Bust Éireann

There are also some routes where there just isn't enough demand for two commercial operators, it would lead to both operators being unviable which would not be in a passenger interest, plus as incumbent BE has a legacy advantage on a lot of markets versus operators who would start from nothing.

When Aircoach operated both non stop and stopping Cork services the passenger numbers on the stoppers fell through the floor to low single figures. The timetable was cut back a little and they fell through the floor more, so it was removed because that the services were not picking up enough people.

I don't believe there was ever enough demand for 14 buses a day from the intermediate towns like before, it was just the people going from Dublin to Cork or vice versa that was making all the difference on the yields on those particular routes. Once you take them out the loads are a lot thinner on the ground.

What has happened since is that BE have seen a lot of their end to end passengers on the X8 replaced with passengers from the previous towns, who would have previously used Aircoach, the services of six a day between them is more in line than the 14 that were provided previously.

Essentially Aircoach decided back in 2012 that in the long term the loss of intermediate customers would be made up for by more non stop customers, whilst BE believed that the loss of intermediate customers would not be made up for by non stop services.

horseburger wrote: »

You raise a valid point. I don't think private coaches would operate many of the services that are operated by Bus Éireann.

I'd disagree, I'd suspect privates would be quiet happy to run any of the services that BE run.

The likes of Aircoach, GoBE, Dublin Coach, Citylink, etc. get lots of attention on this forum as they are the premium non stop intercity services. However it would be a terrible mistake to think these are the only private services operating in the country!

People seem to forget that there are 3 times as many private buses and coaches operating in Ireland then BE and DB combined! Everything from the likes of Aircoach at the top, down to companies like Feda O'Donnell and John McGinley Coaches operating buses around the most rural areas of Donegal and everything in between.

There are plenty of private operators operating multi-stop stopping services such as JJ Kavanagh.

Citylink to Galway and beyond is a great example of a company operating both a direct, non-stop service and a stopping service along the same route. Showing clearly that privates are happy to do both if demand exists and it is profitable.

There are even many subsidised PSO routes that many operators would be happy to operate without a subsidy. The 109 is a perfect example of this. Very strong rumours have it that Dublin Coach applied for a licence to operate this route with no subsidy, but it was turned down due to fears that it would be too much competition for BE!

Of course there are some truly low capacity routes that wouldn't be profitable for a private to operate. However with a subsidy, of course a private would be happy to operate them. And I don't see why a private operator would require any more money then BE does to operate the same route, not with BE's insane cost structures.

Idbatterim

A key issue is. We are going to be back here again and again if this isn't sorted once and for all. Shane Ross only involvement should be to say " break even at minimum ever year" therecwill be no government involvement. One issue I have with the drivers is. In most companies all staff work together as it benefits all. In cie the attitude seems to be, do as little as you can, gouge as much as you can and treat customers with contempt ...

devnull wrote: »

Privates are VERY loathe to set up services on cross border routes because the market is effectively not regulated because it falls outside both governments regulation power because it is a international route, this leaves companies with situations were they can pretty much do what they like and there is not a jot that people can do about it which makes it very hard to run a service.

When there are two state run companies who are incumbents on that route and strong ones at that, it means there is virtually zero viability in running such route when the incumbents can engage in predatory behaviour, predatory timetables and flood the corridor with buses and there being no way of stopping that. This could not happen within the ROI as the NTA has systems in place to stop that.

The trouble is they are only able to carry passengers cross border, because the Northern Ireland authorities will not allow them a license to carry passengers from say Newry to Belfast and Aircoach did the whole stopping thing before which didn't work out.

That route is doing particularly well a lot of the time, the core patronage tends to be those based in Belfast, with the earlier services from Belfast very busy and the later services from Dublin being very busy - of course there are some exceptions, but generally that is the trend.

Reliefs are also scheduled on Aircoach if forecasts or online booking numbers suggest that they are needed. As an efficient private

It sounds to me that on these routes, it makes sense for Bus Éireann to serve intermediate towns.

I completely agree, there will always be the need for both kinds of service depending on passengers need, no dispute with that whatsoever.

