New early morning bus services Dublin - Belfast

John R

http://www.buseireann.ie/site/news_centre/travel_reports.asp?action=view&news_id=363

06.00 Departures Mon-Sat from Dublin and Belfast with an 08.30 arrival time and 08.00 departure from Dublin on Sundays.

Full Timetable:
http://www.buseireann.ie/site/your_journey/printed_timetable_pdfs/expressway/1msat.pdf

Dub13

so now you could have a house in Dublin and work in Belfast....the commuter belt just got bigger.

Victor

Odd the way Dundalk is a set-down only stop, no pick-up (or the other way around on the reverse journey).

John R

Victor wrote:

Odd the way Dundalk is a set-down only stop, no pick-up (or the other way around on the reverse journey).

It is a cross border only service, has been for many years.
There is an alternative Dublin-Drogheda-Dundalk service but with the motorway open now it is very slow as it goes via the old N1. Bus Eireann are not allowed to operate Dub-Dundalk via the motorway as a private operator "owns" the route. I think they were at the door of the DoT on midnight the day the motorway opened and said dibs or bagsy first or something.
Apparently this operator has been known to ring up and complain when they have spotted a BE coach on the Dundalk service using the M1. That's competition Irish style, public monopoly or private monopoly.

Metrobest

JohnR, with Bus Eireann being the established operator with the advantage of brand awareness and familiarity, it's hardly surprising that the private operator would want to maintain his competitive advantage which he had the wit to secure. What's more interesting and relevent are Bus Eireann's attempts to gouge its competitors off routes before they get a chance to bed down in the market.

This is transparent on the Dublin-Belfast and Dublin-Cork routes where BE is suddenly charging just €7 single to Cork or Belfast, the exact same as Aircoach. Never once was there such an offer when BE had its monopoly.

This shows two things
1) Competition is good for consumers
2) State monopolies don't want competition because it forces them to stop ripping off consumers

SeanW

The private operators "advantage" is to ban Bus Eireann from the motorway.

I don't know how you call that fair competition.

And please don't tell me you believe that the E7 fare offer is anything other than predatory pricing.