Carlow town bus service

Thanks for the link PC; have addressed a number of issues in that forum tonight but the omittance of railway stops serving incoming trains both directions and also the hospital & school area (there's what, 4-5 Primary, National & Secondary Schools there not to mention Carlow College which will, in time, be linked to the railway station without having to leave the campus) are odd but as I've said over there this could be down to current road design/layout; turning right from Green Lane to Train Station's a no no just as turning right coming from St. Josephs Rd. back onto Green Lane is also a no-no currently; you gotta go left & then into filter lane, McGamhna Rd. & come back in by Pollerton Rd./Accommodation Rd./Hoseys & left onto Green Lane again by Carlow FRS before continuing what would've been a direct route to Barrack St. & Bus Pk.

Stops etc.'re not, pardon the pun, set in stone just yet.

Public Consultation Period closed 26th of Oct. 2020; Cllrs.'ve had this map shown to them during 2018 (as per a local FF Cllr. to me....) & local Chocolate Teapot FF TD (Senator then) would've'd access to it also; PCP would've, should've, been flagged on & in local media at the time of Autumn 2020 for reps. from us (unlike PP these're free to do, make) & on the Carlow Co. Co. site also.

Have sent in these queries to local media but wouldn't expect a reply before New Year obviously.

Dir. of Transport may well take on private representations if an email is sent (I did this) even if public consultation period is closed a year & 2 months.

No harm linking him to this & the Commuting forum post also.

only slightly, Kilkenny and Carlow are very similar in size. While the Kk one started off slowly (coinciding with Covid lockdowns) it’s definitely gotten busier of late as the service beds in. I’d expect the Carlow one the same and is definitely needed especially with the college and all. Decent public transport should be accessible for all not just the biggest cities and Carlow is more than big enough to warrant it

Well considering how unfinished it still looks, I doubt it will be ready for January.

I see John Cassin has said it won't be running until July 🙄 why do these things take so long.

Yeah hopefully there's a good uptake on it. I'll be using it myself more than the car all going well. So much easier and less stressful to just hop onto a bus and go downtown.

Routes for CW1 & 2 here & train station IS mentioned along with town park........but no bus park stop (unless in CW1 Route there's a typo.....) & on CW1 "only" as far as Tyndall College & NOT Dolmen Hotel.

Totally understand concerns about some Tullow Rd. estates being somewhat excluded but there's gotta be some give & take & the ideal is to not be more than 450m from a bus stop.

If we keep chopping & changing then the "July" start date will end up being "Yes, July, but which year?".

Some stats & other info from a local Cllr. this evening about CW 1 & 2

Free travel cards will also be accepted and it is estimated that over 30% of passengers will travel for free.

94% of Carlow town’s population will be within 800m of a bus stop, and 68% will be within 400m

The two new Carlow town bus routes, CW1 and CW2, will be operational seven days a week, with buses every 30 minutes. In the town centre where the 2 routes meet, there will be a bus roughly every 15 mins.

The buses will run from 6 am to 12 pm everyday. (Slightly later start on a Sunday). The early buses are time to allow passengers to connect to the early trains.

Fares are very affordable, at 55c for under 24s and €1.10 for an adult. That single fare also allows passengers to change from one route to another to continue their journey.

Ffffffffs!! Was thinking it seemed a bit too quiet for them to have the service up and running and all bus stops built within the next 5 days!

As per 2023-2024 Cathaoirleach Cllr. Andrea Dalton (FF) Bus Eireann have now brought forward the launch of CW1 & CW2 to Thursday the 27th of July at 12 Noon

It should calm down once people get used to the bus being available. The idea is people will take the bus instead of driving for those short inner town trips. The amount of people that go from Graigue to the town for the likes of An Post or shopping is mad, hopefully these journeys will now be taken by bus!

Call one cynical but......

But it's not til Sunday the 30th of July itself that the actual buses, routes CW 1 & 2 begin running........

How many photo ops do the NTA, BE, TfI, Politicians & their groupies/hangers-on need......

Am (still) 100% supportive of bus services as I've said all along; this is a game-changer for the town & while there's always gonna be the Negative Ninnies who won't give up their cars if you told them the bus would pick 'em up at their doorstep & drop 'em right back to it, these services open up the town to so many; as per above Green Party link the services are targeted at areas of low car ownership too & this improves accessibility & permeability for those parts of the town.

Also for 55 Cents or €1.10 you can go from Wexford Rd. Business Pk. & any of the stops in between to Barrow Valley Retail Pk. (Dunnes in old money).

I.e It's the 1 Fare; you don't pay twice as per above link.

Do that in a taxi; Ken Blacks to Bus Pk. & Bus Pk. to Dunnes & it's gonna be €14 (7 x 2).

On this matter it appears to be behind the train station; bordering the Youth Centre car park; it's visible from platform in train station.

Access to it is off Green Lane if I've my geography correct.

Am 100% open to correction on this though........

Full map of CW1 & 2 routes, stops, starts & ends (Crd. Cllr. Fintan Phelan FF)