And this is a perfect example of a great route that is socially necessary but probably not viable commercially. That is why it is subsidized by the taxpayer who provides BE with vehicles to run it and funding to run it. It isn't however, a valid comparison against Expressway or other commercial routes because it's based on a totally different model.

I know that the 109A service is operated on a different basis than the Expressway services. I mentioned the particular service, as it was an indication that people will use buses, if they serve intermediate towns. I used that example, because on the particular bus to which I referred, it was completely full when leaving the airport, and that most of the passengers alighted at Ashbourne and then more passengers got out at Ratoath and Dunshaughlin.

I guess, that passengers at intermediate towns, like Virginia and Cavan, help sustain long distance bus services, like the Donegal Dublin number 30 service.

For example, in the case of the Donegal Dublin 30 service, I would guess it is possible that there might be individual passengers at Virginia and Cavan, who may use it more often, to and from Dublin City Centre, than say a passenger from Donegal using it to go to the airport?

(Passengers for Cavan and Virginia can take the midnight Donegal bus from Bus Aras and the airport every night).

I have used Aircoach services from Belfast, for example, the 1.30am service to Dublin, which don't stop anywhere until Dublin Airport, and they were nowhere near full.

If some of Aircoach's services, at particular times, are not that busy, might it decide to cut back on some of its services?

Yes, you are correct that Aircoach will often have an extra bus available to serve the numbers of passengers at particular times. Aircoach regularly has two buses available for its 1am service from Patrick Street, Cork, to Dublin City Centre.

joeysoap wrote: »

I think the Aircoach licence is pretty restrictive and perhaps the Translink one. AFAIK Aircoach and Translink cannot pick up in the south If the journey commences in the north and vice versa. it's strictly cross border. Maybe Aircoach are not allowed any pickups at all.I don't know how the Derry service operates.

There are no actual route licenses whatsoever on cross-border routes. All there is are basically community approval, which says an operator can across the border with passengers on.

The issue with that is it pretty much allows operators to use whatever tactics they like to keep the opposition out or force them out of business if they desire to do so, be that running buses five minutes ahead of the competition from the same stop, flooding a corridor with buses, adding extra or non timetabled services at a drop of a hat and other similar activities.

Operators, operating routes within Republic of Ireland cannot do that because sensibly this country has a regulator which has decided such behaviour, which is common in the UK, has no place in the market here since it does nobody any favours in the long run.

Fedupted wrote: »

Great stuff?
So can you tell me what private sector bus i take from Dublin city centre to roscrea that accept ftp. Please I mean from the city centre!!#!#
Not the red cow :-)
5kms away thanks

I've already posted the answer.

JJ Kavanagh stop at Eden Quay.

Maybe you should check the link again?

horseburger wrote: »

The item suggested that there might be an opportunity for companies like Collins Coaches to take over a route like the number 33 Derry/Dublin, Bus Éireann-Translink Ulster Bus service, if the Bus Éireann Expressway services were ended.

The number 33 Derry to Dublin - Dublin Airport Bus Éireann/Translink Ulster Bus service includes services from Derry Bus Station at 12am and 4.15am to Dublin and Dublin Airport which also serve intermediate towns.

I'm not sure that if any private operator took over this Dublin Derry route, that they would run a bus service at those late night/early morning times, to Dublin and Dublin Airport, which would also stop at intermediate towns.

Many bus users of longer distance routes, for example the Derry to Dublin service, may not like stopping in intermediate towns, but people who live in the intermediate towns use the buses, and I think it would be a negative move, if a decision was taken by Bus Éireann, not to serve the intermediate towns.

Privates are VERY loathe to set up services on cross border routes because the market is effectively not regulated because it falls outside both governments regulation power because it is a international route, this leaves companies with situations were they can pretty much do what they like and there is not a jot that people can do about it which makes it very hard to run a service.

When there are two state run companies who are incumbents on that route and strong ones at that, it means there is virtually zero viability in running such route when the incumbents can engage in predatory behaviour, predatory timetables and flood the corridor with buses and there being no way of stopping that. This could not happen within the ROI as the NTA has systems in place to stop that.

