‘Scandalous’ new data shows unreliability of Cork buses

Cork City buses were less reliable and punctual during the service reductions brought in last year to improve reliability and punctuality, according to new figures which a Cork TD has called “scandalous”.

Data showing the average punctuality and amount of scheduled kilometres not travelled at all from mid-June to the end of December was provided by the NTA to Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central Thomas Gould via FOI.

The data, seen by The Echo, reveals that, pre timetable reductions, Cork City buses were punctual 65.21% of the time, but during the reductions, this dropped to 54.97%. Late arrivals to bus stops rose from 704,048 to 991,068, a 40.77% increase, while the percentage of kilometres lost also rose from 9.31% to 13.65%.

The data shows that the 201, 214, and 219 were the most likely to be late, and the 213, 209, and 220 were the most likely not to show up across the 28-week period.

The NTA said: “Data for Periods 10-13 should be considered as provisional, as they include days with significant external factors outside of the operator’s control.”

Meeting

Mr Gould told The Echo that he attended a meeting with Bus Éireann earlier this month when he was told that the reduced timetables had worked and they had improved the reliability of buses in the city.

“This didn’t match with what people were telling me,” Mr Gould said. “These figures show that passengers and drivers were telling the truth.

“Despite reduced timetables, the reliability and punctuality of our bus service in Cork continued to decline from September to December.

“Over six months, 40% of buses in Cork City weren’t on time, and one in every 10 didn’t show up at all.

“That is not a functioning public transport system — it is a system in crisis. We have buses like the 201, which is late almost 57% of the time, or the 220, that just didn’t show up almost 16% of the time.

“In the final four weeks of 2024, one in every five Cork City buses just didn’t show up at all. When I met with Bus Éireann last week, the only real solution they were progressing was installing Leap Card machines on buses. Do they think we’re fools?”

Unachievable

Mr Gould said drivers are expected to deliver timetables that are “completely unachievable”, and he called for the minister for transport to intervene.

A Bus Éireann spokesperson told The Echo that it “introduced temporary reduced timetables on a number of Cork City services on October 20, 2024, in order to deliver better reliability of scheduled services while navigating a difficult period of driver shortages.

“Bus Éireann delivered over 97% (close to our 98% target), as measured by our contractual requirements set by the NTA, of our Cork City network in November/December 2024.

“This was a significant improvement and up from 93% in the period prior to the introduction of the revised timetables, resulting in an improved service reliability for our customers.”

The spokesperson added that traffic congestion is an ongoing challenge, as are motorists blocking bus lanes and parking at bus stops.