. There is no WiFi on board as advertised by bus eireann and the fact the driver has not hot a clear view because of the condensation is quite unnerving!

My first impressions of this new service from bus eireann is what a crock of a bus and pity the people that came from galway on it as well as concern over the driver not getting his break and the train has nothing to worry from this type of miserable service from bus eireann.

Foggy Lad,

With respect in the time it took you to post this above, you could have phoned BE to complain about it. While I do realise that by putting is on a message board, you are letting people know of your experience but nobody from BE is likely to see this therefore it is a tad waste of time. Ring them next time it will prove more successful!

foggy_lad

richard2010 wrote: »

Foggy Lad,

With respect in the time it took you to post this above, you could have phoned BE to complain about it. While I do realise that by putting is on a message board, you are letting people know of your experience but nobody from BE is likely to see this therefore it is a tad waste of time. Ring them next time it will prove more successful!

an email has been sent to bus eireann detailing the experience and notifying them of the startling revelation of their own inspector that their timetable is so wrong yet remains unchanged!

And I am also looking for other peoples experiences especially good experiences of the 20 and x20 services as I don't believe it to be this bad all the time!