Returned to using bus afters years. Bus Eireann and their drivers still incompetent.

rat_race

Started using the commuter bus again a few years after saying "never again". The 133, from Wicklow Town to Dublin.

Was impressed by the double deckers & WiFi. I thought maybe I'd give CIE some of my money for a while.

Four or five journeys in and I've had enough. Missed my stop because the bus driver failed to hear repeated STOP button alarms (too busy chatting to someone).

Then missed a last bus home from Dublin, at the Leeson Street stop. Bus drove straight past me. Because, for some reason, and arm sticking out and attempted eye contact isn't enough for some of these baboons.

Back to not using public transport, and back to listening to them say they don't have enough money. Clowns.

end of the road

i presume you have made a report to both the company and the national transport authority?
such issues cannot be left to go unchallenged. both need to be made aware of the issues.

Dyr

The Bus Eireann services to Dublin from parts foreign are notorious for this kind of carry on

end of the road

Bambi wrote: »

The Bus Eireann services to Dublin from parts foreign are notorious for this kind of carry on

i had the odd experience myself when i used the busses. however it's ridiculous to judge every single bus eireann driver like the op has done.

Dyr

end of the road wrote: »

i had the odd experience myself when i used the busses. however it's ridiculous to judge every single bus eireann driver like the op has done.

Basing that on the experience of pretty much every colleague I've had who relied on Bus Eireann for their commute. Total Wacky races carry on

LeinsterDub

end of the road wrote: »

i presume you have made a report to both the company and the national transport authority?
such issues cannot be left to go unchallenged. both need to be made aware of the issues.

I prefer to cut out the middle man and pay lip service to my own complaint

Nomis21

I bought a ticket in Cork bus station to Clara with a connection in Portlaoise. When I got on the bus in Cork the driver said I was going to miss my bus connection because he was going to make an unscheduled restaurant stop in Abbeylix even though there was no other bus that day from Portlaoise to Clara. I ended up taking the train from Portlaoise and paying for it myself. Yes Bus Eirann did eventually refund my train fare but why are the Bus Eirann drivers a law unto themselves?

Del.Monte

With the OP's attitude I'm not surprised that they have found themselves left waiting at the bus stop. Though not a bus fan, I have travelled on many buses over the decades and have for the most part found Bus Eireann drivers to be normal human beings like the rest of us and doing a stressful job to the best of their ability.

strandroad

Nomis21 wrote: »

I bought a ticket in Cork bus station to Clara with a connection in Portlaoise. When I got on the bus in Cork the driver said I was going to miss my bus connection because he was going to make an unscheduled restaurant stop in Abbeylix even though there was no other bus that day from Portlaoise to Clara. I ended up taking the train from Portlaoise and paying for it myself. Yes Bus Eirann did eventually refund my train fare but why are the Bus Eirann drivers a law unto themselves?

What's an unscheduled restaurant stop?...

LeinsterDub

Del.Monte wrote: »

With the OP's attitude I'm not surprised that they have found themselves left waiting at the bus stop..

Do go on. What has the OP's attitude got to do with the quality of service? Are drivers using mind reading techniques and deciding not to deal with the OP and their attitude?

magentis

Nomis21 wrote: »

I bought a ticket in Cork bus station to Clara with a connection in Portlaoise. When I got on the bus in Cork the driver said I was going to miss my bus connection because he was going to make an unscheduled restaurant stop in Abbeylix even though there was no other bus that day from Portlaoise to Clara. I ended up taking the train from Portlaoise and paying for it myself. Yes Bus Eirann did eventually refund my train fare but why are the Bus Eirann drivers a law unto themselves?

15/20 mins is much too close when getting a connecting bus and cannot be gauranteed in any case,that is addressed in the terms and conditions.Aside from the driver telling you of a rest/toilet stop the bus could also encounter another hold up.

If getting connecting flights,would you leave 15/20 mins between them?Very surprised you got a refund.

Wishbone Ash

strandroad wrote: »

What's an unscheduled restaurant stop?...

Reminds me of being on the Dublin to Letterkenny service about 35 years ago and the driver stopped outside a drapery shop in Strabane and bought himself a new coat in the January Sale.

Del.Monte

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Do go on. What has the OP's attitude got to do with the quality of service? Are drivers using mind reading techniques and deciding not to deal with the OP and their attitude?

