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Child Item

Matthews bus service

Paddy_Smith

I think the Matthews bus service is bloody ridiculous.

There's so many things wrong with the service. It being late a lot of the time, and the reluctance to fix the air conditioning being another for example.

I'll be taking the train from now on from Dundalk to Dublin, because this bus service has me distraught with the bloody problems going on around it.

Does anyone else have any problems with this service?

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Rossin

ah theyre good alright, pity there's no student tickets though

not1but4

I used it twice a week for four years while at college and found it fantastic. I have since moved to Belfast and I only wish there was a service to Belfast like the one Matthews provide to Dublin.

I only wish there was a later bus on a Sat night (I know they dont it as people who would be getting would have been drinking) as it would be very handy.

OP you should try Bus Éireann, knackered buses, stop in every little village along the way and never on time.

Little Pea wrote: »

Is there ever a case where there are people left behind ??

A twice I overheard the driver say that the bus was full and they had to wait for the next bus but at least they stopped and told them. When I first started getting the Matthews I remember they let 2 people sit in the aisle as there was enough seats.

I often go the Bus from Drumcondra on a Friday when everyone who was in College was heading home at the same time. After the bus was full in Parnell St they sent a second direct bus for the rest of even if there was only like 10 of us.

Great service.

A note on the price of kids tickets and getting off on the 1st stop. They would need to invest in a better ticket system so that they could provide different types of tickets and this would cost a fair bit.

amacachi

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Completely agree, use them to get from Dublin to Dundalk and have never had a problem with them! The only time they were late was during the snow in mid-December (Parnell Street to Dundalk direct took nearly 2.5 hours) but that's understandable - they left Parnell Street precisely on time though!

3 hours it took me and I only just made it because it was leaving from a different place :P

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

When I selected to quote amacahi I edited his/her name in the text to 'matthews' coaches', kinda poking fun at the thought s/he was worried about being seen as a shill. I'll delete it as it may cause confusion...

If they don't get that they can piss off :P

bigneacy wrote: »

Usually kids fares would be cheaper, even though it's still a seat taken.

Maybe it's due to the fact that 99% of Matthews customers are commuters and students? Just a guess, perhaps amachai, the shill working on behalf of Matthews can clear it up for us? :pac: :-p

Exactly, a seat is a seat. I pay everyday so fcuk everyone else :P

Little Pea wrote: »

Is there ever a case where there are people left behind ??

I've not seen it. They have a bus on stand-buy during the college term from Dundalk and also have a mini-bus all the time. It sits in Dundalk in the morning and once Dundalk is clear it sits and waits for the Drogheda crowd who are "left behind". I've been beaten into Parnell St. by that extra bus when my bus stops 3 times going into Dublin while the other 3 people on the minibus are going straight for Parnell St.

If anything I said doesn't make sense let me know, I'm very drunk. :pac:

20 Times 20 Times

Is there many buses going from Dundalk in the morning ?? the reason I ask is that I will be starting a Msc in DIT in September so will be making the commute everyday , I obviously only want to go direct , is there buses for IFSC etc ???

280special

Cannot beleive that someone finds the train to be better than Matthews !!! For god's sake, its usually overcrowded in the mornings and around 5, there are serious and quite often unexplained delays, and as regrds customer service ?? Dont start me !

Matthews provide an excellant service in clean, reliable coaches with pleasant, friendly staff who do their jobs in a professional way. The ethos of the company seems to be get the customers to their destination on-time. The last time I was on the rattle trap operation that is Bus Eireann it was to be driven by a surly, unfriendly driver who didnt give a damn , driving a bus that was fit for the scrapheap even though only about 6 years old. And it was cold, stinking and filthy. And he didnt watch the luggage bays to make sure nothing went missing !

Give me Matthews anytime, I just wish they had been in operation back in the 90's, they KNOW how to operate a bus route to Dublin !

Mr Magnolia

Little Pea wrote: »

Is there many buses going from Dundalk in the morning ?? the reason I ask is that I will be starting a Msc in DIT in September so will be making the commute everyday , I obviously only want to go direct , is there buses for IFSC etc ???

Here ya go...

The bus stops at Parnell St., at the top of O'Connell St. so the IFSC is a short walk.

Reekwind

Here's the Dundalk timetable (PDF) and their IFSC page. The latter seems to leave at 7:00 but I've never gotten it myself

20 Times 20 Times

Yeah I had a look at the timetables earlier and I have often gotten the Matthews bus to Dublin at least 1/2 times a week , Just never at the seven in the morning time , I will be bringing my Bike on the bus so I want to get off at Parnell street ( direct ) is there several buses running at that time all going to different places ???

indiewindy

The O.P appears to be either posting just to get a reaction or maybe works for C.I.E.
We all konw how bad things were before Matthews started their direct service,bus eireann bus taking the scenic route to Dublin and the train costing over €20 for a day return. matthews with a fast regular, reliable service and unlimited ticket validity wins for me.

DundalkDuffman

Seems like the OP is in a minority. I find Matthews an excellent service. Highly professional and pleasant to boot. I think that a lot more companies could take a leaf from their book. If the train was even a bit cheaper than them then I would still use Matthews, they go from centre to centre and take less time than the train on the direct services. Go Matthews!

amacachi

Little Pea wrote: »

Yeah I had a look at the timetables earlier and I have often gotten the Matthews bus to Dublin at least 1/2 times a week , Just never at the seven in the morning time , I will be bringing my Bike on the bus so I want to get off at Parnell street ( direct ) is there several buses running at that time all going to different places ???

