Cancelled services, ‘phantom’ buses and delays leaving Meath commuters ‘stressed to the hilt’

Meath's commuters who are “stressed to the hilt” by bus cancellations and delays are being urged to email their complaints to the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan.

“Cancelled services, ‘phantom’ buses, delays, full buses passing waiting passengers, vehicles breaking down and inaccurate app notifications are the everyday experiences of commuters,” according to Cllr Emer Tóibín.

“It is a daily endurance test for commuters as they try to get to work, medical appointments and social engagements. They are stressed to the hilt and it’s unacceptable, to say the very least.”

“The bottom line is that NX services are in urgent need of additional funding to tackle the chronic under capacity and improve the ageing fleet of buses.

“We are demanding better and I am urging every service user, student and their family members to email (Environment Minister) Eamon Ryan.

Cllr Tóibín accused the National Transport Authority of ‘ignoring’ the concerns and frustrations of Meath commuters.

“The bus timetables would do justice to any Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales; they bear little resemblance whatsoever to reality, however it’s no fairytale for the commuters who have to put up with a dire service.

“It’s been chronic for the past six years but it’s now acute. It is hard to believe , but the NTA doesn’t seem to pay any attention at all to census figures, as Meath is one of the fastest growing counties in the country, and service supply is still far short of demand. For many months now, service users have been so frustrated by the worsening service, that they were left with no option but to set up a FB page called ‘NX Collective Complaints’ to catalogue service failings”.

Cllr Tóibín said she has been in weekly communication with two Bus Eireann managers and an NTA Oireachtas Liaison Representative since August detailing the worsening issues. “Despite multiple assurances made during a public meeting, and to myself, that service provision would improve, the NTA is patently ignoring the concerns and frustrations of Meath commuters as things have not improved one single jot”.

“Service cancellations are practically a daily event, one day even saw 14 cancellations. Daily notifications on the Transport for Ireland app and the Bus Éireann app tell their own story of a service that is not and has not been fit for purpose”.

“It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Day after day we hear Minister Eamon Ryan beseech people to abandon their cars and use public transport but here in Navan those who do, are the ones who are being abandoned”.

“If this was a private enterprise, running in a similarly slipshod manner, it would be out of business”.

Cllr Tóibín claimed there has been a 20per cent increase in demand for the service with 60,000 journeys completed every month in and out of the entire county of Meath (across all the different routes).

“There is no joined up thinking on public transport, no future planning and appropriate budget allocation to the burgeoning passenger numbers in Meath”.

“This is basic, but they can’t get to grips with that”.

Cllr Tóibín said the train to Navan, if it ever happens, will not roll into Navan until 2036 at the earliest so the focus must be on the resourcing and running of a reliable bus service properly.

“Can hard-pressed commuters really be expected to endure this haphazard and hit and miss service into the future?” she asked.

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said it served in excess of 44 million passengers during the past twelve months, a significant increase on the 35 million passengers who used its services the previous year.

“This level of growth does bring challenges which we have experienced in a few of our locations. Like other operators in the industry, we are facing significant challenges in relation to the recruitment of both drivers and mechanics.

“A shortage of mechanics at our Dublin (Broadstone) garage has impacted service delivery for some routes in the Eastern region including Route NX.

“To address this, we have implemented a number of measures including the redeployment of mechanics from other regions and engaging external resources to support service delivery with a view to minimising disruption to our customers. This is supported by extensive ongoing mechanic recruitment campaigns.

“In January 2024 we delivered 96.3 per cent of scheduled NX services and we are actively working to significantly improve this performance as a priority for our customers.

“Bus Eireann appreciates that our customers rely on our services and understand how frustrating cancellations or delays can be. We apologise to any customers impacted by shortfalls in service delivery but can assure our customers that we continue to prioritise service delivery to avoid and minimize disruption to travel.

“While we acknowledge there have been some delivery issues in certain areas Bus Éireann is extremely confident we are in a strong position in 2024 to continue to support the growth of sustainable public transport journeys and deliver an excellent public transport service across the country.”