I think this is a F****** disgrace

no1beemerfan

Because of unforseen circumstances I have to get a bus from Newbridge to Roscrea today. I work in an office untill half 5 / 6 pm but if I want to get home at a reasonable time I have to start getting buses at half 4.

Also with Bus Eireann I HAVE to go from Newbridge to Bus Aras, wait for the No 12 to Roscrea and the total journey will take 3 hours and 45 bloody mins (a trip that I can do in 55 mins or bit less in the car!).

I now have to get the Dublin Coach bus to Kildare village at half 4 and hope and pray it makes it to there by 10 to 5 to catch a JJ Kavanagh bus or else the next bus doesn't come until 10 to 7!

And they want us to use public transport???? With a set-up like this????

Its a feckin joke!

coylemj

I think you need to be ranting over in Commuting & Transport.

It is a fact of life that Dublin is the centre of the universe as far as long distance transport in Ireland goes so if you want to go from A to B and they are not both on the same road to/from Dublin then your journey will be of the tortuous kind as you described.

TwoShedsJackson

After you get your various buses, let us know roughly how full each one was. If they were all packed, yes there may be a need for more buses.

If not, the company aren't going to start laying on a bus every five minutes on the off chance your car might break down.

Berty

There are 2 bus's from my town to Limerick and 2 bus's from Limerick to my town each day.

You get used to it because nobody cares to listen.

charlemont

Its the usual thing here, Our towns are far too small, underpopulated and spread out from each other to have a viable public transport system.

no1beemerfan

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

After you get your various buses, let us know roughly how full each one was. If they were all packed, yes there may be a need for more buses.

If not, the company aren't going to start laying on a bus every five minutes on the off chance your car might break down.

I came to work with someone today and meant to go home with someone else but they didn't come to Newbridge after. The person I came with won't be going back to Roscrea!

Its years since I used a bus and at that time it was an hour late!

stevenmu

They can't exactly have a bus that picks you up at your door at the time you desire and takes you straight to work and drops you right at the door there.

How many people on average travel Newbridge to Roscrea, do you really think there's anough to support a bus service? And if there's not enough people to make it commercially viable who do you think is going to support it? You might be delighted to have the taxpayers paying for a bus route that takes you straight to work and back, until you realise that you'll then have to pay for the other 4 million people who all want the same thing.

If you want to commute via public transport then you have to be prepared to live and work on public transport routes. Believe it or not many other people manage to do this.

dynamick

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Because of unforseen circumstances I have to get a bus from Newbridge to Roscrea today. I work in an office untill half 5 / 6 pm but if I want to get home at a reasonable time I have to start getting buses at half 4.

Train:
Newbridge-Kildare 17:36-17:44 InterCity
Kildare-Ballybrophy 18:07-18:46 InterCity
Ballybrophy-Roscrea 18:54-19:14 Railcar

And they want us to use public transport???? With a set-up like this????

If 'they' wanted you to use public transport why do you think they built you 1,000 km of motorway and set up a planning system to disperse housing as thinly as possible across the country?

GTE

Its a balancing act for BE with money I would imagine. They can not serve everywhere. They need to make money.

I was going to say the commuter buses should feed the Expressways out of Dublin so for you that would mean the 12 would stop in Newbridge to take passengers the commuter bus picked up from Dublin.

Having said that if they did that with the Galway/Ballina/Sligo/Westport routes then the intercities would all stop in Kinnegad having been fed by the Mullingar bus before splitting up to go west. Then I would have to rely on the 115 for Dublin bound services which is not good. So to do one thing they need to sort out another and I am sure there are a string of things after that.

It is all very daft with transport in this country. I am very well served by bus but the train is a joke.

Another daft thing is that from what I have read there is a load of new coaches parked up in Broadstone as part of the contract in Transport21 says they can not be used on intercity services. So those new double deckers they have doing the Edenderry and Trim routes cant be unleashed on the Expressways, not that they would get too far. They seem to break down a lot.