I have taken Aircoach services from Belfast to Dublin, and on one recent Saturday on the 4.30pm service from Belfast to Dublin Airport and Dublin City Centre, there was around five people on the bus.

Might they not get more people using their service if they ran at least some of their services through intermediate towns?

The trouble is they are only able to carry passengers cross border, because the Northern Ireland authorities will not allow them a license to carry passengers from say Newry to Belfast and Aircoach did the whole stopping thing before which didn't work out.

That route is doing particularly well a lot of the time, the core patronage tends to be those based in Belfast, with the earlier services from Belfast very busy and the later services from Dublin being very busy - of course there are some exceptions, but generally that is the trend.

Bus Éireann operate extra buses at the airport to ensure extra passengers are accommodated, for example they'll put on an extra bus to cover passengers for Monaghan who may be waiting for either the Letterkenny 32 or Derry 33 buses. Also, Bus Éireann will make available an extra bus for Newry, at the airport, if the bus for Belfast is full, or very nearly full when it leaves Bus Aras.

Reliefs are also scheduled on Aircoach if forecasts or online booking numbers suggest that they are needed. As an efficient private

It sounds to me that on these routes, it makes sense for Bus Éireann to serve intermediate towns.

People who want buses to serve only the place they are going, for example the places where the bus services that they use, start and terminate, don't seem to acknowledge, that other people in intermediate towns also use buses, when they are made available, and are convenient to them.

I completely agree, there will always be the need for both kinds of service depending on passengers need, no dispute with that whatsoever.

For example, the 109A last Friday night / Saturday morning, that left from Bus Aras at 3.25am, was full leaving Bus Aras, apart from one seat - there was only one free seat available when it arrived at Dublin airport. When it stopped at Ashbourne, many of the passengers got out, and then more at Dunshaughlin.

Yet, if there was someone standing in Navan or Kells, and saw the bus go by, after it had left Dunshaughlin, they might think far less people had used the bus, from Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport to Kells.

The 24 hour 109A is a recent development, having started operating 24 hours since 31st July 2016, to and from Kells and Dublin, and the example of the Ashbourne stop on the 3.25am service last Friday night, indicates that people are using the service to and from intermediate towns, even if it may not always be that full, at other times.

And this is a perfect example of a great route that is socially necessary but probably not viable commercially. That is why it is subsidized by the taxpayer who provides BE with vehicles to run it and funding to run it. It isn't however, a valid comparison against Expressway or other commercial routes because it's based on a totally different model.

kingshankly

emroid wrote: »

Not odd at all, BE's passenger numbers have actually been increasing. What is odd is that they are losing so much money despite full buses and increased passenger numbers!

Captain obvious.
Free travel pass numbers have risen year after year, now 1.2million can use them.
When was the last time the money paid by the government for the FTP increased? The 80's or 90's?
There is your answer to how BE can carry more passengers and not be making more money.

1.2 million people with free passes !!!
That's over 1/4 of our population surely this has to be looked at
Is it any wonder public companies are struggling

eeguy wrote: »

Calm down.
In fairness, I'd prefer to wait at the Red Cow than Busaras, which is usually mobbed by junkies and beggars.

I think, to say it is mobbed, is an exaggeration.

joeysoap wrote: »

I think the Aircoach licence is pretty restrictive and perhaps the Translink one.

AFAIK Aircoach and Translink cannot pick up in the south If the journey commences in the north and vice versa. it's strictly cross border. Maybe Aircoach are not allowed any pickups at all.
I don't know how the Derry service operates.

I think it is more the case that Aircoach has taken a decision to only serve Dublin Airport on its services to and from Dublin City Centre and Belfast City Centre, rather than it being a case of Aircoach not being permitted to serve any places in between Dubin Airport and Belfast.

The way the Belfast - Dublin Airport - Dublin City Centre, Bus Éireann / Translink Ulster Bus service operates is, that if you are going from Belfast to Dublin, you cannot get out in Sprucefield, Banbridge or Newry. They are not drop off points. They are only a pick up points, from Belfast to Dublin.

