Rant over Bus Éireann

bugsntinas

never posted here before but i'm livid.my wife was booking in over in slovakia for surgery tomorrow so the flights and coach from cork were all sorted weeks ago.the coach left cork at 2pm due to arrive at 17.50 according to the schedule ha bloody ha.at 1815 still not at the airport.apparently a passenger went down to the driver and had a rant at him over it and do ya know what the reply was "it's bus eireann fault,they put up the wrong time and they won't change it" apparently the drivers have told them that people are missing they're flights but they don't do anything about it.what sort of bloody muppets run this company that they can't get a simple thing like times right ya know it's not exactly a minor issue.
we now have to pay an extra 160 euro for another flight tomorrow,if she can get one,so i'll be down to the small claims court to get that back as i think it's a bloody discrace.oh and the coach never arrived until 18.35 and she missed the flight.
rant over.

devnull

Why are you taking Bus Eireann all the way from Cork to Dublin Airport?

Aircoach and GoBE offer a cheaper, more regular, non stop service that does run to timetable for

http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.cork.php
http://www.gobe.ie/#timetable

Cookie_Monster

who leaves such little room between arrive and flight departure that 30-45 mins makes a difference?
What if there had been traffic, or an accident and the road was closed...

Neither BE nor the courts will entertain such a case, the bus completed the journey and contract fulfilled albeit with a delay. Your onward travel plans were booked entirely separately and nothing to do with BE

bugsntinas

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

who leaves such little room between arrive and flight departure that 30-45 mins makes a difference?
What if there had been traffic, or an accident and the road was closed...

Neither BE nor the courts will entertain such a case, the bus completed the journey and contract fulfilled albeit with a delay. Your onward travel plans were booked entirely separately and nothing to do with BE

we felt an hour was fine anyway at the end of the day how much time is enough.be didn't fullfil their contract as they state arrival 17.50 yes if there had been roadworks etc then it wouldn'tbe their fault but they are stating a false time by 3/4 of an hour.

devnull.we are not familiar with the different coach companies as we don't travel much if we'd known then we'd have used someone else.

Jamie2k9

1 - You should have a rant at BE as doing it here will have zero affect.
2 - Leaving 1 Hour before a flight is asking for it to go without you. You know most carriers request you to be at you gate 25-35 minutes before the flight departs so you are only allowing 30 minutes to get to the airport, though security and to you gate and thats if you don't need to check bags. 90 minutes at least.

Its unbelievable the amount of people think flights will wait for them when people don't allow the required time stated by airlines and airports. 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Aircoach and GoBE offer a cheaper, more regular, non stop service that does run to timetable for

http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.cork.php
http://www.gobe.ie/#timetable

Going by location he is in Mallow so only option was BE unless he drove to Cork.

we felt an hour was fine anyway at the end of the day how much time is enough.be didn't fullfil their contract as they state arrival 17.50 yes if there had been roadworks etc then it wouldn'tbe their fault but they are stating a false time by 3/4 of an hour.

I'm sure there was no traffic hold ups in Dublin City Centre during rush hour was there, contract means nothing as there was nothing signed between two parties.

foggy_lad

There really is no excuse though for bus eireann operating a supposed express bus that is always 30-80minutes late at Cork or Busaras. Their timetable for route x8 is a work of fiction.

Jamie2k9

foggy_lad wrote: »

There really is no excuse though for bus eireann operating a supposed express bus that is always 30-80minutes late at Cork or Busaras. Their timetable for route x8 is a work of fiction.

Ture but there is no excuse for not allowing the required time to pass through the airport either. Both sides were at fault.

gbob

I think you'll find BE state in the timetable you should allow approx 45 on any service for delays. Unfortunately complaining to them will get you nowhere.

devnull

They state nothing of the sort here:
http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1360752838-008X.pdf

The so called X8 doesn't stop in Mallow either

LXFlyer

As per the BE website:

http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=267

Bus Éireann customers travelling to Dublin Airport are advised to plan their coach journey so as to arrive at the airport at least one hour before the recommended check-in time shown on their airline tickets.

corktina

devnull wrote: »

They state nothing of the sort here:
http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1360752838-008X.pdf

The so called X8 doesn't stop in Mallow either

Doesn't even go past it.... to get to Dublin by Coach from North Cork, you either habve to go to Cork or Limerick first. BE missing a trick here, a Mallow to Mitchelstown Coach might be worthwhile, connecting for Dublin.

Or just get the train

bikeman1

Whilst it is regrettable that the bus was delayed and did not arrive at its scheduled time. Bus Eireann may need to change their timetable to reflect the actual scenario on a daily basis.

However, to leave such little time before your flight is crazy and even more so if you are travelling across the country and through the capital at rush.

I live close enough to the airport and always allow for extra time. In case the bus breaks down. A crash on the road. Road works. I would rather leave an extra 30 -45 mins and get there early, have a beer or coffee in the knowledge that I'll be on my flight.

