Bus Éireann forced to reduce frequency of routes in Cork due to unfilled positions

Kenneth Fox

Bus Eireann has been forced to reduce the frequency on four routes for a 12-week period from October 20th as they have been unable to fill vacant driver positions.

The National Bus and Rail Union says the lack of bus lanes and enforcement as well as traffic congestion in Cork need to be urgently tackled.

Speaking to Newstalk, Dermot O'Leary of the NBRU says the introduction of a contra flow system in areas of peak traffic flow would also help.

"Something needs to give in terms of Cork. It is a growing city, and we know that and the expansion along the docks has been significant.

"There are solutions here and one of them is a contra flow system for buses and that is one of them."

As the Irish Examiner reports, the company said while it is trying to address its driver shortage in Cork, it also faces a number of operational challenges in the city, including lack of bus lanes, congestion, illegal bus stop use, and lack of enforcement on motorists ignoring bus priority routes.

Pending the delivery of the 11 major strategic transport corridors proposed under BusConnects Cork, it said there are a number of interim measures that could help buses run on time, including a significant extension of the Patrick’s Street bus priority measures.

The time-regulated bus lane on Patrick's St, dubbed the Pana ban, was introduced in 2018 to prioritise buses from 3pm to 6.30pm daily, with access to the main thoroughfare restricted to public transport, taxis, cyclists, and emergency vehicles.

The measure was designed to facilitate the street's estimated 1,000 bus movements daily, but the car ban is being flouted every day, leading to criticism about the lack of enforcement of the measures.