Perhaps he tries hailing them with his middle finger? How the hell do I know, but anybody who reverts to calling his fellow human beings baboons doesn't get any sympathy from me.

LeinsterDub

Del.Monte wrote: »

Perhaps he tries hailing them with his middle finger? How the hell do I know, but anybody who reverts to calling his fellow human beings baboons doesn't get any sympathy from me.

Who cares who does or doesn't get your sympathy or who called people baboons. This is just Ad Hominem. Your not addressing the issues regarding the lack of service

Del.Monte

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Who cares who does or doesn't get your sympathy or who called people baboons. This is just Ad Hominem. Your not addressing the issues regarding the lack of service

I was going to reply to this post with the response it deserves, but it's Christmas and anyway I don't want a forum ban.

Nomis21

magentis wrote: »

15/20 mins is much too close when getting a connecting bus and cannot be gauranteed in any case,that is addressed in the terms and conditions.Aside from the driver telling you of a rest/toilet stop the bus could also encounter another hold up.

If getting connecting flights,would you leave 15/20 mins between them?Very surprised you got a refund.

It was a 30 minute unscheduled stop.

jimmycrackcorm

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Reminds me of being on the Dublin to Letterkenny service about 35 years ago and the driver stopped outside a drapery shop in Strabane and bought himself a new coat in the January Sale.

Used to take the 32 regularly. The last time though was the 1:45am and the driver never made a stop the whole journey as it's normal. I was nursing for the loo but when I asked at the end why there was no break he lied and said it was to keep to the schedule.

On a night journey. With no traffic to be held up.

I hope his post strike pay cut might teach him that his pay depends on not losing customers like me just because he wanted to finish his shift early.

end of the road

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Used to take the 32 regularly. The last time though was the 1:45am and the driver never made a stop the whole journey as it's normal. I was nursing for the loo but when I asked at the end why there was no break he lied and said it was to keep to the schedule.

On a night journey. With no traffic to be held up.

I hope his post strike pay cut might teach him that his pay depends on not losing customers like me just because he wanted to finish his shift early.

it wouldn't have no as he doesn't need teaching it.
out of interest how do you know he was lieing? i know the service may normally stop but maybe control told him not to stop, maybe he ran late during an earlier part of his shift and would have gone over his hours had he stopped?

horseburger

end of the road wrote: »

i had the odd experience myself when i used the busses. however it's ridiculous to judge every single bus eireann driver like the op has done.

Indeed. You'll get the odd bad experience, no matter if it's Bus Éireann or any other bus company. But most drivers are sound, no matter what bus company it is.

Another aspect of hailing buses down is that in areas with no street lighting, drivers might not see people who are not wearing reflective clothing, and might pass by them without stopping. It doesn't mean they deliberately didn't stop.

Even if you have a reflective top on, a driver might also ask you, in future, to also have a light shining, because even if someone is wearing a reflective jacket, it isn't necessarily obvious to the driver, if that person is trying to hail the bus down, or if that person is just walking. It can be difficult for the driver to see the arm waving, until they are passing by the person.

On the 109 coming from Dublin, about a year ago or maybe less than a year ago, I saw a guy getting up, between Dunshaughlin and Navan, and going up to the driver, asking why the driver hadn't stopped at a bus stop that the bus had just passed.

The driver rightly said to the passenger that he had not rang the bell, nor gone up to the driver, before the bus passed the particular stop, to indicate to the driver, to stop at that bus stop.

The passenger seemed to think that the bus should have stopped at that bus stop, even though there was no one waiting at that stop to get on the bus.

horseburger

rat_race wrote: »

Started using the commuter bus again a few years after saying "never again". The 133, from Wicklow Town to Dublin.

Was impressed by the double deckers & WiFi. I thought maybe I'd give CIE some of my money for a while.

Four or five journeys in and I've had enough. Missed my stop because the bus driver failed to hear repeated STOP button alarms (too busy chatting to someone).

Then missed a last bus home from Dublin, at the Leeson Street stop. Bus drove straight past me. Because, for some reason, and arm sticking out and attempted eye contact isn't enough for some of these baboons.

Back to not using public transport, and back to listening to them say they don't have enough money. Clowns.

Why didn't you get up and go and sit at the first row of the bus before you passed your stop, and let the driver know you wanted to get off at the next stop?