The first drop off point from Belfast to Dublin is at Dublin Airport.

If you are going from Dublin Bus Aras or from Dublin Airport to Belfast, the stops at Newry, Banbridge and Sprucefield are drop off points, and not pick up points.

When the Bus Éireann / Translink Ulster Bus, Dublin City Centre - Dublin Aiport - Belfast service used to serve Drogheda and Dundalk, when coming from Dublin to Belfast, Dundalk and Drogheda were just pick up points. Coming from Belfast to Dublin, Dundalk and Drogheda were drop off points only.

I don't see how Aircoach would be prevented from serving intermediate towns, if it applied to do so. Aircoach used to serve Dundalk and Drogheda on its Belfast Dublin service. It's Dundalk service is mentioned in these boards.ie discussions dating from 2005.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=242051

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=240960&page=2

Bus Éireann /Translink Ulsterbus used to serve Drogheda and Dundalk on its Dublin - Dublin Airport - Belfast service, but it took a decision to stop serving both towns on this Belfast Dublin service in 2011, and did so, on 29th May 2011.

As a result, if you want to get to Belfast by bus from Dundalk, you now have to get a bus from Dundalk to Newry, to connect with the Befast service.

I mention this because the bus service between Dublin and Belfast has a vital advantage over the Dublin Belfast train service that serves Drogheda and Dundalk, in that the bus service operates throughout the night to and from Dublin and Belfast.

Now, if you are in Belfast at night, after the last train for Dublin has left Belfast at 8.05pm (Monday - Saturday) or 7.05pm on Sundays, and want to get back to Dundalk, the nearest you can get to Dundalk by bus is Newry.

http://www.irishrail.ie/media/dublin-belfast-web.pdf

http://www.buseireann.ie/timetables/1470224678-X1.pdf

I would imagine, as a result, many people from Dundalk and Drogheda going to and from Belfast, have ended up deciding to drive, rather than using either bus or train services.

Aircoach used to have another service between Dublin airport and Drogheda and Dundalk.

In 2010, Aircoach had ended its Belfast Dublin service totally, but started another service in 2012.

https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g186470-i491-k3947506-Aircoach_Belfast_to_Dublin_cancelled-Belfast_Northern_Ireland.html

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056664233

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055664013

Fedupted wrote: »

So I've to get a luas to the outside of dublin. Then get of and wait for a coach in the middle of nowhere and wait for a coach. Hardly you Muppet

Calm down.
In fairness, I'd prefer to wait at the Red Cow than Busaras, which is usually mobbed by junkies and beggars.

Bass Reeves wrote: »

You can use the FTP on the LUAS to get you out there problem solved.

So I've to get a luas to the outside of dublin. Then get of and wait for a coach in the middle of nowhere and wait for a coach. Hardly you Muppet

joeysoap

horseburger wrote: »

The problem is, most of these services do not serve intermediate towns.

I have taken Aircoach services from Belfast to Dublin, and on one recent Saturday on the 4.30pm service from Belfast to Dublin Airport and Dublin City Centre, there was around five people on the bus.

Might they not get more people using their service if they ran at least some of their services through intermediate towns?

The Bus Éireann Translink Ulsterbus service from Belfast to Dublin will regularly pick up and drop off passengers, at Sprucefield, Banbridge and Newry.

I think the Aircoach licence is pretty restrictive and perhaps the Translink one.

AFAIK Aircoach and Translink cannot pick up in the south If the journey commences in the north and vice versa. it's strictly cross border. Maybe Aircoach are not allowed any pickups at all.
I don't know how the Derry service operates.

Fedupted wrote: »

Great stuff?
So can you tell me what private sector bus i take from Dublin city centre to roscrea that accept ftp. Please I mean from the city centre!!#!#
Not the red cow :-)
5kms away thanks

Bass Reeves wrote: »

You can use the FTP on the LUAS to get you out there problem solved.

