Elected representatives in Clondalkin and Lucan have blasted the local bus services in the area. People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West Gino Kenny made the comments after having been contacted by a number of constituents complaining about problems with buses. The problems relate specifically to the 76 bus from Tallaght to Ballyfermot via Clondalkin, but the problem is occurring on other routes as well. The main issue is that a large number of buses are not showing up at all, for example on Monday 27th June three 76/76A buses were cancelled at peak times. People Before Profit Councillor Madeleine Johansson has also been contacted about similar problems on routes C1/C2/C3/C4 in Lucan and the 40 bus in Clondalkin.
Gino Kenny TD commented: “I know several people who rely on the 76 bus to get to and from work, education or hospital appointments. They are getting increasingly frustrated with the large amount buses simply just not showing up. It becomes impossible for people to use public transport when they can’t rely on the service. “The 76 route is operated by GoAhead, a private company that is receiving state funds to provide a vital service for our communities. It is completely unacceptable that this is happening at a time when we want to encourage more people to use public transport.
”We need the government to intervene immediately to provide additional funding to put more buses on the road. The privatisation of the bus service has already proven to be disastrous and no more routes should be privatised.”
Cllr Madeleine Johansson added: “I was contacted by a man who had tickets to Croke Park on Saturday and couldn’t get there because there was no bus for 2 hours. He was waiting for the C1/2 on Saturday afternoon but they never arrived. I have written to the NTA about this and am waiting for a response. “I have also heard of people not being able to get the bus from Lucan village because the buses from Leixlip and Maynooth are already full when they get to Lucan. There are a lot of new housing developments being built in the Adamstown area and we urgently need extra capacity on buses in Lucan to cater for the demand.
“These problems would not be accepted in other countries. Public transport is a vital public service and needs to be prioritised in terms of funding. We need to move away from cars to more sustainable alternatives but you can’t expect people to do that unless you provide reliable public transport.”