I'm afraid to say, buy the only person to blame is yourself. You will be wasting your time going to the small claims.

foggy_lad

Op at least you now know that there are alternatives such as aircoach and gobe which do keep to their timetables and can make the journey in 3 hours unlike bus Éireann who need 4 hours 30 minutes

Victor

foggy_lad wrote: »

Op at least you now know that there are alternatives such as aircoach and gobe which do keep to their timetables and can make the journey in 3 hours unlike bus Éireann who need 4 hours 30 minutes

The GoBÉ timetable allows 3h00-3h30. There is no break, but there is a toilet on-board. http://www.gobe.ie/#timetable On the Cork-Dublin-Cork sections, my experience has been that it usually on time or within 5 minutes.

The Aircoach timetable allows 3h25-3h35. There is meant to be a break, as there is no toilet on-board (in my experience). My experience has been that sometimes this break isn't taken or is rushed. http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.cork.php On the Cork-Dublin-Cork sections, my experience has been that it usually late by about 5-10 minutes.

The BÉ timetable allows 3h50-4h00. I'm not sure if they still have the full 15-20 minute break in Urlingford, as previously there had been no toilets on-board. http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1360752838-008X.pdf Importantly, it has 11-12 stops (some pick-up / set-down only) compared to 3 stops (counting the airport as one stop) for the other two routes. I've not used this route since it change from the 8 to the X8. Previously, I had noticed the driver waiting, in particular at Cahir.

devnull

Victor, that is incorrect, there is no scheduled break on the Aircoach service, and there are seven vehicles in the Aircoach fleet equipped with toilets, all which are allocated daily to the Dublin to Cork strictly.

The timetable requires nine coaches a day I believe so that being the case there will always be two coaches on the route without toilets at any one time. More if a vehicle is off the road for any reason or a spare vehicle is needed to cover a late running one for any reason that cannot be turned around in time.

For the coaches there is not a toilet on sometimes there will be a break, sometimes not, it seems that if nobody asks the driver normally he will not stop, but if someone does they may well stop.

_rebelkid

Seeing as you're in mallow OP, as am I btw, would you not have been better off taking the train to Heuston, then Dublin Bus out to the airport?

Train the the 747 bus to the airport. Also a LUAS option, but costs more.

foggy_lad

Victor wrote: »

The GoBÉ timetable allows 3h00-3h30. There is no break, but there is a toilet on-board. http://www.gobe.ie/#timetable On the Cork-Dublin-Cork sections, my experience has been that it usually on time or within 5 minutes.

The Aircoach timetable allows 3h25-3h35. There is meant to be a break, as there is no toilet on-board (in my experience). My experience has been that sometimes this break isn't taken or is rushed. http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.cork.php On the Cork-Dublin-Cork sections, my experience has been that it usually late by about 5-10 minutes.

The BÉ timetable allows 3h50-4h00. I'm not sure if they still have the full 15-20 minute break in Urlingford, as previously there had been no toilets on-board. http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1360752838-008X.pdf Importantly, it has 11-12 stops (some pick-up / set-down only) compared to 3 stops (counting the airport as one stop) for the other two routes. I've not used this route since it change from the 8 to the X8. Previously, I had noticed the driver waiting, in particular at Cahir.

Sorry, my times were based solely on Cork-Dublin City and not to the Airport, Add 25 minutes to my timings for all services to/from the airport and Bus Éireann are even slower than first thought.

In reality Bus Éireann X8 services to/from the airport are closer to 5 hours than the timetabled 4 hours and will sometimes break through the 5 hour barrier making the break mid journey compulsory.

Kat1170

OP sorry you ended up missing your flight but IME it is much better being in the airport 2 hours early, sitting back relaxing having a beer/tea/coffee/burger than panicking because something out of your control holds you up for that vital 30 mins.

Now I know some people will say 2 hours is over kill but normally anything involving a flight is already an expensive exercise without adding to it.

foggy_lad

Kat1170 wrote: »

OP sorry you ended up missing your flight but IME it is much better being in the airport 2 hours early, sitting back relaxing having a beer/tea/coffee/burger than panicking because something out of your control holds you up for that vital 30 mins.

Now I know some people will say 2 hours is over kill but normally anything involving a flight is already an expensive exercise without adding to it.

The op's point is that there are no real hold ups on the journey. The problem is the company advertise in the timetable that it takes 4 hours when in reality it takes at least 5.

devnull

Obviously the OP did cut it too fine when it came to what time he was arriving at the airport and should have allowed more time, that is for sure, but the X8 rarely runs to timetable, since they cut 3 stops out but cut the journey time by almost an hour, it needs a bit more running time to be honest, although there still are a large number of passengers who travel end to end, despite the fact that there are three better options!

Kat1170

foggy_lad wrote: »

The op's point is that there are no real hold ups on the journey. The problem is the company advertise in the timetable that it takes 4 hours when in reality it takes at least 5.

1 hour late. With 2 hours buffer time he would have made it. A lot of people work from the take-off time not giving themselves nearly enough time for baggage check-in, security etc.

foggy_lad

Kat1170 wrote: »

1 hour late. With 2 hours buffer time he would have made it. A lot of people work from the take-off time not giving themselves nearly enough time for baggage check-in, security etc.