Did you get a chance to examine the appearance of the driver long enough - considering it drove by you - to know for certain, if the driver was an actual baboon?

cgcsb

Last time I got a BÉ bus it was the Galway bus from Athlone, scheduled to go straight to Dublin City Centre via Dublin airport, according to the timetable. Got to the airport and driver said this was his last stop and he wasn't going any further. I definitely won't be using it again. If the regional cities got their own independent services, I'd say most would be happy to just let BÉ go south.

end of the road

cgcsb wrote: »

Last time I got a BÉ bus it was the Galway bus from Athlone, scheduled to go straight to Dublin City Centre via Dublin airport, according to the timetable. Got to the airport and driver said this was his last stop and he wasn't going any further. I definitely won't be using it again. If the regional cities got their own independent services, I'd say most would be happy to just let BÉ go south.

be would likely be operating a number of, if not most of those services. so the regional cities can be happy to see it go south all they like but they aren't going to get floods of interest from others. + if that route you used is a commercial service then there is nothing anyone can do unfortunately, especially the regional cities.
the likely hood of regional cities getting independance i'd suggest is low anyway thankfully as it would be a ridiculous waste of money. could you imagine the councils been given more powers? no thanks. we have a government, we don't need more of it.

in relation to your experience, the driver could have been told to terminate at the airport by control before you got on the bus. he is not going to be able to simply terminate where he feels like it, bus eireann management may be a lot of things but they aren't going to put up with that.

cgcsb

end of the road wrote: »

in relation to your experience, the driver could have been told to terminate at the airport by control before you got on the bus. he is not going to be able to simply terminate where he feels like it, bus eireann management may be a lot of things but they aren't going to put up with that.

I got my refund for the ticket plus the leap fare into town after sending a string of toxic emails. But then I had to queue up to get onto a packed 16, which only runs every 20 mins at most. It's not ok to get on a bus that's timetabled to go somewhere and then it doesn't go there. This kind of thing is common based on comments from other posters. This isn't outer Mongolia, it wouldn't be tolerated in any western society, but it's tolerated here for some reason. Fortunately for the bus driver most people were going to the airport, it was only myself and 4 others left stranded.

horseburger

cgcsb wrote: »

I got my refund for the ticket plus the leap fare into town after sending a string of toxic emails. But then I had to queue up to get onto a packed 16, which only runs every 20 mins at most. It's not ok to get on a bus that's timetabled to go somewhere and then it doesn't go there. This kind of thing is common based on comments from other posters. This isn't outer Mongolia, it wouldn't be tolerated in any western society, but it's tolerated here for some reason. Fortunately for the bus driver most people were going to the airport, it was only myself and 4 others left stranded.

Did you ask the driver what the reason was that he didn't go into town, or are you just assuming that he didn't go into town for the fun of it?

SusieBlue

I'll be the first to criticise the bus service, its perpetually late and cannot be depended on. It has made me late for work, meetings and appointments on a somewhat regular basis.
But I can't fault the drivers. At least on my route, they are very friendly and helpful and particularly nice to the elderly passengers.
The reason my bus is always late is because they cut 4/5 journeys a day and if I'm unlucky enough, it might happen to be the one I was hoping to get. Annoying, but not the fault of the driver.

Arcade_Tryer

Find the 22 Expressway from Ballina to Dublin return a fabulous service. Very efficient, and provides an incredibly important service transporting college students and workers from the west to the city. Can't speak for other services/routes.

LeinsterDub

WhiteRoses wrote: »

The reason my bus is always late is because they cut 4/5 journeys a day and if I'm unlucky enough, it might happen to be the one I was hoping to get. Annoying, but not the fault of the driver.

Why would cutting services impact the remaining services? Dwell time?

SusieBlue

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Why would cutting services impact the remaining services? Dwell time?

Pretty much, my bus is meant to be every 10 minutes, sometimes I might have to wait 30/40 minutes for one though. And when I asked a driver one day he said he wasn't late, he was right on time. The two busses in between were cut. So rather than waiting 10 minutes, I had to wait 30/40.

LeinsterDub

WhiteRoses wrote: »

Pretty much, my bus is meant to be every 10 minutes, sometimes I might have to wait 30/40 minutes for one though. And when I asked a driver one day he said he wasn't late, he was right on time. The two busses in between were cut. So rather than waiting 10 minutes, I had to wait 30/40.

