Bus Eireann attacking Route 2 (Arklow) again

reggaeman

Well all change again. B.E still don’t know their left from their right. Now they have cut out the stops at the Tourist office and Lidl South bound. Now its just Ferry Bank and Knockmore. A few useless drivers complained to the unions and hey presto B.E give in. Just a handful of drivers cant handle it. The people should support Wexford Bus and help them get the licence for Arklow’ Better drivers and no unions.

Geog1234

This notice in the Journey Planner confirms it:

Effective January 1st 2014, these services will not stop at Arklow (Tourist Office) and Arklow (Opp Lidl). They will serve Knockmore Roundabout (Southbound Stop)., Original depot WTRFD;Waterford (Bus Depot)

Out of interest what couldn't a few drivers handle? I know that sometimes cars can block stops and there can be a bit of congestion but surely it doesn't justify discontinuing the stops. So essentially route 2 doesn't serve Arklow town centre southbound - Ferrybank is the best part of ten minutes walk or so and nobody will want to walk across that windswept bridge on a wet day.

BÉ Expressway Route 5, Dublin - Arklow - New Ross is also affected.

BÉ local routes 133 Arklow-Avoca-Wicklow/Dublin and 384 Dublin-Arklow-Gorey appear not to be affected (these are subsidised routes).

Thanks reggaeman for the heads up on this.

reggaeman

They cant handle turning right at Laffin's Lane and on around to the Main Street. The majority of drivers were not consulted about it. They only found out about it when the notice was put on the stops.

Geog1234

Looking again at the website I came across this - didn't think there had been any new items over Christmas.

Presumably a new routeing around the town and route 384 is affected too.

Alterations to Bus Stops in Arklow effective 1 January 2014


Bus Éireann wishes to advise customers of the following changes to southbound bus stops in Arklow from 1 January 2014.
The southbound stops at Main Street and Lidl will no longer be served.
All Southbound services on Routes 2, 5 and 384 will pick-up at Ferrybank and Knockmore stops, a further stop on Connolly Street is planned for mid January (subject to Town Council approval).
Bus Éireann apologises for any inconvenience caused as a result of these changes.
Monday, 23rd December, 2013

http://buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=1422&month=Dec

end of the road

reggaeman wrote: »

The people should support Wexford Bus and help them get the licence for Arklow’ Better drivers and no unions.

whatever about better drivers, no unions isn't a reason to support wexford bus, its just a childesh reason, i'd actually rather the people of wicklow arklow goarey eniscorthy wexford and rosslare supported the railway where possible, numbers are decent but more using it would be better, BE do need to sort this route though and quick

Niles

Geog1234 wrote: »

This notice in the Journey Planner confirms it:



Out of interest what couldn't a few drivers handle? I know that sometimes cars can block stops and there can be a bit of congestion but surely it doesn't justify discontinuing the stops. So essentially route 2 doesn't serve Arklow town centre southbound - Ferrybank is the best part of ten minutes walk or so and nobody will want to walk across that windswept bridge on a wet day.

BÉ Expressway Route 5, Dublin - Arklow - New Ross is also affected.

BÉ local routes 133 Arklow-Avoca-Wicklow/Dublin and 384 Dublin-Arklow-Gorey appear not to be affected (these are subsidised routes).

Thanks reggaeman for the heads up on this.

The 384 is. As for the 133, the Arklow-Avoca-Wicklow service wouldn't be effected by the Laffin's Lane routing as it starts from the church. The 07:00 Arklow-Dublin 133 is northbound so wouldn't be effected either (for some reason this displays 384 in practice so sure if this counts as 133 anyway).