Equally the buses (LC type) they have on the Mullingar route can only be used on commuter services despite being identical to the LC type doing the Belfast runs aside from a set of curtains.

I am lucky that if my car broke down I could get to where I need to be but the whole system seems cockeyed.

GetWithIt

I, for one, can not believe there's no quality bus corridor between Newbridge and Roscrea. Shocking.

mikemac

You're going a bit overboard

No need at all to go to Dublin, why even bring that up. Just get to Kildare and you'll get a bus there

And you live on the train line

If you lived in Kildare you'd have an hourly BE service and JJ Kavanaghs and the train
All you have to do is get to Kildare.

I'd have taken the day off tbh.

GTE

GetWithIt wrote: »

I, for one, can not believe there's no quality bus corridor between Newbridge and Roscrea. Shocking.

That does seem like such a simple thing considering the commuter routes stop in Newbridge as far as I know. All it would take is sending the 12 into Newbridge. So that is a simple fix. . . I think.

cosmic

Learn to drive, so that you don't have to rely on lifts / buses

cosmic

cosmic wrote: »

Learn to drive, so that you don't have to rely on lifts / buses

He has 854 decent posts in the motors forum, he can definitely drive and has at least one car.

no1beemerfan

GetWithIt wrote: »

I, for one, can not believe there's no quality bus corridor between Newbridge and Roscrea. Shocking.

Bus Eireann by-pass Newbridge, Kildare and Monasterevin, 3 big commuter towns into Dublin. I think thats a disgrace.

Lex Luthor

why dont you try and find someone to car pool with that travels by Newbridge to Roscrea daily and throw them a few quid?

Cuddlesworth

RoverJames wrote: »

He has 854 decent posts in the motors forum, he can definitely drive and has at least one car.

Like that other beamer chap that was floating around there.....

no1beemerfan

stevenmu wrote: »

They can't exactly have a bus that picks you up at your door at the time you desire and takes you straight to work and drops you right at the door there.

How many people on average travel Newbridge to Roscrea, do you really think there's anough to support a bus service? And if there's not enough people to make it commercially viable who do you think is going to support it? You might be delighted to have the taxpayers paying for a bus route that takes you straight to work and back, until you realise that you'll then have to pay for the other 4 million people who all want the same thing.

If you want to commute via public transport then you have to be prepared to live and work on public transport routes. Believe it or not many other people manage to do this.

Is Newbridge/Kildare etc not commuter routes. I would've though they were. My problem is getting out of Newbridge/Kildare if you can believe that!

thom119

its not just out of dublin the public transport system is bad

heading from tallaght to ucd was a nightmare for the last few years
sometimes took >2 hours to do a trip that would take 20 minutes in a car

dynamick

Train to Portlaoise
Bus from Portlaoise to Roscrea

I dunno if you're taking the p or not
No1beemerfan would be a repected contributor to the section.

no1beemerfan

cosmic wrote: »

Learn to drive, so that you don't have to rely on lifts / buses

Lex Luthor wrote: »

why dont you try and find someone to car pool with that travels by Newbridge to Roscrea daily and throw them a few quid?

I've been coming up and down for 13 years! I just got a lift with someone today, and some days they get a lift with me....its just I would usually go home with that person only she is going to Dublin tonight and the other person I was to get a lift changed their plans this afternoon.

no1beemerfan

RoverJames wrote: »

I dunno if you're taking the p or not
No1beemerfan would be a repected contributor to the section.

Cheers! Your not too bad a contributor yourself, a few more posts than me though!!

no1beemerfan

dynamick wrote: »

Train to Portlaoise
Bus from Portlaoise to Roscrea

Never thought of the train but have it sorted that if I miss the JJ Kavanagh bus I know someone who will be passing Kildare before the second bus comes so can go with them. What time does Kildare Village close at

cosmic

RoverJames wrote: »

He has 854 decent posts in the motors forum, he can definitely drive and has at least one car.

Ok, fair enough, my bad. I don't tend to check every user's post history before I reply on a thread though.

GTE

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Is Newbridge/Kildare etc not commuter routes. I would've though they were. My problem is getting out of Newbridge/Kildare if you can believe that!