That appears like BÉ are cutting buses at random. If so it should be reported to the NTA.

horseburger

Deedsie wrote: »

I get the X12 expressway bus and i find it ok. A few small changes and it could be an excellent service. If they could get the rtpi working properly and people could have faith in it the service would be really handy and reliable.

The timetable is never met. Always at least 20 mins late for the return journey in the evening. I'd get over that if I could at least be assured by rtpi that it will eventually arrive.

Rtpi needs more investment if they really want people to use the bus.

Do you mean going from Dublin to Limerick?

I guess it gets delayed in traffic coming from Dublin Airport and Dublin City Centre to Limerick?

The long distance bus services can get delayed arriving at intermediate stops.

On the previous 109 timetable, before 17th September 2017, when leaving Cavan on the hour, the bus would often be five to ten minutes later than scheduled arriving in Navan, on the way to Dublin.

It was due at Navan Market Square at five past the next hour, but it could be 10 past the hour or 15 minutes past the hour when the 109 from Cavan arrived in Navan.

But I find that the 109s that start in Kells at 15 minutes past the hour, would regularly arrive in Navan between 30 minutes past the hour and 35 minutes past the hour, and leave at 35 minutes past the hour as scheduled

http://www.buseireann.ie/timetables/1497283811-X12.pdf

cgcsb

horseburger wrote: »

Did you ask the driver what the reason was that he didn't go into town, or are you just assuming that he didn't go into town for the fun of it?

He said he wasn't rostered to go into the City

flintash

I heard that drivers not too worried to call in sick anytime, so that might explain long waiting times for some buses.its not that they are late, there are none at all.

horseburger

cgcsb wrote: »

He said he wasn't rostered to go into the City

Apologies for suggesting that you might have thought that he didn't go in to the city centre for the fun of it.

I wonder, was there another driver due to take over from him, at the airport, to drive to Bus Aras, and then drive the next scheduled service to Galway from Bus Aras?

joxerb

Always found most drivers sound.

horseburger

flintash wrote: »

I heard that drivers not too worried to call in sick anytime, so that might explain long waiting times for some buses.its not that they are late, there are none at all.

Where'd you hear that? From Regina Doherty perhaps?

flintash

horseburger wrote:

Where'd you hear that? From Regina Doherty perhaps?

From your fellow coworker...
...pick up the coat.....

horseburger

flintash wrote: »

From your fellow coworker...
...pick up the coat.....

As I understand it, the main reason for that cancellations that were occurring to services in the Eastern region since mid September, was due to drivers who were due to operate a number of different services, being instructed, on particular days, to operate services on the new NX route, instead of the other services.

As I understand it, this is the main reason for cancellations of particular services on the other routes, including the 133, 126, 109A and 103 services.

As I understand it, when a driver - whose regular route is one of these other services, for example the 133, 126, 109A and 103 services - was instructed to operate particular scheduled services on the NX route, it very often meant that there was no driver available to operate the particular scheduled service on the other routes, that these drivers had originally been rostered to operate.

http://www.thejournal.ie/bus-eireann-northeast-drivers-3691403-Nov2017/

XPS_Zero

horseburger wrote: »

As I understand it, the main reason for that cancellations that were occurring to services in the Eastern region since mid September, was due to drivers who were due to operate a number of different services, being instructed, on particular days, to operate services on the new NX route, instead of the other services.

As I understand it, this is the main reason for cancellations of particular services on the other routes, including the 133, 126, 109A and 103 services.

As I understand it, when a driver - whose regular route is one of these other services, for example the 133, 126, 109A and 103 services - was instructed to operate particular scheduled services on the NX route, it very often meant that there was no driver available to operate the particular scheduled service on the other routes, that these drivers had originally been rostered to operate.

http://www.thejournal.ie/bus-eireann-northeast-drivers-3691403-Nov2017/

Hold on (I'm open to the possibility I may be misunderstanding and am prepared to stand corrected)....but...ugh just (bang head on table)...so they take drivers from routes like the 133 that are pretty busy, and they are putting them on the NX services to Navan where there is a bus every 20-30 minutes and they are often half empty?
What kind of resource allocation is that?

What does this have to do with Translink complaining and having to put up signs in Newry and Belfast GVS that BE are having issues with their busses where they don't have enough, and are not using double deckers all the time anymore
The latter has left me waiting for the next bus.

