Bus Eireann Route 190(A also)

Edg3

Hey all.

I wrote this a while back so I'm copy pasting and throwing in more

I couldnt find any other topic on this so I thought I'd start one.

Couple weeks back Bus Eireann in their infinite wisdom stopped my old 188 bus going from Navan to Drogheda via Slane, they now run it Navan, Slane (Slane Drogheda Road) and directly into Drogheda. This has cut out Duleek and the few people it picked up on the Slane Dublin road (Me and a few more). Its not so bad for me, I can get into the village for my buses in and home but people in Duleek have to now go to Drogheda, and get a bus that goes to Ashbourne. Meaning they now have to pay 2 ticket fares.
This isnt the worst part, the route the bus takes out of Navan has become hilariously ridiculous. Today we left Market Square at 4.10, we passed the Round O (On the Navan Slane Road) at 4.50, because the bus now takes a big, long round about route out past the hospital and onto the ring road. With Christmas traffic starting now its getting worse.
I tried to find an email to complain to Bus Eireann through but had no luck. Many people on the bus today seemed confused and frustrated with the trip, one even asking if she was on the right bus because we were going in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go.
I did my venting on the way home but though I'd explain the FUN TIMES people will be having trying to get home this Christmas!

Second Part:

There are way less people getting on the bus between Navan and Drogheda now because a lot of them got off the bus past Slane and in Duleek.
I get the bus regularly and this is what I've seen. What used to be two very busy trips, the 4 and 5 buses, are now pretty empty, it used to be nearly impossible to get on the bus some days, now, loads of room.

I do agree that some buses should service the old route, they go every hour, why not every second one? Have them service the old route, no one would get annoyed then, people could work around that. The 4pm bus used to be packed with students leaving school, and I seen some very very upset ones the first day this ran because they could not get home, and Ive seen some very confused ones on the bus trying to figure out the route with the driver and having to get off again, with no way home. This doesnt effect me directly but it must have been quiet scary or worrying for some of the students standing in town waiting for the 188 and it never showing (it did happen I seen it).

My other problem is the bus is meant to leave Navan at 4.10, the other day it didn't arrive til 4.25, another day, 4.30 and last Friday it was nearly 4.35 before the bus pulled up at market square. You cant trust the times of the bus anymore. I used to be there 5 minutes before schedule and he was always on time, now, I could be standing there for a good 20 minutes before he shows.

The fact that people have to go all the way to Drogheda (costing them more money) then turning and going back again just to get to Duleek is also ridiculous, theres no reason the Duleek route needed to be changed.

I was kinda happy when I seen the changes, even though that first day I missed my bus because we were given NO warning whatsoever that the bus time tables were changing, I was just in to get my bus (10 minutes early) to see it driving off. But thats not the point.

Another MASSIVE problem, buses from Drogheda to Duleek-Ashbourne are there, but on a Sunday, no buses... not one.
Whoever came up with these new routes needs a good slap, or to be put on a bus and made travel the route to see just how abysmal it really is. My mind is still blown by the round about way we leave the town of Navan now. 40 minutes to get from Market Square to the Round O... what was once a 5 minute trip.

LXFlyer

All of this has come from the National Transport Authority, rather than Bus Eireann. The NTA are slowly but surely revising the PSO services around the country.

The route out of Navan is presumably to service the hospital - the NTA are trying to develop services that provide a public transport link for communities with their local hospitals, something that has been very badly lacking. But if that particular routing isn't working then they'll need to revise it.

The new 189/189A services provide a link between Ashbourne and the hospital at Drogheda.

Anyone going from Navan to Duleek, while they have to take two buses, only have to pay once - the first driver can issue a through ticket. I don't know how many people are affected by this though - clearly the NTA felt that the numbers were not justified.

The changes to the Drogheda area routes were advertised on the Bus Eireann website at least two weeks in advance of taking place, and the timetables a week ahead of changes. However, if no notices were put on the buses that frankly is scandalous.

I would advise contacting the NTA directly in relation to concerns that you may have, if you don't get satisfaction from Bus Eireann.

The email addresses are:
Bus Eireann - info@buseireann.ie
NTA - info@nationaltransport.ie

Edg3

lxflyer wrote: »

All of this has come from the National Transport Authority, rather than Bus Eireann. The NTA are slowly but surely revising the PSO services around the country.

The route out of Navan is presumably to service the hospital - the NTA are trying to develop services that provide a public transport link for communities with their local hospitals, something that has been very badly lacking. But if that particular routing isn't working then they'll need to revise it.

The new 189/189A services provide a link between Ashbourne and the hospital at Drogheda.

Anyone going from Navan to Duleek, while they have to take two buses, only have to pay once - the first driver can issue a through ticket. I don't know how many people are affected by this though - clearly the NTA felt that the numbers were not justified.

The changes to the Drogheda area routes were advertised on the Bus Eireann website at least two weeks in advance of taking place, and the timetables a week ahead of changes. However, if no notices were put on the buses that frankly is scandalous.

I would advise contacting the NTA directly in relation to concerns that you may have, if you don't get satisfaction from Bus Eireann.

The email addresses are:
Bus Eireann - info@buseireann.ie
NTA - info@nationaltransport.ie

I already emailed them. I was so annoyed today especially, it was pissing rain and the bus was nearly 40 minutes late. The new fancy electronic timetable thing at the bus stop in Navan said "Feedback welcome" so I gave them some.
I didnt know that was the deal for people going from Navan to Duleek but again the service is useless because they will miss their buses because of the stupidity of the route, it can take 20-30 minutes to get from the town centre to the outskirts of the town and the last week or so if its not raining I've managed to walk, slowly, down Flowerhill and STILL beat the bus to Market Square. I was sat on the bus today for 30 minutes from the Round 0 to Market Square, it took 10 minutes to get to the back of the shopping centre where we used to go straight across but because of this new ridiculous route it took another 20 minutes to go out around the town.
I appreciate them trying to put a new service in for the hospital, but the route is ridiculous and was obviously test driven early morning on a Sunday when no one was out.
I was told on my other topic about this that the timetable changes werent put up til last week in Navan though I had to download the timetable myself while sitting behind the 190 bus in Slane one day not knowing the changes had been made.
We used to be able to depend on the bus from Navan to Drogheda being on time, but implementing these changes, this close to Xmas was pure insanity, half the drivers dont know the route once they get into town, they drive all around the town ending up on the wrong streets and everything, again not their fault because they just dont know, and anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see the route is a mess.
I was soaked before I got home today, waiting all that time for the bus that was about 20 minutes before the next one was due. Another day I showed up 10 minutes early and he'd already come and gone, so I was walking up to my friends house on the Slane road and he passed me at the Round O, I could have flagged him down if I'd thought he was going to be that slow making it through the town.