Need to make a complaint about the Dublin-Cavan-Donegal bus service

gazzer

A few of my relatives where coming to to my partners 40th party in Cavan last Saturday night. They had planned to get the 109 to Cavan at 6.30 but I told them to get the number 30 if there was space on the bus as it gets to Cavan in a quicker time (almost a half hour quicker thatn the 109) and that they wouldnt be rushing to get the 6.30 bus.

They got the 7pm bus from Busarus which was due to get into Cavan town for 8.45. The bus didnt get into the Cavan until 9.15. The reason for this was that the driver decided to take a stop on the Dublin Road for 20 minutes (about a mile out of Cavan town) to get off the bus and get some food.

Nowhere on the Bus Eireann timetable for this service does it say that the bus will stop for a period of time on the way into Cavan so Im just wondering if this is a common occurrence on this route. I usually only get this bus to Virginia and it has never happened on the way there.

markpb

gazzer wrote: »

AThe reason for this was that the driver decided to take a stop on the Dublin Road for 20 minutes (about a mile out of Cavan town) to get off the bus and get some food.

This has happened me a few times but only when the depot in Cavan has closed for the evening and there's nowhere for passengers to take a break, go to the toilet, etc. It's annoying (if you're only going to Cavan) but a necessity if you're going any further.

foggy_lad

gazzer wrote: »

A few of my relatives where coming to to my partners 40th party in Cavan last Saturday night. They had planned to get the 109 to Cavan at 6.30 but I told them to get the number 30 if there was space on the bus as it gets to Cavan in a quicker time (almost a half hour quicker thatn the 109) and that they wouldnt be rushing to get the 6.30 bus.

They got the 7pm bus from Busarus which was due to get into Cavan town for 8.45. The bus didnt get into the Cavan until 9.15. The reason for this was that the driver decided to take a stop on the Dublin Road for 20 minutes (about a mile out of Cavan town) to get off the bus and get some food.

Nowhere on the Bus Eireann timetable for this service does it say that the bus will stop for a period of time on the way into Cavan so Im just wondering if this is a common occurrence on this route. I usually only get this bus to Virginia and it has never happened on the way there.

You should contact bus Eireann by email on their website, this sounds like an unscheduled break or is it possible that the bus took so long getting out of Dublin that the driver was forced to stop and take his break to comply with the law?

Turner

Why not let your relatives complain? They were on the bus.

Did they ask the driver why he was stopping, was he hungry or over tired?

I'm sure if they asked him they would have gotten the answer.

Run_to_da_hills

Unscheduled stops can be a god send if you need to light up.

gazzer

Turner wrote: »

Why not let your relatives complain? They were on the bus.

Did they ask the driver why he was stopping, was he hungry or over tired?

I'm sure if they asked him they would have gotten the answer.

They should have complained and I asked them why they didnt but I think they thought they would have been kicked off the bus if they did and they didnt know where they where

I looked at the timetable and it says "Arrive at Cavan at 2045, Depart from Cavan 2045".

gazzer

foggy_lad wrote: »

You should contact bus Eireann by email on their website, this sounds like an unscheduled break or is it possible that the bus took so long getting out of Dublin that the driver was forced to stop and take his break to comply with the law?

Well the bus left on time as I got a text to say they where on the bus. It got to Virigina on time also (8.25) so it was definately on time up to that point.

A Primal Nut

gazzer wrote: »

A few of my relatives where coming to to my partners 40th party in Cavan last Saturday night. They had planned to get the 109 to Cavan at 6.30 but I told them to get the number 30 if there was space on the bus as it gets to Cavan in a quicker time (almost a half hour quicker thatn the 109) and that they wouldnt be rushing to get the 6.30 bus.

They got the 7pm bus from Busarus which was due to get into Cavan town for 8.45. The bus didnt get into the Cavan until 9.15. The reason for this was that the driver decided to take a stop on the Dublin Road for 20 minutes (about a mile out of Cavan town) to get off the bus and get some food.

Nowhere on the Bus Eireann timetable for this service does it say that the bus will stop for a period of time on the way into Cavan so Im just wondering if this is a common occurrence on this route. I usually only get this bus to Virginia and it has never happened on the way there.

This is an over four-hour bus journey from Dublin to Donegal! Both the driver and passengers are entitled to a 20 minute break to go to the toilet and get food. It's completely normal and happens every time (it's not the whim of the bus driver). You would want a break too if you were going that distance.

The Donegal Bus is a convenience because its quicker (I'm from Cavan and get it) but the basic intention is that the bus service is for people going to Donegal. If the bus is packed only people going to Donegal will be allowed onto it.

The timetable used to reflect it (arrival and departure times for Cavan were different) now they seem to be the same on the Bus Eireann site but I know the breaks still take place. You could ask them to change their timetable to reflect it, but there is no chance of those breaks stopping anytime soon.

gazzer

A Primal Nut wrote: »

This is an over four-hour bus journey from Dublin to Donegal! Both the driver and passengers are entitled to a 20 minute break to go to the toilet and get food. It's completely normal and happens every time (it's not the whim of the bus driver). You would want a break too if you were going that distance.