It was choice but there were limited seats and i didn't want people who were in small groups to break up, plus i was on a pass and they'd paid so i decided to let them go ahead rather than leave one from a group stuck behind, but should not have had to be in that position surely

horseburger

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Hold on (I'm open to the possibility I may be misunderstanding and am prepared to stand corrected)....but...ugh just (bang head on table)...so they take drivers from routes like the 133 that are pretty busy, and they are putting them on the NX services to Navan where there is a bus every 20-30 minutes and they are often half empty?
What kind of resource allocation is that?

What does this have to do with Translink complaining and having to put up signs in Newry and Belfast GVS that BE are having issues with their busses where they don't have enough, and are not using double deckers all the time anymore
The latter has left me waiting for the next bus.

It was choice but there were limited seats and i didn't want people who were in small groups to break up, plus i was on a pass and they'd paid so i decided to let them go ahead rather than leave one from a group stuck behind, but should not have had to be in that position surely

My understanding is that one of the main reasons for the cancellations that were occurring from late September and into October, was that Bus Éireann started the NX service, on the instruction of the NTA, but did not have enough drivers or buses in place, at the time the service began on 17th September 2017, to cover the every 20 minute frequency of the new NX service, and that drivers whose usual routes were on other services, were instructed on particular days to operate particular scheduled services of the new NX service, and that what was happening, as a result of that, was that there were particular scheduled services of the other routes, being cancelled.

I may be incorrect on that, but that is one of the reasons, that I heard, for the cancellations that were occurring.

That reason, would explain the quote in this item in The Journal, https://www.thejournal.ie/bus-eireann-northeast-drivers-3691403-Nov2017/

It quotes a driver:

“Look, this is all coming from the NTA (National Transport Association),” one source said. ”They contact Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Luas, etc, and say that Behaviour and Attitudes surveys say we need more services.”

"So you get the NX (Navan Expressway, launched on 19 September) launched to great fanfare. They tell us to provide it. But the company hasn’t sat down to see whether or not we actually can provide it. Do we have the buses? Do we have the drivers? The answer is no we don’t, and it’s knocked the whole applecart in the region".

There never was a proper explanation given, for what "service disruption" "due to operational reasons" actually meant.

"Service disruption" "due to operational reasons" was used regularly in the press releases on Bus Éireann's website, that detailed each week, in late September and October 2017, what cancellations were occurring.

http://www.buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=2392&month=Sep

http://www.buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=2378&month=Sep

hdowney

Uproar in regards the 133 at the minute since they have completely ceased the 133 to Bray. Not just the Dublin Airport bus going into Bray, but they have ceased the ACTUAL Bray bus too. Allegedly until the 14th of Jan but a lot of the drivers are predicting they won't bring it back at all.

horseburger

hdowney wrote: »

Uproar in regards the 133 at the minute since they have completely ceased the 133 to Bray. Not just the Dublin Airport bus going into Bray, but they have ceased the ACTUAL Bray bus too. Allegedly until the 14th of Jan but a lot of the drivers are predicting they won't bring it back at all.

It states in the news item, dated 8th December, on Bus Éireann's website that the change is from 18th December till 14th January.

"We wish to advise customers that, from 18 December 2017 until 14 January 2018, Route 133, Wicklow – Ashford – Dublin – Dublin Airport, will be re-routed via the Upper Dargle Road to improve service reliability and punctuality. This is due to significant congestion being experienced in Bray town centre, and in line with customer feedback".

"Customers who wish to travel to Bray Town centre can connect via Dublin Bus from the Upper Dargle Road, or it is within walkable distance.
Route 133 trips in the morning & evening peak that only operate between Bray & Wicklow will continue to operate via that current route.
Friday, 8th December, 2017."

http://www.buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=2517&month=Dec

XPS_Zero

I was actually on the 133 the other day (Derry, Newry, Belfast, Wicklow...so what I get around, don't look at me like that shut up your face!!) and I had no idea where upper dargle road was and google maps very kindly took me on a 45 minute walk in a roundabout route when it was actually just at the end of the town and a short turn I could have been there in 10 minutes

It is actually a better stop because it skips Bray town which is an infamous bottle neck for busses (try getting a 145 through that area near rushhour you might take 45 min to get from Shankill to Bray town hall, DART would have you there in 5), but they did not bother to put a very good sign there.

