Bus Éireann x8 and i6 coaches

foggy_lad

My first trip on the new bus éireann coaches is turning out to be a disaster from the very start and the late boarding and departure. Traffic was usual Saturday afternoon stuff, 40 minutes to Newlands Cross but the coach is the biggest disappointment because the WiFi is broken and frankly so is the bus! There is more legroom in the tiny commuter buses used on services to naas and newbridge and although the buses are bright and look fantastic they feel cheap n nasty like the Ryanair of the bus world. Looks like more money wasted by bus eireann on buses which don't meet the needs of passengers because they cut corners and scrimped on the legroom. Next time expect a review of aircoach the real Dublin to Cork expressway operator!

Apart from the lack of legroom the coach is quiet and quite comfortable but not for people over 5'2"


On closer inspection the front roof of the new bus looks damaged as the trim around and in front of the monitor looks skewed as if something hit or landed on the roof pushing it in, maybe a victim of those bastards that throw rocks and concrete blocks off motorway bridges? This would certainly explain the non-working WiFi.

AlekSmart

foggy_lad wrote: »

My first trip on the new bus éireann coaches is turning out to be a disaster from the very start and the late boarding and departure. Traffic was usual Saturday afternoon stuff, 40 minutes to Newlands Cross but the coach is the biggest disappointment because the WiFi is broken and frankly so is the bus! There is more legroom in the tiny commuter buses used on services to naas and newbridge and although the buses are bright and look fantastic they feel cheap n nasty like the Ryanair of the bus world. Looks like more money wasted by bus eireann on buses which don't meet the needs of passengers because they cut corners and scrimped on the legroom. Next time expect a review of aircoach the real Dublin to Cork expressway operator!

Apart from the lack of legroom the coach is quiet and quite comfortable but not for people over 5'2"

On closer inspection the front roof of the new bus looks damaged as the trim around and in front of the monitor looks skewed as if something hit or landed on the roof pushing it in, maybe a victim of those bastards that throw rocks and concrete blocks off motorway bridges? This would certainly explain the non-working WiFi.

My only real response is to wonder aloud as to the delay in providing us with this unbiased reprise of the service/vehicle.

A long and productive Boards "career" spend dissing every possible element of CIE group companies,management,employees,products and approaches has meant that few,if any on here would expect an unbiased review of ANYTHING CIE from this source.

I can only hope Foggy_Lad gets to snooze en route

foggy_lad

50minutes late in Cashel is a great advertisement for this super service which almost ticks all the boxes but doesn't quite deliver anything, just like the much hyped X20 Galway service and the recently changed 004 Waterford service which both also fail miserable as far as having attainable times in the schedule.

bk

Foggy how many passengers on board? Wondering how it is doing since Aircoach came along.

Alek, in fairness I will say I noticed the same about the legroom on the new BE coaches. I haven't actually been on one (and I won't) but I passed one on the quays one day while on the Aircoach Jonckheere. We pulled up right beside it at lights and I was shocked at how tight the leg room looked in the new coaches compared to the Jonckheere. They really were noticeably tight.

I think BE made a tactical mistake with the new coaches. The new coaches seat 63 passengers versus 52 previously in the same length!! Obviously at the expense of leg room.

I think what happened is BE bought these buses prior to the entry of Dublin Coach and Aircoach to the market. Back then, BE were often running full buses to and from Cork at peak times, so they decided to reduce leg room and increase the number of passengers they can carry.

But now we have the entry of Aircoach and perhaps GoBus eventually. So now there is way less demand on the BE coaches as passengers are being stolen by Aircoach/GoBus and BE are left with coaches with lots of empty seats, but with less legroom which makes them even less attractive then the older but much more comfortable Aircoach Jonckheere's.

I think it was a very bad mistake on BE's part.

foggy_lad

Not many on until Cashel when quite a few boarded and a few more in Cahir. About half full now but the nail in the coffin as we depart the motorway into Fermoy an hour behind schedule is the Aircoach which left an hour later is ahead of us on the motorway.

bk

foggy_lad wrote: »

Not many on until Cashel when quite a few boarded and a few more in Cahir. About half full now but the nail in the coffin as we depart the motorway into Fermoy an hour behind schedule is the Aircoach which left an hour later is ahead of us on the motorway.

So it seems the services intercity business has been killed off by Aircoach and it is now left with just the intermediary business. Hardly surprising.

cson

foggy_lad wrote: »

50minutes late in Cashel is a great advertisement for this super service which almost ticks all the boxes but doesn't quite deliver anything, just like the much hyped X20 Galway service and the recently changed 004 Waterford service which both also fail miserable as far as having attainable times in the schedule.

I think the X20 is a good service. I do think however that spinning out to the Airport makes a **** of the schedule; the departure point should be the airport imo.

Edit: To clarify what I'm saying is it should go Airport - Busaras - Athlone - Bsloe - Lrea - Galway and return [I don't know if it stops at Oranmore? It shouldn't if it does]

foggy_lad

cson wrote: »

foggy_lad wrote: »

50minutes late in Cashel is a great advertisement for this super service which almost ticks all the boxes but doesn't quite deliver anything, just like the much hyped X20 Galway service and the recently changed 004 Waterford service which both also fail miserable as far as having attainable times in the schedule.

I think the X20 is a good service. I do think however that spinning out to the Airport makes a **** of the schedule; the departure point should be the airport imo.

Edit: To clarify what I'm saying is it should go Airport - Busaras - Athlone - Bsloe - Lrea - Galway and return [I don't know if it stops at Oranmore? It shouldn't if it does]

Anytime I have got it from Athlone to Dublin it has been 30-60minutes late at the airport and Busáras. Just getting to cork now 50 minutes late! We were due here at 5.30pm!