The JJ Kavanagh's service that covers Roscrea, which starts at Dublin Airport, has a pick up point at the Ulster Bank on George's Quay. It also picks up at Heuston Station, as well as at The Red Cow Luas.

http://jjkavanagh.ie/timetable-detail-page?RouteNo=735&IsWeb=1&IsCollegeRoute=0&Direction=1&RGrp=Main

Bass Reeves wrote: »

You can use the FTP on the LUAS to get you out there problem solved.

And you can get the Luas from any point on the Red Line, or at any point on any line after BXD, which is faster than getting the Dublin bus into Busaras and then BE out of the city.

So you're probably better off getting the Luas to Red Cow, then bus to wherever in fairness.

RE Matthews and the airport, I've been on numerous BE busses that stop at the airport going to and from the city centre. It's rare that anyone gets on or off the bus at these stops. So it's an extra 20 mins on the bus for little or no reason.
That's why Matthews started to bypass it. No gain.

It's the same with busses stopping at intermediate towns. 90% of the passengers want to get from Dublin to Cork as fast as possible and don't want a service that stops in every boreen on the way. Also there's no need for a bus to service a town 10 times a day if they only pick up 5 passengers a day. Unfortunately the 10% are left at a loose end, but I think minibusses or a less frequent service might be a feasable option for private service operators. It might be a good option to have a circular route. Head from Dublin to Cork through Athy Kilkenny Clonmel, then back to Dublin though Cashel Thurles and Portlaoise then reverse it on the next run. You give a half service to twice the locations for the same price.

Bass Reeves

Fedupted wrote: »

Great stuff?
So can you tell me what private sector bus i take from Dublin city centre to roscrea that accept ftp. Please I mean from the city centre!!#!#
Not the red cow :-)
5kms away thanks

You can use the FTP on the LUAS to get you out there problem solved.

devnull wrote: »

JJ Kavanagh
http://jjkavanagh.ie/timetable-detail-page?RouteNo=735&IsWeb=1&IsCollegeRoute=0&Direction=0&RGrp=Main%20Routes%20^%20Airport%20Routes

FAQs:
http://jjkavanagh.ie/faqs

Great stuff?
So can you tell me what private sector bus i take from Dublin city centre to roscrea that accept ftp. Please I mean from the city centre!!#!#
Not the red cow :-)
5kms away thanks

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I would say no one is really entitled to anything beyond their basic rights, the have to go and earn their wages.

Well I earn my wages every time I sit into my bus and drive for 9plus hours a day.
5am start, Monday morning,
2hours 35minutes unpaid break .during the day?/night unsociable hours

joeysoap wrote: »

Matthews are the competitor on the M1 route to Dublin from Dundalk (Drogheda, Laytown,) superb service with about 20 departures in both directions daily.

But they don't service the airport. In the 'early' days (10 years ago) they did but it 'delayed' their fast run to the city centre by 15/20 mins. They then came up with a convoluted route to the airport where they dropped you (on request) at the City North hotel and hotel mini bus made the airport run.

Needless to say anybody using the airport used the BE Expressway service.

I would hope that in the event of BE exiting the expressway service that the regulator would insist that private operators service the airport. Properly.

I would prefer BE expressway remained though.

You raise a valid point. I don't think private coaches would operate many of the services that are operated by Bus Éireann.

There are good services operated by private coach companies between Dublin and cities like Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny and Galway, for example Aircoach between Dublin and Cork and Dublin and Belfast, Go Bus and City link between Dublin and Galway, Dublin Coach and JJ Kavanagh's between Limerick and Dublin and Kilkenny and Dublin, but they all have Dublin airport as a last stop.

The problem is, most of these services do not serve intermediate towns.

Some of the services, by City Link, Dublin Coach and JJ Kavanagh's that operate to Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport, also serve intermediate towns. But I don't think these bus companies would serve these intermediate towns, if they didn't have Dublin Airport as a stop on the route.

The RTE 9pm news report on Monday night 20th February included an item about Collins Coaches that run services between towns like Ardee and Carrickmacross, and Dublin.