First of all the sign at the top of Bray town where the old stop is...the existing timetable and BE pole is still there, and the sign telling you about the change is an A4 sheet lamented with cable-tie but turned facing out towards the road not, as common sense would dictate, put over the timetable box on the actual pole
Second, the sign on the Upper Dargle Road stop is as bad, up the top of a dublin bus pole - no BE stop or even a halfway decent sign, you'd walk right past it assuming the thing was a DB stop, and half the stops along the route seem to be DB stops not BE stops.

The sooner the NTA combi-stops for all companies come in the better.

If the X1 disruptions mentioned above are due to the NX route, that appears to be stunning incompetence with regard to the agencies involved. There is a 4 step process when a govt minister wants to put a new law through, and most ministers are aggravated by it because it makes putting their ideas through slow, it can take 100 days, but the point of the process is to weed out stupid ideas, identify the practical problems before enactment so they can be fixed etc. It seems the NTA needs such a process , if they are going to direct a company to do xyz then surely common sense would dictate a resource allocation plan be gone through to see if they can handle the directive and if not, they should be given more money.

BE also does not seem to be holding NX busses on the NX route, ive seen BE busses all over the city (including the 133 route) with "NX TO NAVAN" covering the entire back of the bus. I wasn't saying Navan was not a busy route, at all, but taking a bus off the Dublin-Belfast route to put on Navan would, if it happened, be stunning stupidity, because in demand terms they do not compare, the X1 and X2 are almost always 3/4 full sometimes full full.

devnull

There was a dispute over the rosters which the company says led to a higher rate of absenteeism which played into this as well meaning that they did not have enough staff to operate services and there were also said to be some issues with vehicles not being available for maintenance reasons.

horseburger

XPS_Zero wrote: »

I was actually on the 133 the other day (Derry, Newry, Belfast, Wicklow...so what I get around, don't look at me like that shut up your face!!) and I had no idea where upper dargle road was and google maps very kindly took me on a 45 minute walk in a roundabout route when it was actually just at the end of the town and a short turn I could have been there in 10 minutes

It is actually a better stop because it skips Bray town which is an infamous bottle neck for busses (try getting a 145 through that area near rushhour you might take 45 min to get from Shankill to Bray town hall, DART would have you there in 5), but they did not bother to put a very good sign there.

First of all the sign at the top of Bray town where the old stop is...the existing timetable and BE pole is still there, and the sign telling you about the change is an A4 sheet lamented with cable-tie but turned facing out towards the road not, as common sense would dictate, put over the timetable box on the actual pole
Second, the sign on the Upper Dargle Road stop is as bad, up the top of a dublin bus pole - no BE stop or even a halfway decent sign, you'd walk right past it assuming the thing was a DB stop, and half the stops along the route seem to be DB stops not BE stops.

The sooner the NTA combi-stops for all companies come in the better.

If the X1 disruptions mentioned above are due to the NX route, that appears to be stunning incompetence with regard to the agencies involved. There is a 4 step process when a govt minister wants to put a new law through, and most ministers are aggravated by it because it makes putting their ideas through slow, it can take 100 days, but the point of the process is to weed out stupid ideas, identify the practical problems before enactment so they can be fixed etc. It seems the NTA needs such a process , if they are going to direct a company to do xyz then surely common sense would dictate a resource allocation plan be gone through to see if they can handle the directive and if not, they should be given more money.

BE also does not seem to be holding NX busses on the NX route, ive seen BE busses all over the city (including the 133 route) with "NX TO NAVAN" covering the entire back of the bus. I wasn't saying Navan was not a busy route, at all, but taking a bus off the Dublin-Belfast route to put on Navan would, if it happened, be stunning stupidity, because in demand terms they do not compare, the X1 and X2 are almost always 3/4 full sometimes full full.

I don't think that the X1 service was among the services that cancellations were occurring since the second half of September and into October.

On the timetable archive section on the Bus Éireann website, the various press releases are available for perusal, and the services that were regularly cancelled included the 109A, 109, 109X, 133, 126 and 103 services, for example there were cancellations of these services on 24th September.

http://www.buseireann.ie/archive_timetable.php?year=2017

Interestingly, in the press release on 24th September, it lists two services of the 109 between Cavan and Dublin as being cancelled. The Cavan Dublin service has been served by the new 109X service since 17th September 2017.