The Cavan stop is a convenience because its quicker (I'm from Cavan and get it) but the basic intention is that the bus service is for people going to Donegal. If the bus is packed only people going to Donegal will be allowed onto it.

The timetable used to reflect it (arrival and departure times for Cavan were different) now they seem to be the same on the Bus Eireann site but I know the breaks still take place. You could ask them to change their timetable to reflect it, but there is no chance of those breaks stopping anytime soon.

Ah fair enough. Thanks for that clarification. I presumed that the bus would need to take a break at some stage as there is no loo on it but it was just when I read the timetable online it didnt mention a break before Cavan.

So does that mean that the arrival time for the bus getting to Cavan should be about 20 minutes later all the time? Its handy to know for future trips. As I said in an earlier post I only ever got this bus to Virgina.

Thanks again.

n97 mini

Do bus drivers get any incentives for stopping with a bus-load of punters at certain establishments?

dowlingm

A Primal Nut wrote: »

This is an over four-hour bus journey from Dublin to Donegal! Both the driver and passengers are entitled to a 20 minute break to go to the toilet and get food. It's completely normal and happens every time (it's not the whim of the bus driver). You would want a break too if you were going that distance.

Where in the OP did he say the driver should have held it? If the timetable had reflected a break to which the driver was entitled, the OP might have advised his relatives to take a different service. Compared to many on here I thought it was a fairly polite expression of displeasure.

coylemj

n97 mini wrote: »

Do bus drivers get any incentives for stopping with a bus-load of punters at certain establishments?

Almost certainly they do, roadside pubs and restaurants with room for buses to park are well clued into the system as are similar establishments all over the world. Most people probably remember that Harrys in Kinnegad was a well known stop for food on the way from Dublin to Galway or Sligo, they actually had a separate dining room for bus drivers where no money changed hands.

At one stage Bus Eireann decided to tweak the Galway to Dublin timetable because the various bypasses being built on the N4 coming out of Dublin meant that the final leg from Kinnegad to Dublin was getting down to under 45 minutes so they decided to move the last 'comfort break' before Dublin to somewhere west of Kinnegad whereupon the BE drivers based in Galway all went out on strike!

n97 mini

coylemj wrote: »

Most people probably remember that Harrys in Kinnegad

It's what put it in my head.

I wonder is this unscheduled stop incentivised, unbeknownst to BE HQ, or are they even turning a blind eye to it as it's a long standing practice?

A Primal Nut

n97 mini wrote: »

Do bus drivers get any incentives for stopping with a bus-load of punters at certain establishments?

I think it depends on the time of day but typically the bus just stops for a break at Cavan Bus Station itself.

Later at night it stops at McDonalds and a filling station about 10 minutes before the bus station. Not sure why - perhaps the restaurant in the bus station is closed, or maybe certain drivers do receive incentives!

Like I said the timetable used to reflect the break (different times for shown for arrival and departure times from Cavan) - not sure why it's changed.

markpb

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Later at night it stops at McDonalds and a filling station about 10 minutes before the bus station. Not sure why - perhaps the restaurant in the bus station is closed, or maybe certain drivers do receive incentives!

Like I said back in post 2 of this thread, the bus depot is closed at (around) 9pm which means there's no toilet and no restaurant so the buses stop outside the town.

Vic_08

markpb wrote: »

Like I said back in post 2 of this thread, the bus depot is closed at (around) 9pm which means there's no toilet and no restaurant so the buses stop outside the town.

That is it, nothing more. Sorry to disappoint the rest of you with your theory that the nasty CIE bus driver is getting brown envelopes for stopping a service bus at a service station but that just isn't reality. A free cup of coffee maybe offered but even that wouldn't be a given these days.

On the occasions I drove one of the late Donegal services I also stopped at a service station south of Cavan, purely because the bus station is closed and there is no access to the toilets. Also I was unaware of any other location on the route where a toilet could be accessed and I didn't want to be in the position of stopping on the side of a country road to let someone off to piss in a bush.

I am sure it is annoying for passengers getting off at the next stop but it is a long distance service and people travelling for 4 hours need to be given consideration.

I do not like delaying people unnecessarily and generally take a dim view of passengers who demand piss stops on short services but Dublin-Donegal is far from unreasonable for people to expect at least a toilet break.

To the OP: by all means make a complaint, you won't be the first or last. Since the timetable of the route was changed all the rest stops (which had all been timed at Cavan even at night when the station was closed) have been removed and more than a few complaints have gone in both by those annoyed at delays due to unscheduled stops and those annoyed at not being given a stop when they wanted one.

It is also worth pointing out that the timetable on the route is unrealistic, 1h45 from Dublin to Cavan via Dublin Airport. Even assuming the bus left the Airport on time (20mns from Busaras to Airport, load passengers and depart is very good going) it then has 125minutes to do the 120km to Cavan.

n97 mini

Vic_08 wrote: »

That is it, nothing more. Sorry to disappoint the rest of you with your theory that the nasty CIE bus driver is getting brown envelopes for stopping a service bus at a service station but that just isn't reality.

No-one implied anything of the sort, but I often saw bus drivers in Kinnegad tucking into roast dinners etc.