One odd result of these changes is that Knockmore is a stop for 2 services southbound but not northbound... always thought it would have made more sense to keep this stop and scrap Lidl to space them out but anyway...

end of the road wrote: »

whatever about better drivers, no unions isn't a reason to support wexford bus, its just a childesh reason, i'd actually rather the people of wicklow arklow goarey eniscorthy wexford and rosslare supported the railway where possible, numbers are decent but more using it would be better, BE do need to sort this route though and quick

I sometimes use the train for leisure but the bus offers a better choice of return times (and ones after 18:30). And also the bus simply runs closer to my place of work.

end of the road

Niles wrote: »

I sometimes use the train for leisure

good to hear

Niles wrote: »

the bus offers a better choice of return times (and ones after 18:30).

true, at least its there if i ever need to use it because i miss the train for whatever reason or i have to head out of dublin at a time when theirs no trains or if theirs a huge gap between the time i finish doing what i'm doing and the time the train goes, not very often though as i plan my time around the trains

Niles wrote: »

the bus simply runs closer to my place of work.

ah well then, i did say where possible though so i did take acount of people like yourself

GTE

Could anyone in the know do a Google map with way points to show the old routing?

A quick look at Laffins lane backs up the BE position for me.

Niles

The turn off Bradshaw's Lane is as bad, can't imagine it's great for tri-axle coaches.

spank_inferno

end of the road wrote: »

i'd actually rather the people of wicklow arklow goarey eniscorthy wexford and rosslare supported the railway where possible, numbers are decent but more using it would be better

Why?

The train(s) are packed as it is.

bmaxi

What a joke of a country, we have a legislature that doesn't legislate, a lazy, useless, police force that doesn't enforce the law and now bus drivers who can't drive buses.
I'm sure some of the DB drivers who contribute to this forum and who, on a daily basis, negotiate tighter spots with double deck buses and have done so, even in the days of no power steering, clutches that could cripple, and limited vision. { I have particular memories of the no 79 on Decies Road, Ballyfermot, the no. 24 (now the 123) in the maze of Marino and the no. 72 to Oxmanstown Road,} would be wondering what all the fuss is about, as would the creamery drivers who travel almost every boreen in the country in articulated trucks and face farm entrances you'd be hard pressed to get a horse and trap into. Just one more example, IMO, of the public service in Ireland existing purely for the benefit of the public service,

AlekSmart

bmaxi wrote: »

What a joke of a country, we have a legislature that doesn't legislate, a lazy, useless, police force that doesn't enforce the law and now bus drivers who can't drive buses.
I'm sure some of the DB drivers who contribute to this forum and who, on a daily basis, negotiate tighter spots with double deck buses and have done so, even in the days of no power steering, clutches that could cripple, and limited vision. { I have particular memories of the no 79 on Decies Road, Ballyfermot, the no. 24 (now the 123) in the maze of Marino and the no. 72 to Oxmanstown Road,} would be wondering what all the fuss is about, as would the creamery drivers who travel almost every boreen in the country in articulated trucks and face farm entrances you'd be hard pressed to get a horse and trap into. Just one more example, IMO, of the public service in Ireland existing purely for the benefit of the public service,

Has anybody,I wonder,contacted either Bus Eireann in Broadstone OR Arklow Gardai to ascertain the reason/s for this decision ?

Strikes me that,apart from some rather biased posts,there is no FACTUAL explanation for the change ?

TechnoFreek

Im guessing that the change is bus stops is due to the left turn at dunnes and the buses having to cross the other side of the road.

I suspect reggaeman is closer to BE than we think and his comments are based on fact!

I for one am glad that knockmore stop is coming back, albeit south bound only and at the expense of the lidl stop.

its a long walk from knockmore to lidl every day, and back.

bmaxi

AlekSmart wrote: »

Has anybody,I wonder,contacted either Bus Eireann in Broadstone OR Arklow Gardai to ascertain the reason/s for this decision ?

Strikes me that,apart from some rather biased posts,there is no FACTUAL explanation for the change ?

