'Ryanair-style rosters' and new timetables causing chaos

Hundreds of commuters around the county who rely on Bus Eireann services to get to work and college faced travel chaos this week as numerous buses failed to turn up.

Frustrated workers and students were left stranded at bus stops waiting for up to two hours for services that didn't show yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday) with several services cancelled.
New timetables which came into effect on Sunday on the 109 route splitting it into four services, got off to a disastrous start and together with rostering issues are believed to be at the centre of the debacle.
In Trim the timetable did not change, yet commuters were left waiting for several hours services did not show up. In Ballivor the only bus service to Dublin never came.
One bus driver who contacted the Meath Chronicle claimed there were similarities to the Ryanair debacle with dropped services being down to drivers rostered who were on holidays, new duties not being allocated correctly and in general “management not caring”. The driver also said there are not enough buses or drivers for the new service, and that drivers were left dealing with the backlash from the public.
Hundreds of affected commuters took to social media to vent their frustrations and also contacted the Meath Chronicle.
Marc O'Driscoll said: “I arrived at the Ardboyne Hotel in plenty of time for the 7.07am service to DCU this morning, no bus turned up. I then proceeded to wait for the 8.07am service, which also didn't show up.” It finally turned up at 9.30am.
“In the end, the bus (originally due to leave the Ardboyne Hotel at 7.07am) arrived at DCU just before 11.30am.”
“I understand that there might be teething problems with a new bus service on its first day of operation but, the question I need answered is, will the 109A bus run as per its timetable in future or do I need to put alternative arranges for getting to college each day in place?”
Linda Whelan said it was an “absolute shambles” with students left late for college in Dublin and Cavan. She said “Buses were arriving late at bus stops and there are no buses between Navan and Kells to Cavan before 8.20am now”.
In Kells, Liam Sheridan was waiting for the 109x service at 6.45am yesterday morning which was full when it arrived 15 minutes late. He ended up getting a lift to work in Dublin. “There is a big issue with buses being full by the time they get to Kells. We used to have a plan B where we could get the 7am to Navan for the express bus but there are no old road buses at 6.45am or 7am now. We need one express bus for Kells, it would be full to capacity.”
At the Silver Tankard, other students were left waiting from 8.20am this morning until a bus to take them to Cavan for College finally arrived at 10.35am.
Brian McGovern said he got up to Dublin on the new XN service at 8am fine on Monday morning but on the way home from Dublin the 6pm and 6.20pm didn't show up and he eventually got on the 6.40pm getting back to Navan at 8pm.
In Trim, local councillor Noel French said buses simply didn't turn up there and people were missing their courses and work. Sean Fitzgerald said for the second day in a row the 7.10am and 7.25am didn't show.
A new timetable introduced for the 111 route a year ago is still causing problems with one parent saying buses are constantly late and Trim has no bus for 50 minutes at peak time between 6.05am and 6.55am.
Noreen Bruton told how the 6.30am service from Ballivor to Trim didn't show up and she ended up bringing her son to Trim where the 7.25am didn't show and he finally got a bus at 8am, an hour and a half later.
When contacted by the Meath Chronicle, a spokesperson for Bus Eireann said a major new timetable commenced along the M3 corridor resulting in the corridor being broken into four distinct services (109, 109A, 109X and NX).
The spokesperson said: “Due to unforeseen operational difficulties some trips on the above routes did not operate as scheduled yesterday morning, Bus Éireann has made provision to ensure that, going forward, every effort will be made to ensure that all services will operate per schedule.”
Regarding the 111 service between Athboy/Trim and Dublin, they said: “Due to unforeseen operational difficulties this morning the 0640 service from Athboy (0710 ex Trim) did not operate, and this impacted on other peak services operating into Dublin. In addition the 0610 route 115A service from Killucan to Dublin failed to operate. Bus Éireann would like to apologise to the customers affected by this and can confirm that the service will operate tomorrow (Wednesday).
“Bus Éireann continually monitors all services in order to ensure service reliability and punctuality, this function is overseen by staff in our central control office. Where required, necessary interventions are made in order to ensure service levels are maintained. We apologise and are working to significantly improve the current issues experienced.”