The item suggested that there might be an opportunity for companies like Collins Coaches to take over a route like the number 33 Derry/Dublin, Bus Éireann-Translink Ulster Bus service, if the Bus Éireann Expressway services were ended.

The number 33 Derry to Dublin - Dublin Airport Bus Éireann/Translink Ulster Bus service includes services from Derry Bus Station at 12am and 4.15am to Dublin and Dublin Airport which also serve intermediate towns.

I'm not sure that if any private operator took over this Dublin Derry route, that they would run a bus service at those late night/early morning times, to Dublin and Dublin Airport, which would also stop at intermediate towns.

The last Collins Coaches service from Dublin, from Monday to Saturday, is at 9pm, and 8.30pm on a Sunday (10.30pm on a Sunday from October to April).

I think 9pm is quite early to run a last service from Dublin to Carrickmacross, considering that Bus Éireann runs a number 32 service to Letterkenny from Bus Aras at 10.45pm that serves Ardee and Carrickmacross.

Many bus users of longer distance routes, for example the Derry to Dublin service, may not like stopping in intermediate towns, but people who live in the intermediate towns use the buses, and I think it would be a negative move, if a decision was taken by Bus Éireann, not to serve the intermediate towns.

I have taken Aircoach services from Belfast to Dublin, and on one recent Saturday on the 4.30pm service from Belfast to Dublin Airport and Dublin City Centre, there was around five people on the bus.

Might they not get more people using their service if they ran at least some of their services through intermediate towns?

The Bus Éireann / Translink Ulsterbus service to and from Belfast and Dublin, will regularly pick up and drop off at Sprucefield, Banbridge and Newry - picking up on the way to Dublin from Belfast, and then drop off passengers on the way to Belfast after leaving Dublin Airport.

Bus Éireann operate extra buses at the airport to ensure extra passengers are accommodated, for example they'll put on an extra bus to cover passengers for Monaghan who may be waiting for either the Letterkenny 32 or Derry 33 buses. Also, Bus Éireann will make available an extra bus for Newry, at the airport, if the bus for Belfast is full, or very nearly full when it leaves Bus Aras.

It sounds to me that on these routes, it makes sense for Bus Éireann to serve intermediate towns.

People who want buses to serve only the place they are going, for example the places where the bus services that they use, start and terminate, don't seem to acknowledge, that other people in intermediate towns also use buses, when they are made available, and are convenient to them.

For example, the 109A last Friday night / Saturday morning, that left from Bus Aras at 3.25am, was full leaving Bus Aras, apart from one seat - there was only one free seat available when it arrived at Dublin airport. When it stopped at Ashbourne, many of the passengers got out, and then more at Dunshaughlin.

Yet, if there was someone standing in Navan or Kells, and saw the bus go by, after it had left Dunshaughlin, they might think far less people had used the bus, from Dublin City Centre and Dublin Airport to Kells.

The 24 hour 109A is a recent development, having started operating 24 hours since 31st July 2016, to and from Kells and Dublin, and the example of the Ashbourne stop on the 3.25am service last Friday night, indicates that people are using the service to and from intermediate towns, even if it may not always be that full, at other times.

I'm not sure if there was ever a service as late as that. from Dublin to Ashbourne before? The 109N on Friday and Saturday nights at 12.30am and 3.30am, does not serve Ashbourne. Ratoath would be the nearest you'd get to Ashbourne if you used the 109N

http://www.citylink.ie/timetables
http://www.gobus.ie/timetable.php
http://www.dublincoach.ie/timetables-fares/dublin-coach-routes.php
http://www.collinscoaches.ie/images/collins_coaches_timetable_from_dublin_oct_2016.pdf
http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1470909505-33.pdf
http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1478276752-32.pdf
http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1473263565-109A.pdf
http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1466431582-109N.pdf
http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2017/0220/21133741-bus-eireann-issues-warning-about-its-worsening-finances/

Fedupted wrote: »

Bla bla bla !!!!??????
Is a person in this country now not allowed to earn a living wage, regardless of the work they do,
Please please tell me

People are allowed to earn anything from zero to millions. What's your point?
Why don't you answer my question? I'm not arguing with you, I've asked it in a few strike threads and no one has given me an answer

oppenheimer1

Fedupted wrote: »

Bla bla bla !!!!??????
Is a person in this country now not allowed to earn a living wage, regardless of the work they do,
Please please tell me

I would say no one is really entitled to anything beyond their basic rights, the have to go and earn their wages.

eeguy wrote: »

Sorry, I just think it's interesting how people throw around terms like "working class" and "frontline" and it's never defined what they mean.