You're absolutely right but it's not for the want of trying, BE do not explain their decisions to mere mortals. However the word has long been on the ground that some drivers are finding it difficult to maintain what is a totally unrealistic schedule anyway and this latest diversion is the excuse. A new partial one way system has been introduced in Arklow where traffic, instead of turning right at the junction of Ferrybank and Main St. is diverted left and then right through Laffins Lane in a u shape around the back of Main St. to emerge further up Main St. The roads here are no worse than what you would have to negotiate in any 50s or 60s housing estate in Dublin. If anything, IMO the diversion has speeded up traffic through the town and certainly to divert the bus up Connolly Street to Wexford road would speed up journey times but at what point does a bus service become a bus journey. There are a large number of housing estates to the west of Arklow town, there are also the schools and churches and while a stop in Connolly Street would certainly be a help to some people it certainly doesn't serve the needs of most.
It has been my opinion for some time that BE intends to remove Arklow from Route 2's schedule, much as they have done with Wicklow, Rathnew and Ashford but the major difference is that Arklow does not have the fall back of the non expressway 133 and there are no plans to extend that service.

end of the road

spank_inferno wrote: »

Why?

The train(s) are packed as it is.

thats a joke question right? why wouldn't you want more people using the railway?

end of the road

AlekSmart wrote: »

Has anybody,I wonder,contacted either Bus Eireann in Broadstone OR Arklow Gardai to ascertain the reason/s for this decision ?

Strikes me that,apart from some rather biased posts,there is no FACTUAL explanation for the change ?

exactly, ah but shur its da public service and da utnions bla bla bla

Skylinehead

end of the road wrote: »

thats a joke question right? why wouldn't you want more people using the railway?

Well he gave a valid reason already. They're packed. What does making them more packed achieve?

end of the road

bmaxi wrote: »

It has been my opinion for some time that BE intends to remove Arklow from Route 2's schedule, much as they have done with Wicklow, Rathnew and Ashford

it wouldn't surprise me, infact i would agree with your belief

bmaxi wrote: »

the major difference is that Arklow does not have the fall back of the non expressway 133 and there are no plans to extend that service.

which is a major problem, they can't leave arklow without a service to dublin or to rosslare/wexford, the NTA should stop them, if the NTA care a less they won't allow this to happen, could somebody organize a petitian or something to get the views of passengers who use this service or other BE services that serve arklow to gauge how BE could meet the needs of such passengers?

end of the road

Skylinehead wrote: »

Well he gave a valid reason already. They're packed. What does making them more packed achieve?

for a start it may end up justifying a service between the morning and afternoon service, theirs to much of a gap between the service around 8 and the afternoon service, maybe in the future IE might consider actually bothering with the line and investing in it to improve things, so yes more people using it please if you can, for the moment the complete removal of 29s from the line would be greatly appreciated

spank_inferno

end of the road wrote: »

for a start it may end up justifying a service between the morning and afternoon service, theirs to much of a gap between the service around 8 and the afternoon service, maybe in the future IE might consider actually bothering with the line and investing in it to improve things, so yes more people using it please if you can, for the moment the complete removal of 29s from the line would be greatly appreciated

How does that benefit 9-5 commuters.... You know.... The vast majority of users.

end of the road

spank_inferno wrote: »

How does that benefit 9-5 commuters.... You know.... The vast majority of users.

how does what benefit the 9 to 5 commuters? extra services? they don't have to, you know, not everyone who uses the service is a 9 to 5 commuter, as far as i'm concerned more rail services would benefit me as i would have a better choice of when i could use it when i'm not working, we've always had an infrequent service down here, its improved a bit but more needs to be done, so i support more people using the services if they want to, its better then very few, every little helps, or are you talking about the removal of 29s from the line? well the fact their uncomfortable and noisy and aren't suited for the journey, if the suggestion by bmaxi that BE has a plan to pull the route 2 out of arklow is anyway true then this could be irish rail's opportunity to capture some of those passengers

Niles

I can't honestly see BÉ pulling out of Arklow; it's quite well supported, and is the only major town on the route that doesn't have Wexford Bus competing (the latter company's 'Arklow' stop not being located in the town itself).

bmaxi

Niles wrote: »

I can't honestly see BÉ pulling out of Arklow; it's quite well supported, and is the only major town on the route that doesn't have Wexford Bus competing (the latter company's 'Arklow' stop not being located in the town itself).