They are but it is wrong to ask the Expressways to stop in each of these commuter towns. I am unfamiliar with that commuter route but I think what needs to be done is have the Expressway serve the last available stop it can on the commuter services. It stops the services doubling up and lets people get access to the Expressway. At the very least for you that would mean the 12 servicing Newbridge.

You can look at the Galway service and see how that is messed up by regulations. There is no need for it to stop in Enfield, Clonard, Kinnegad etc. It could stop in Maynooth and Kinnegad and pick up the Dub - Mullingar traffic. Apparently this cant be done due to silly regulations and license restrictions. It could then only stop if asked to by passengers on board.

no1beemerfan

dynamick wrote: »

Train:
Newbridge-Kildare 17:36-17:44 InterCity
Kildare-Ballybrophy 18:07-18:46 InterCity
Ballybrophy-Roscrea 18:54-19:14 Railcar

Thanks for that. To be honest I actually thought Roscrea station was closed down

Only problem is I'd have a four or five mile walk to get to my car!

dynamick wrote: »

If 'they' wanted you to use public transport why do you think they built you 1,000 km of motorway and set up a planning system to disperse housing as thinly as possible across the country?

I thought there was a policy to encourage public transport use. Or mabey that was the Greens?

nobody3

no1beemerfan wrote: »

I thought there was a policy to encourage public transport use. Or maybe that was the Greens?

No, the Greens just wanted to up the price of fuel with so called "carbon taxes". Doing anything simple like improving public transport wouldn't be controversial enough.

Perhaps the new government will wake up soon, and start taking action to shake up the transport sector.

Absurdum

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Thanks for that. To be honest I actually thought Roscrea station was closed down

Only problem is I'd have a four or five mile walk to get to my car!

Can't you get a lift/taxi from the station?

To be fair to the world of public transport, you have some options, albeit not the most convenient, what else do you expect? Newbridge to Roscrea is hardly the busiest route in the country. If Dublin - Limerick buses stopped in every town (like they used to), it would take forever and then we'd have a load of threads complaining about it!

no1beemerfan

Dublin Coach meant to be in Newbridge at 16.33. Still not here so have missed the 16.50 from Kildare Village with JJ Kavanagh more than likely and not going to chance waiting any longer so going to try the train now as its a bit of a walk from the bus stop!

Was mad in the first post. Now its turned into an adventure! Was going to cost €10 in total in Bus fare, not sure about the train fare.

Heathen

no1beemerfan wrote: »

Because of unforseen circumstances I have to get a bus from Newbridge to Roscrea today. I work in an office untill half 5 / 6 pm but if I want to get home at a reasonable time I have to start getting buses at half 4.

Also with Bus Eireann I HAVE to go from Newbridge to Bus Aras, wait for the No 12 to Roscrea and the total journey will take 3 hours and 45 bloody mins (a trip that I can do in 55 mins or bit less in the car!).

I now have to get the Dublin Coach bus to Kildare village at half 4 and hope and pray it makes it to there by 10 to 5 to catch a JJ Kavanagh bus or else the next bus doesn't come until 10 to 7!

And they want us to use public transport???? With a set-up like this????

Its a feckin joke!

I hear ya man! i used to have a beemer too that was unreliable

no1beemerfan

Heathen wrote: »

I hear ya man! i used to have a beemer too that was unreliable

My beemer is far from unreliable I'll have you know!!

Got the train but it was €23 to get from Newbridge to Roscrea. Took an hour and a half and three different trains. I'd do it again only for the fare price. But I must say the stations need signs up telling you when the next train is due and more importantly which platform to go to.....I'd to ask at every station where I'd to go etc.

-Chris-

Thread moved to C&T as it's the more appropriate forum, although I suspect all the OP's issues have been addressed and it'll just descend into the typical C&T Bus Eireann bashing.

Hopefully there's some constructive information that can be added to the conversation.

n97 mini

OP has lived through it by now, so hopefully he'll tell us how he got on.