So it is ok for bus Éireann to make up fictional times on their timetables and operate services which are always 40-80 minutes late because the timetabled schedule is unworkable because it is always going to be the passengers fault for not allowing for this extra delay that they may be unaware of.

Kat1170

I never mentioned BE. I said I always leave myself at least two hours to spare. Don't care if it is a BE schedule or a meteor shower in Russia, I'm going to do my damnedest that nothing out of my control is going to cause me to be late.

I'd rather be sitting in the airport having a drink/food relaxing for those two hours than stood arguing with a bus driver or airline employee about why I'm late.

Depending on the time of the day you can end up spending over hour in security so even if BE were on time, they might have found they (OP), were not.

I say two hours because there has to be a cut off point somewhere or everyone would be at the airport a week early.

LXFlyer

There are two issues here:
1) The OP did not leave enough time in their plan to cover for delays/check in etc.
2) The Bus Eireann X8 timetable is too tight and needs recasting

It is not one or the other but both. Some of the posters here just seem fixated on one of these.

Niles

I agree that Bus Éireann (and some private operators, it has to be said) can be guilty for putting up misleading/wildly inaccurate timetables, just as bad are the NTA for authorising them. Occasional delays happen but I'm aware of several routes that regularly run late, in some cases over half an hour, so I can understand people's frustration.

But as others have said one should allow for extra time (at least an hour, if not 90 mins) when travelling to the Airport for a flight, even if it's not in the timetable it's

As an aside, am I the only person who actually still writes to a company when I have an issue with their service, rather than immediately post it on Boards? Not that I'd be complaining a lot but I have put pen to paper when I've seen the need... and always gotten a response.

foggy_lad

Niles wrote: »

I agree that Bus Éireann (and some private operators, it has to be said) can be guilty for putting up misleading/wildly inaccurate timetables, just as bad are the NTA for authorising them. Occasional delays happen but I'm aware of several routes that regularly run late, in some cases over half an hour, so I can understand people's frustration.

But as others have said one should allow for extra time (at least an hour, if not 90 mins) when travelling to the Airport for a flight, even if it's not in the timetable it's

As an aside, am I the only person who actually still writes to a company when I have an issue with their service, rather than immediately post it on Boards? Not that I'd be complaining a lot but I have put pen to paper when I've seen the need... and always gotten a response.

I have emailed Bus Éireann a few times about their wildly inaccurate timetables and they flat out denied that the services were running late or that there was any issue with their timetables, with this kind of response what is the point in complaining at all?

monument

At least two people on the thread have mentioned posting on boards.ie being the wrong first action and one called it pointless. This comes up a suprising amount given this is a discussion board.

Welcome to boards.ie -- people are allowed to post what they want within reason and as long as they follow the rules. As you may have guessed: It's not against the rules to give out about late buses!

Do not reply to this post. Thank you.

ProudDUB

bugsntinas wrote: »

we felt an hour was fine anyway at the end of the day how much time is enough.

How much time is enough? How about the time that the companies that you were traveling with tell you is enough time? The airlines say to be at the airport 1 1/2 to 2 hrs before your flight. Bus Eireann say to plan to be there an additional hour ahead of that, probably to allow for any delays on their end, or bad weather & traffic issues. If you had done that, a 45 minute delay would not have affected you in the slightest.

That being said, if the drivers themselves are aware that there are timetable glitches & they still aren't being fixed, that is inexcusable.

foggy_lad

ProudDUB wrote: »

How much time is enough? How about the time that the companies that you were traveling with tell you is enough time? The airlines say to be at the airport 1 1/2 to 2 hrs before your flight. Bus Eireann say to plan to be there an additional hour ahead of that, probably to allow for any delays on their end, or bad weather & traffic issues. If you had done that, a 45 minute delay would not have affected you in the slightest.

That being said, if the drivers themselves are aware that there are timetable glitches & they still aren't being fixed, that is inexcusable.

There has been serious "delays" with the x8 timetable since day one! Drivers and management are aware that the times can not be achieved but the company must be happy to tell the NTA that there are no delays and everything runs to schedule.

bk

As others have said here, there are two issues here:

1) The OP simply didn't leave anywhere like enough time to get to the airport. Hopefully this is (n expensive) lesson learned by the OP.

2) The x8 schedule is a pure work of fiction.

It is clear that BE recast the x8 schedule as being an hour faster after dropping just 3 stops to compete with the new direct non stop Aircoach service.

The reality is this new schedule is almost impossible to actually do, with the service never actually able to do this time and regularly being 30 minutes or more late.

Really the NTA should be investigating this and forcing BE to have a proper schedule. Really shouldn't be difficult for the NTA to go to Buaras and check the actual arrival times of the x8 services.

gbob

bk wrote: »

Really the NTA should be investigating this and forcing BE to have a proper schedule. Really shouldn't be difficult for the NTA to go to Buaras and check the actual arrival times of the x8 services.

The NTA are epuipped with the same AVL technology that is linked to the buses and therefore aware of all running times, and they should absolutely force operators to publish accurate timetables.