Aontú Cllr Emer Toibin has welcomed confirmation that the NTA (National Transport Authority) has finally agreed to attend a meeting she has called to address the huge problems around public transport services in Navan. People relying on public transport are enduring nightmare services with buses being cancelled, not turning up, huge delays and a catalogue of other issues with the public transport system, particularly the NX, 109 services and the Navan Town Buses in the busy Co. Meath town.
Cllr Tóibín says “This is a very positive step and one I have been working on for so long. The NTA makes the decisions on Navan’s town bus services and our commuter routes, yet up to now they have reluctant to sit down as part of these discussions. Their agreement to attend the meeting with Bus Eireann this Friday (16th January) matters. People across Navan and Meath have been having to deal with wholly unreliable services, cancelled routes and ongoing disruption for far too long. These problems affect workers, students, families and older residents every single day.
Cllr Tóibin issued a call for commuters to send me their submissions listing the ongoing difficulties they are having trying to use the public transport services and they were damning. Cllr Toibin says, ” Their lived experiences are the strongest evidence we have of a public transport system that is completely broken. The hundreds of responses I have received to my call really lays bare the incredible struggle people are enduring just trying to get to work or meet urgent hospital appointments. The host of ongoing chronic issues the travelling public are having to endure simply cannot go on.
”At this stage, meaningful action and measurable improvements are not optional, they are long overdue and I intend to make that clear at this very important meeting. This is not a functioning public transport system — and people are exhausted by it.
”Ahead of the meeting, I have circulated a three-page briefing document to senior management in both the NTA and Bus Éireann, setting out the issues being raised locally and what needs to change. I’m more hopeful that this meeting will lead to progress now that the decision-makers will be e at the table.
”I will be issuing a full report following my meeting and I expect Bus Eireann Management to pull up their socks and provide a service that the public can depend on, ” she concluded in her statement.
