TD calls for strategic plan to tackle Cork city's bus network

A Cork TD has called for a strategic plan to be put in place to address issues with Leeside’s bus network.

The call, by Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central, has come in the wake of a recent two-hour meeting Mr Gould and Sinn Féin South-West ward councillor, Joe Lynch, had with Bus Éireann management.

At the meeting, the representatives were told that the driver shortage Bus Éireann has experienced in Cork over the past 12-18 months has been resolved. However, Mr Gould said, they were told that only slightly more than half of the city’s buses, 56%, arrive on schedule.

“We are now at a critical juncture for Cork’s bus service. We were told all along that drivers were the issue but now, they have a full cohort of drivers and 44% of buses are still not on time,” he said.

“With 512 drivers, Bus Éireann still cannot deliver a reliable bus service to the people of Cork.”

 Mr Gould said that timetables on many routes were not deliverable, and he cited unrealistic times scheduled.

“The 215 has one additional minute to drive from Mahon to Blarney, through the city centre, in rush hour traffic.

“The 207 has an additional three minutes to travel through peak traffic. It has 43 stops driving all the way through Douglas village, through the city centre, up MacCurtain street and out to Glenheights via the Ballyhooley road and Kinvara,” Mr Gould said. 

“At peak times, more people are getting on and off buses and there is more traffic. The timetables need to recognise this.”

He added that the Bus Éireann app was “completely outdated”, operating from the timetable, rather than in real time, and he described as “an antique that is more vintage than it is functional at this stage”.

Calling for a strategic plan to be put in place, Mr Gould said: “We need to see council, the NTA, the gardaí, Bus Éireann and the unions working together to resolve this crisis.”