I also think that there were cancellations of certain NX services due to particular services getting held up in traffic coming to and from Dublin and Navan, and not getting back to either location in time for the intended scheduled departure.

I could be incorrect on that explanation, but on 28th September, there were cancellations to eight of the NX services, as well as cancellations to certain 103 and 109 services.

http://www.buseireann.ie/news_timetable.php?id=2399&month=Sep

horseburger

devnull wrote: »

There was a dispute over the rosters which the company says led to a higher rate of absenteeism which played into this as well meaning that they did not have enough staff to operate services and there were also said to be some issues with vehicles not being available for maintenance reasons.

Drivers have stated that there were not enough buses and drivers in place when the NX service started and had emphasized, before the NX service started, that the NX sschedule was too ambitious.

Also, it was introduced at the same time that proposals were being made, to only pay drivers for the time that they are driving the bus.

For example, drivers change over at Braodstone, on the NX service from Navan to Dublin, and the driver that takes over, drives to Wilton Terrace, after dropping off at O'Connell Street, and can then have a two hour wait for his / her next scheduled service.

Two hours waiting to operate his / her next scheduled service won't be much fun, if they are only going to be paid for the time they drive a bus.

https://www.thejournal.ie/bus-eireann-northeast-drivers-3691403-Nov2017/

This item includes the following text:

"That absenteeism has been consistently cited across the board as the chief factor in the collapse of services on the Cavan route, and it’s a point the company has been able to back up (Bus Éireann says that staff absenteeism in the east of the country is 14% – more than four times the national average)".

"But a number of company employees have now come forward to suggest that blaming the situation on such absenteeism is to miss the point entirely".

"Multiple sources within Bus Éireann’s Broadstone garage in Phibsborough, Dublin, the starting point for the vast majority of services in the north-east and midlands, have told TheJournal.ie that the problem isn’t one of absent drivers, but rather one of non-existent buses and unrealistic service demands".

"And those long-term employees are less than impressed with the situation that has emerged at the company since the start of this year, to put it mildly".

“Look, this is all coming from the NTA (National Transport Association),” one source said.”They contact Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Luas, etc, and say that Behaviour and Attitudes surveys say we need more services.”

"So you get the NX (Navan Expressway, launched on 19 September) launched to great fanfare. They tell us to provide it. But the company hasn’t sat down to see whether or not we actually can provide it. Do we have the buses? Do we have the drivers? The answer is no we don’t, and it’s knocked the whole applecart in the region"

devnull

horseburger wrote: »

Drivers have stated that there were not enough buses and drivers in place when the NX service started and had emphasized that the NX sschedule was too ambitious.

Drivers have one opinion, management have another, no surprise there really at the end of the day, always is that case with any kind of dispute, normally the truth is somewhere in the middle.

"But a number of company employees have now come forward to suggest that blaming the situation on such absenteeism is to miss the point entirely".

"Multiple sources within Bus Éireann’s Broadstone garage in Phibsborough, Dublin, the starting point for the vast majority of services in the north-east and midlands, have told TheJournal.ie that the problem isn’t one of absent drivers, but rather one of non-existent buses and unrealistic service demands".

"And those long-term employees are less than impressed with the situation that has emerged at the company since the start of this year, to put it mildly".

“Look, this is all coming from the NTA (National Transport Association),” one source said.”They contact Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Luas, etc, and say that Behaviour and Attitudes surveys say we need more services.”

"So you get the NX (Navan Expressway, launched on 19 September) launched to great fanfare. They tell us to provide it. But the company hasn’t sat down to see whether or not we actually can provide it. Do we have the buses? Do we have the drivers? The answer is no we don’t, and it’s knocked the whole applecart in the region"

Someone who can't get the name of the NTA right and thinks that a PSO route is a commercial route wouldn't strike me as the most reliable source, especially when they reference a survey that doesn't appear to exist. Sure he's entitled to have his say but it's just that.

As I said it's merely the point of view of the drivers, the management appear to have a different one and there is no surprise with that, if you look at any dispute of it's kind all over Ireland people on one side will present one argument against the other side to back their case and people on the other side will present another argument against the opposite site to back their case, typical dispute.

