Bus routes in Cork are to be reviewed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann due to concerns over the reliability and punctuality of services.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has confirmed that three bus routes — the 220, 225, and 226 — are undergoing reviews and are being prioritised for service improvements this year.
“The National Transport Authority have advised that they are specifically aware of the punctuality and reliability issues in Cork City and that they are working closely with Bus Éireann to address these,” Mr Ryan said.
“I am further advised by the NTA that there are a number of routes in Cork City that are being prioritised for planned service improvements in 2024,”
he said in a response to a parliamentary question from Cork TD Colm Burke.
“To this end, Bus Éireann are working with the NTA to examine what steps can be taken in 2024 to improve service provision in the city, and counter issues such as traffic congestion.”
Mr Ryan said that the three routes are being examined for “timetable refreshes” and a recruitment drive is ongoing to improve service provision.
A spokesperson for the NTA said it was aware of the poor reliability of bus services in Cork at present, citing a number of issues.
“Such issues relate to increased traffic congestion, lack of bus priority measures and infrastructure, significant increases in bus patronage, as well as some bus service resourcing constraints,” the spokesperson said.
They added that timetable changes for routes 225 and 226 will be introduced by the end of April, while any adjustments to route 220 will be “complex” and that more drivers are required.
The spokesperson said that the overarching issue in Cork is an “inadequate road space dedicated to buses on the city’s streets”.
The transport minister said that services in the city should improve further as the Cork Network Redesign is implemented across the county, adding that this would begin in 2025.
Among the measures contained within the plan are seven high-frequency bus routes, with a bus every 15 minutes, and more connections to areas that have previously been left unserved, like Upper Glanmire, Waterfall, and Kerry Pike.
“The NTA is working closely and collaboratively with Bus Éireann to address these operational issues as a high priority as both organisations are fully committed to bringing the public transport offering in Cork City up to more acceptable standards as soon as possible, in advance of the significant enhancements of Cork BusConnects Network Redesign planned to be launched in 2025,” the NTA spokesperson said.
The news comes as Bus Éireann was hit with over €5.7m in performance-related fines over the last six years, with €1.5m levied against the bus company last year alone.
The bus operator paid out €1,554,000 in overall fines last year, with just over €1m of this due to its failure to meet punctuality standards.
The remaining fines, levied by the NTA, for last year came through a failure to meet service standards (€107,150) and failure to meet reliability standards (€364,980).
The operator faced its biggest fines in 2022, where it was hit with a bill of over €2m.
The fines are not on a city or route-by-route basis and are for the entire country.