201 bus late more often than any other in Cork; 213 least likely to show up

The 201 bus, which serves Cork University Hospital to Boherboy Rd via Hollyhill, was the most frequently late service in the latter half of 2024.

Meanwhile, the 213, Black Ash to Patrick St, was the most likely not to show up at all, according to National Transport Authority (NTA) data.

Earlier this week, The Echo revealed that Cork city buses were less reliable and punctual during the service reductions brought in last year, designed to improve reliability and punctuality.

Data — showing the amount of late departures, average punctuality, and the scheduled kilometres not travelled from mid-June to the end of December across the 201, 202, 203, 207, 208, 209, 213, 214, 215, 216, 219, 220, 223, 225, 226, 245, and A and X routes — was provided by the NTA to Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould via a Freedom of Information request.

The data, seen by The Echo, reveals that before the timetable reductions, Cork city buses were punctual 65.21% of the time, but that during the reductions, punctuality dropped to 54.97%, with late arrivals and percentage of planned kilometres not travelled both increasing.

The data, covering 22 bus routes, shows that the least punctual route was the 201, which was just under 44% punctual. Half of the 22 bus routes were less than 60% punctual.

Other buses that were punctual less than half of the time include the 220X (47%), 214 (48%), 219 (49%). The 203, 207, 209, 215, 216, 220 and 245 had punctuality rates between 50% and 60%.

There were 2,034,236 late departures from bus stops across the 22 bus routes in the latter half of the year.

The bus with the highest total of late departures was the 220, with 552,939, followed by the 214, with 285,024, and the 215, with 200,485, with the majority of routes that run most frequently having higher numbers of late departures.

The FOI figures also include lost kilometres, meaning distance the bus was scheduled to travel but did not, with the data covering cancellations or bus services being curtailed at certain stops or skipping stops along the route to make up time.

The 213 had the highest percentage of lost kilometres, at 17.2%, followed by the 209, at 16.8%.

Overall, Cork city buses lost 11.2% of planned kilometres, with 416,806 total kilometres not travelled in the six-month period covered by the FOI request.

A Bus Éireann spokesperson told The Echo: “We are pleased to share that in 2024 we carried 16.5m passenger journeys across our Cork services, an increase of 364,000 on the previous year.

“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.”

Traffic congestion, limited bus prioritisation, motorists illegally blocking bus lanes, and vehicles parking at bus stops, can all “cause undue delays to services”, the spokesperson said, adding that Bus Éireann is actively engaging with the local authority and An Garda Síochána on these matters.