The issue with buses was partly was down to the fact all bus maintenance was due to take place in the day when the buses were needed in service and whilst there was a provision for doing maintenance overnight after the strike earlier in the year, this did not come into effect until early December because of the fact that there was a dispute over the cost saving plan as voted for approx 6 months ago.

horseburger

devnull wrote: »

Drivers have one opinion, management have another, no surprise there really at the end of the day, always is that case with any kind of dispute, normally the truth is somewhere in the middle.



Someone who can't get the name of the NTA right and thinks that a PSO route is a commercial route wouldn't strike me as the most reliable source, especially when they reference a survey that doesn't appear to exist. Sure he's entitled to have his say but it's just that.

As I said it's merely the point of view of the drivers, the management appear to have a different one and there is no surprise with that, if you look at any dispute of it's kind all over Ireland people on one side will present one argument against the other side to back their case and people on the other side will present another argument against the opposite site to back their case, typical dispute.

The issue with buses was partly was down to the fact all bus maintenance was due to take place in the day when the buses were needed in service and whilst there was a provision for doing maintenance overnight after the strike earlier in the year, this did not come into effect until early December because of the fact that there was a dispute over the cost saving plan as voted for approx 6 months ago.

You know well that it was the journalist who wrote the article, that incorrectly wrote "(National Transport Association)", to explain to readers what NTA stood for.

The driver who spoke to the journalist would not have said to the journalist "The NTA in brackets National Transport Association".

devnull

horseburger wrote: »

You know well that it was the journalist who wrote the article, that incorrectly wrote "(National Transport Association)", to explain to readers what NTA stood for.

The driver who spoke to the journalist would not have said to the journalist "The NTA in brackets National Transport Association".

When someone is speaking to someone, in this case a journalist, it's normal the first time they mention an abbreviation, they say it and define what it is and later refer to it by it's abbreviation since they have already informed the other party what it is. When that is reproduced in print normally brackets will be put around the meaning of it to make it clear it's referring to the NTA.

If the journalist is adding something in themselves that was not said then it is grammatically correct to use square brackets, as they did not use square brackets I assume the driver said it.

horseburger

devnull wrote: »

When someone is speaking to someone, in this case a journalist, it's normal the first time they mention an abbreviation, they say it and define what it is and later refer to it by it's abbreviation since they have already informed the other party what it is. When that is reproduced in print normally brackets will be put around the meaning of it to make it clear it's referring to the NTA.

If the journalist is adding something in themselves that was not said then it is grammatically correct to use square brackets, as they did not use square brackets I assume the driver said it.

You know well, from the way the sentence is written, that the driver just said "NTA", and that it was the journalist that included "(National Transport Association)" for the benefit of readers who would not know what it stood for, and that it was the journalist who mistakenly assumed the A stood for Association.

You are just criticizing the driver for the sake of it.

https://www.thejournal.ie/bus-eireann-northeast-drivers-3691403-Nov2017/

devnull

horseburger wrote: »

You know well, from the way the sentence is written, that the driver just said "NTA", and that it was the journalist that included "(National Transport Association)" for the benefit of readers who would not know what it stood for, and that it was the journalist who mistakenly assumed the A stood for Association.

The way the sentence is written indicates the driver did say it, because square brackets would be used if the driver did not say it and I'd assume that someone who is a journalist would know that and wouldn't make such mistake, but of course it's possible that the journalist made mistakes in the article, but really it's not key to the whole topic anyway.

In any case it looks like we will not agree on this, but the most important thing is that the services are now not being disrupted the same way they were in the past and if the evening maintenance is happening overnight now rather than during the day that has probably had a positive effect.

horseburger

devnull wrote: »

The way the sentence is written indicates the driver did say it, because square brackets would be used if the driver did not say it and I'd assume that someone who is a journalist would know that and wouldn't make such mistake, but of course it's possible that the journalist made mistakes in the article, but really it's not key to the whole topic anyway.

In any case it looks like we will not agree on this, but the most important thing is that the services are now not being disrupted the same way they were in the past and if the evening maintenance is happening overnight now rather than during the day that has probably had a positive effect.

You are assuming that the journalist is infallible, and you are assuming that the journalist didn't make a mistake.

The issue is, that it is far more likely that the journalist incorrectly wrote "Association", than it being the case that the driver said "Association", because the driver is far more familiar with the company than the journalist would be.

But indeed, as you say, there haven't been as many cancellations in recent weeks, as there had been in late September and October.

Seasons Greetings devnull.