At 7 there's a bus that goes via Drogheda, one direct to Parnell St. and one that goes through the port tunnel and services the IFSC and NAMA-land.

kwoods

I find Matthews in the Morning from Drog very unreliable. It's 931 and I'm still waiting for the 9(here since 859 maybe they went early)?
It's much better coming home from dub as you're on the first stop.
All in all still better than those CIE wasters(why aren't they shut down?) but nowhere near German standards.

Rossin

I reckon you prob missed the bus! I found I always had to be 5 min early to make sure I didn't miss it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

You have to be joking. You are there since 8:59 for the 9 bus. What nonsense.:rolleyes:

You missed the bus!

Do you synchronise watches with the Mattews driver every morning to allow you cut it so tight?

I got such a laugh from your post. Thanks.

I find Matthes coaches to be fantastic and very reliable.

delly

'The 9 o'clock bus was a minute early and the 9:30 bus was a minute late, its shocking carry on Joe!'

amacachi

As with any bus service ya have to think about when the bus is leaving. At the traffic lights at Xerox they can either go straight through or sit for 3 or 4 minutes. That's before taking traffic in Drogheda during the school run into account.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

And, as the timetable states, all times after the initial departure time from the point of origin are approximate.

I think the original complaint is comical.

kwoods

Dont be a smartarse srameen. Ive never once seen those busses early. To be fair a bus is never going to make dundalk - drog via monasterboice in less than 30 mins. Average time it arrives in drog would be 9.08. And thats no fault of matthews, their drivers do an excellent job and I always recommend their service as the best way of doing drog-dublin (other than the bike!).

Since then I arrive every day at the stop at five past 9 and I always get the bus and it has me in dub by 10 so happy out. Well done matthews!

lucernarian

kwoods wrote: »

Dont be a smartarse srameen. Ive never once seen those busses early. To be fair a bus is never going to make dundalk - drog via monasterboice in less than 30 mins. Average time it arrives in drog would be 9.08. And thats no fault of matthews, their drivers do an excellent job and I always recommend their service as the best way of doing drog-dublin (other than the bike!).

Since then I arrive every day at the stop at five past 9 and I always get the bus and it has me in dub by 10 so happy out. Well done matthews!

I agree that they're NEVER, ever, in my humble experience at least, early in Drogheda. And anyway going via Monasterboice is the quickest way to get there, if the bus doesn't have to stop.

Rossin

ive missed the bus twice in drog because it was early...just sayin

learned my lesson though and I dont blame them(although i was pissed off at the time :P)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

kwoods wrote: »

Dont be a smartarse srameen. Ive never once seen those busses early. To be fair a bus is never going to make dundalk - drog via monasterboice in less than 30 mins. Average time it arrives in drog would be 9.08. And thats no fault of matthews, their drivers do an excellent job and I always recommend their service as the best way of doing drog-dublin (other than the bike!).

Since then I arrive every day at the stop at five past 9 and I always get the bus and it has me in dub by 10 so happy out. Well done matthews!

No need for the personal snipes! The Bus, as has been confirmed by people here, can and is at times a couple (note a couple) of minutes ahead of the scheduled times. I think Matthews' are fantastic and the OP is incorrect to blame them for his own tardiness.

amacachi

If you ever get the bus from Dundalk you'd know there can be a good minute's delay at the first lights. The morning is the only time there's likely to be anyone to be picked up at the first stop but sometimes there's no-one, another minute's difference. There's two more sets of lights before the next stop, then the Xerox lights that can be up a 3 minute wait then there's the lights before the motorway.

All told there's a good 5 minutes to be lost on the way out of Dundalk, usually 2-3 minutes are lost but there are times when no time at all is.

Someday

Off topic a little, looking at a house near Donegans but my wife would need to drive to donegans to get the bus, do Donegans clamp people for parking in their car park or what options would she have with her car regarding parking near Donegans ?

whelan1

cars not allowed park in donegans car park... they park in beside football pitch next door... there has been talk that naomh martin will let cars park in football grounds as the cars parked along this roadway lead to alot of congestion for those participating in anything in the club

LFCFan

Do you not think that the disregard for their regular paying customers to ship out all their decent buses and drivers to London for the Olympics and hiring in a lot of shoddy rattly pieces of crap with drivers who don't care about leaving early or arriving late, is pretty poor customer care on the part of Matthews?

workstoomuch

oddly enough I was just saying this to a fellow commuter on Friday - it appears they are reliant on Finlays now to provide their service...

As an annual ticket holder this isnt appreciated as their standards have slipped considerably since the olympics began.....

As much as it pains me to say this, sometimes with matthews the train seems to be a more attractive option - esp when they like to freeze you off the bus with air conditioning at 7am!!!

Onesimus

their wifi don't work at all either.

20 Times 20 Times

Their WIFI is shocking isn't reliable at all. I agree with other posters here saying the standards have slipped since the Olympics with the drivers that couldn't care less. I used to be greeted with a friendly smile and hello ,now its the opposite. You have let the side down Matthews.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

LFCFan wrote: »

Do you not think that the disregard for their regular paying customers to ship out all their decent buses and drivers to London for the Olympics and hiring in a lot of shoddy rattly pieces of crap with drivers who don't care about leaving early or arriving late, is pretty poor customer care on the part of Matthews?

I haven't noticed anything wrong with either Buses or drivers on my commute.

Onesimus

Good for you. I couldnt get the wifi to work at all. It asked me to sign in and register with them first and each time I hit ''submit'' it wouldnt budge and kept flicking the screen and then the whole ''form'' I filled out just went blank again. the wifi on the train worked when I registered with that after first getting on so it is definitely not a problem with my Droid.