Majority of Cork city bus routes late more than a third of the time

The majority of bus routes in the city are late more than a third of the time, new data shows.

Figures from the National Transport Authority (NTA), which calculate bus punctuality across four-week blocks, also show that from January to September last year, two major city routes were more likely to be late than on time.

The least punctual bus was the 201, which serves Cork University Hospital to Boherboy Rd via Hollyhill. It was punctual just 47% of the time.

The 220X from Ovens to Crosshaven, one of the city’s most anticipated routes when it was launched as a 24-hour service in 2019, was also punctual less than half the time in the first nine months of last year.

The data backs up anecdotal evidence from weary users of the routes, with many bus users on online forums expressing their annoyance at the unreliability of timetables on the routes. The 201 CUH-Boherboy was also the most frequently late service in the latter half of 2024, The Echo previously revealed.

The 219 route servicing Munster Technological University via Douglas, one of the most used by students, was punctual just over half the time, the data shows. However, when the four-week blocks are broken down, five of the nine periods saw buses being late more than half of the time.

The overall data from the NTA shows that of the 180 punctuality examples provided, the bus was late more than a third of the time in 111 of those instances.

Route 215 from Mahon Point to Cloghroe via Blarney; route 207 serving Donnybrook to Glenheights via Patrick St; route 216 serving CUH to Monkstown via Grand Parade; and route 209 serving Lotamore to Patrick Street via Audley Place were also among the worst performers, with overall punctuality rates between 50% and 60%.

DATA

The data does not include the highest-frequency routes, the 205, 208, and 220, as punctuality for these routes is calculated differently.

Less frequent routes had higher levels of punctuality, with the 223X bus, serving South Mall to Haulbowline, being the best performer. The bus runs on a limited schedule, primarily during peak commute times.

The 215A from Mahon Point to South Mall via Boreenmanna Rd; the 207A from Glenthorn to Merchants Quay; and 202A from Hollyhill to Mahon Point all had over 70% punctuality rates.Of the 20 Cork city bus routes for which data was provided, 17 had worse punctuality in August than at the beginning of last year.

IMPROVEMENTS

However, some had seen improvements, including the 201. The data was provided to Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who said: “These figures show that more than one in every three Cork buses were late to September last year. What employer is going to accept a person showing up late every third day?

“It is no wonder that people are being forced to commute via car when the buses are this unreliable,” he said, calling for BusConnects to be delivered as soon as possible.

BusConnects is a multi-billion euro investment programme in Cork infrastructure developed following extensive public consultation by the NTA.

It aims to deliver 11 so-called ‘Sustainable Transport Corridors’ across Cork city, covering 90km of bus lanes as well as 95km of cycle lane facilities (in one direction).