Of course it's well supported in Arklow, what other bloody choice is there? BE will have to provide a service to Arklow but they are trying to compete with Wexford Bus on the Wexford - Dublin Airport route and failing miserably because Arklow is such a bottleneck.
Some time ago there was talk of Government subsidies for route no. 2, because of problems in Arklow, this, IMO, would take them out of the expressway family and all but kill the Wexford - Airport traffic, leaving the field open for Wexford Bus. There was also talk of Wexford Bus starting a service between Arklow and Bray, both of these appear to have disappeared off the radar.
The relatively new X2 service does bypass Arklow and that, to me, shows BE's thinking in the matter but the dilemma they face is, what to do to provide a service to Arklow. Extending the 133 is one option but that loads pretty heavily anyway and to extend it to Arklow would exacerbate the situation, plus the fact that it already takes a long time winding through other towns en route to Dublin and to extend it to Arklow would add at least 20 minutes to that. Interesting times.

bmaxi

Looks like the one way system is to be abandoned. After protests by local residents and traders, Arklow Town Council are expected to overturn the decision tonight and BE say the stops at Main St and Lidl will be reinstated from Sunday. That would seem to confirm that it was the diversion which caused those stops to be removed.

bmaxi

Seems the meeting turned into a farce and the item never got on to the agenda.

http://www.wicklownews.net/2014/01/farcical-council-meeting-sees-one-way-system-survive/

The issue is held over until next month but one saving grace, a huge turnout of locals witnessed democracy, Irish style, at work. They can have been left in no doubt as to how well their tax money is spent.

GTE

bmaxi wrote: »

Looks like the one way system is to be abandoned. After protests by local residents and traders, Arklow Town Council are expected to overturn the decision tonight and BE say the stops at Main St and Lidl will be reinstated from Sunday. That would seem to confirm that it was the diversion which caused those stops to be removed.

I do like it when a totally rational explanation like this gets in the way of a baseless rant where no background was sought.

reggaeman wrote: »

Well all change again. B.E still don’t know their left from their right. Now they have cut out the stops at the Tourist office and Lidl South bound. Now its just Ferry Bank and Knockmore. A few useless drivers complained to the unions and hey presto B.E give in. Just a handful of drivers cant handle it. The people should support Wexford Bus and help them get the licence for Arklow’ Better drivers and no unions.

:rolleyes:

LXFlyer

http://buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=1429&month=Jan

Bus Stops for southbound services in Arklow

As and from Thursday, 23 January 2014, the stops on Main Street and Lidl will be reinstated for all southbound services in Arklow.

From this date, Route 2 services will no longer serve Knockmore.

The following stops will be in operation for Route 2 services:

• Ferrybank
• Main Street
• Lidl

Friday, 17th January, 2014

reggaeman

More changes on way for Route 2 (Wexford-Dublin).

Arklow.
Knockmore stop to be reinstated. Under discussion with management.

Dublin.
Bus will no longer go down Dawson St. It will turn right on to Fitzwilliam St and on to Clare St. (Waiting for approval from NTA.)

Jurys Stop and O2 to be rezoned.

reggaeman

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thomasj

reggaeman wrote: »

More changes on way for Route 2 (Wexford-Dublin).

Dublin.
Bus will no longer go down Dawson St. It will turn right on to Fitzwilliam St and on to Clare St. (Waiting for approval from NTA.)

That's probably for the better. With the luas works going on Dawson street is down to one lane of traffic. Was on a Dublin bus a few weeks ago and we got held up on Dawson Street because a loading vehicle was blocking part of the road. The 1 lane is making it a tight squeeze at times on that street

TechnoFreek

reggaeman wrote: »

More changes on way for Route 2 (Wexford-Dublin).

Arklow.
Knockmore stop to be reinstated. Under discussion with management.

Dublin.
Bus will no longer go down Dawson St. It will turn right on to Fitzwilliam St and on to Clare St. (Waiting for approval from NTA.)

Jurys Stop and O2 to be rezoned.

Great news about Knockmore. Keep pushing for this!

TechnoFreek

Anyone hear any update on this?

Thanks.