Some advised get the train. Supplement that with a taxi or two.

That or hitch.

LXFlyer

At the end of the day you're damned if you and you're damned if you don't. You have to remember that there are a number of competing users for these services.

People have been demanding faster expressway services and that is finally what Bus Eireann (and other operators) are being allowed to deliver.

Bue Eireann expressway routes 8 and 12 now operate non-stop from Newlands X to Portlaoise. I would guess the reason for the lack of a local Bus Eireann connection from between Newbridge/Kildare and Portlaoise is that Dublin Coach hold the licence for that route.

However it may well be that there is an application from Bus Eireann for a local service that the NTA have not approved yet. The Department of Transport have sat on any potential competing licence applications from private operators and service applications from Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus for years due to constant dithering over whether to grant permission or not for fear of being sued under EU competition legislation.

The NTA have inherited a huge backlog of applications and are now working through them all finally.

As stated above, you had a number of options:

Dublin Coach to Portlaoise and Bus Eireann from there
Dublin Coach to Kildare Village and JJ Kavanagh from there
Irish Rail from Newbridge to Roscrea (with 2 changes)

foggy_lad

no1beemerfan wrote: »

My beemer is far from unreliable I'll have you know!!

Got the train but it was €23 to get from Newbridge to Roscrea. Took an hour and a half and three different trains. I'd do it again only for the fare price. But I must say the stations need signs up telling you when the next train is due and more importantly which platform to go to.....I'd to ask at every station where I'd to go etc.

If it happens again that you need to use public transport you may get cheaper fares online by booking as far in advance as you can. Have to agree about signs for next train and which platform though as only seasoned travellers would know without asking.

no1beemerfan

-Chris- wrote: »

Thread moved to C&T as it's the more appropriate forum, although I suspect all the OP's issues have been addressed and it'll just descend into the typical C&T Bus Eireann bashing.

Hopefully there's some constructive information that can be added to the conversation.

You can lock the thread if you wish, I've learnt not to rely on buses and the train service is good but not perfect and on the expensive side

Fluffsticle

I tried the train for 2 months...
Although I drove to Ballybrophy in the morning...
The train only takes 45 mins, and return you have to change in Kildare which is a pain. But it's not a stressful journey all in all. Just it was taking me 2 hours to get home in the evenings instead of 1 hour.

On the other hand I too am working in an office in Newbridge - standard hours. And am always open to the suggestion of carpooling with someone!!!!!!

OurLadyofKnock

GetWithIt wrote: »

I, for one, can not believe there's no quality bus corridor between Newbridge and Roscrea. Shocking.

He needs a priest with an insatiable appetite for sainthood.

no1beemerfan

Fluffsticle wrote: »

I tried the train for 2 months...
Although I drove to Ballybrophy in the morning...
The train only takes 45 mins, and return you have to change in Kildare which is a pain. But it's not a stressful journey all in all. Just it was taking me 2 hours to get home in the evenings instead of 1 hour.

On the other hand I too am working in an office in Newbridge - standard hours. And am always open to the suggestion of carpooling with someone!!!!!!

I'll be honest and always though that by the state of the station in Roscrea it was closed down :eek:

Jaysus didn't think anyone else would be doing the same journey as me! Though I'm moving to just outside Newbridge in the next few weeks as I'm doing the drive 13 years and I've had enough! Plus the missus works in Tallaght on shift work so is driving too so you can imagine the fuel bill!

Losty Dublin

no1beemerfan wrote: »

My beemer is far from unreliable I'll have you know!!

Got the train but it was €23 to get from Newbridge to Roscrea. Took an hour and a half and three different trains. I'd do it again only for the fare price. But I must say the stations need signs up telling you when the next train is due and more importantly which platform to go to.....I'd to ask at every station where I'd to go etc.

If you look at the photo in the below link, you will see signs on Newbridge station stating which one of three platform to use

http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/N/Newbridge/slides/Newbridge%20Station%2022-01-10_CC%20(35).html

Run_to_da_hills

You would be better off thumbing along the old road. memories of my student days.