Is someone on 35-50k considered working class?
Is someone who sits in a Luas cab all day, separated from customers a front line worker?
You might think a lowly bus driver is on the bottom rung of the ladder, but really there's many ladders, and theirs only has one rung so really they're at the top.

I'd honestly like a answer, because I can't find one anywhere. They just seem like emotive terms, whose connotations are far removed from the people they're applied to.

Bla bla bla !!!!??????
Is a person in this country now not allowed to earn a living wage, regardless of the work they do,
Please please tell me

n97 mini

Fedupted wrote: »

So can you tell me what private. Bus company will take you you to roscrea from Dublin city centre on a free travel pass.

They can get the train. It's more comfortable and just as free.

Fedupted wrote: »

Maybe because when the s..t hits the fan and them lowly front line staff who actually knows how to do their job and cleric work at the same time. Stands on the picket line. They ARE standing up for you!!
How LUCKY and low are you

Sorry, I just think it's interesting how people throw around terms like "working class" and "frontline" and it's never defined what they mean.

Is someone on 35-50k considered working class?
Is someone who sits in a Luas cab all day, separated from customers a front line worker?
You might think a lowly bus driver is on the bottom rung of the ladder, but really there's many ladders, and theirs only has one rung so really they're at the top.

I'd honestly like a answer, because I can't find one anywhere. They just seem like emotive terms, whose connotations are far removed from the people they're applied to.

eeguy wrote: »

It's a funny old world. If BE announced tomorrow they were cutting back on admin and exec staff you'd have all the supporters of the driving applauding. Even though these admin staff are people with families and bills and mortgages too.

Funny how only the lowly "working class" worker is ever supported in these matters, even if he's earning 50k a year, and probably on par with the admin, or support lads.

Maybe because when the s..t hits the fan and them lowly front line staff who actually knows how to do their job and cleric work at the same time. Stands on the picket line. They ARE standing up for you!!
How LUCKY and low are you

WomanSkirtFan8

salonfire wrote: »

From Donegal, Feda O'Donnell and John McGinley Coaches take the free travel pass.

Can't get further from Dublin than than the north of Inishowen

Aircoach also accepts the FTP on their services as well from Greystones to Dublin Airport. :cool:

[Deleted User]

Fedupted wrote: »

No they won't :-).
Because they don't accept free travel pass.
Cash only!!!

From Donegal, Feda O'Donnell and John McGinley Coaches take the free travel pass.

Can't get further from Dublin than than the north of Inishowen

Fedupted wrote: »

So can you tell me what private. Bus company will take you you to roscrea from Dublin city centre on a free travel pass.

JJ Kavanagh
http://jjkavanagh.ie/timetable-detail-page?RouteNo=735&IsWeb=1&IsCollegeRoute=0&Direction=0&RGrp=Main%20Routes%20^%20Airport%20Routes

FAQs:
http://jjkavanagh.ie/faqs

Are free travel passes accepted on JJ Kavanagh & Sons?
Yes, we accept free travel passes on all services, with the exception of college services.

devnull wrote: »

If you think that the free travel pass issue is the cause of all BE's problems you'd be wrong. The privates who registered a service from 2010 (when privates were allowed to) have to deal with a system where they only get half or less of the usual fare.

The last review of the funding I believe was 2010, although there was some talk a couple of years ago in the Dail about a €3m increase taking place, but I can't find anything on it now so I assume it has not happened.

You will find most privates who started a route before 2010 do take the travel pass, services started after that could not join the scheme because the funding was frozen.

So can you tell me what private. Bus company will take you you to roscrea from Dublin city centre on a free travel pass.