Bus Éireann driver shortage in Cork city 'resolved' but concerns expressed over tardiness

While Bus Éireann’s driver shortage in Cork city may have ended, buses on average are punctual only slightly above half of the time, Sinn Féin representatives have pointed out.

Cork North-Central TD, Thomas Gould, and councillor for the South-West ward, Joe Lynch, attended a two-hour meeting with Bus Éireann management on Friday, where they raised a number of issues related to the bus service in Cork city.

Mr Gould told The Echo: “The driver shortage they have been experiencing for the last 12-18 months has been resolved.

“They now have over the amount of drivers they need — they need 489 and they have 512, plus another 15 in training.

“However, a really concerning thing that came out was that just 56% of buses are punctual, meaning 44% are not punctual.

“That’s virtually every second bus not running on time.”

Mr Gould welcomed the news that reviews were set to take place on key routes including the 203, 205, 207 and 208, but expressed concern that the reviews could take 6-12 months.

“I have people contacting me on a daily basis, one parent who has to drop their son to college because they can’t depend on the bus. Others being late for work or hospital appointments.

“We need better bus services, it’s a city-wide issue and we’ve been told all along that the major issue was a shortage of drivers, now there’s no shortage but there’s still the same problems, ghost buses, buses being cancelled - Cork has been going through this for two years.”

Mr Lynch added: “We aired quite a lot of issues about routes across the city, the 220 in particular which since October has seen a large number of services per week cut. 

“One positive is that we were told that from late April, these cuts will be reversed, but we need to see changes actually happening to make the service more reliable, particularly at morning and evening peaks.

“Another positive is that new leap card readers should be installed on buses in April or May, which will help speed up boarding.”

Cork South Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire told The Echo: “Too many people are being let down by our bus service in this city too often. That’s not the fault of the drivers who are doing their best, but a timetable system that is just not working, and traffic obstacles.

“I have heard instances from the 214 to Togher and Wilton, one of the worst performing buses, of elderly people waiting on hour in the rain, for a bus that’s meant to be every 20 minutes. 

“I’ve heard of people missing appointments, people missing out on visiting times to gravely ill loved ones in hospitals, and being late for work and school on a weekly basis. It isn’t good enough.

“I’ve heard similar issues on routes such as the 203 to Ballyphehane and Lehenaghmore and 207 to Douglas and Donnybrook, and it isn’t good enough that the users of the very important 220 route still don’t have the bus back to normal timetable.”

He welcomed that the company met Sinn Féin representatives, but said: “Now we need to see implementation.”