Good news in the form of extra capacity being added to NX services in both morning and evening peak transit times.
After weeks of repeated cancellations, no-shows and delayed bus services for NX service users, Cllr. Emer Tóibín learned in a meeting last Thursday that two extra buses would be added to existing services in a bid to relieve significant pressure and demand on early morning and evening commuter services. Cllr. Tóibín called for a meeting with Bus Éireann’s Operations Manager last week to find out why there are relentless breaks in commuter services which has been contributing untold stress to those involved in the daily grind of commuting to Dublin.
Following repeated communications to the Aontú office of ongoing cancellations, delays and full buses passing by, Cllr. Tóibínt stated that ”it was an untenable situation to allow this to persist any longer considering the huge numbers of people who depend daily on NX and 109 services”. Cllr. Tóibín went on to explain that ”the stress of not knowing whether a commuter can secure a seat on the bus or arrive an hour late to work is really tough.
Facing into dark mornings and evenings and worsening weather is incredibly difficult if you you don’t know from one day to the next what lies in store for you at the bus stop. This is not what we should accept from public service.
People living in Johnstown area of Navan, have been hit quite hard as full buses pass by waiting customers every morning, with four arriving in quick succession only last week, failing to stop due to full capaicty.
Commuters are being forced to wait until the next bus to arrive with some customer jostling for places due to the urgency to get started on the journey to work. Needless to say people arrive at their destination late and stressed.
Morning and evening services will be monitored closely over this and next week to see if demand is being met or if more capacity is further required. Driver and bus mechanics shortage is being blamed for some of the service cancellations in recent weeks. Cllr. Tóibín also mentioned at last week’s meeting that the addition of college students to the customer base is also a factor in capacity shortage.
There appears to be no planning by Bus Éireann for this added customer cohort each September and as a result the hard-pressed commuter pays the price for poor planning and delayed corrective measures.
