‘Is Bus Eireann short on pilots too?’ furious commuters ask

THERE was outrage yesterday as Bus Éireann cancelled 15 bus services – in some cases giving customers just two hours’ notice that their intended bus route would not be in operation.

The cancelled services were all in the east of the country on routes serving Dublin, Cavan, Meath and Wicklow.

It followed the cancellation of 26 services affecting areas in the east on Saturday. The mass disruption follows the launch of a new timetable last week serving the M3 corridor, which includes a new express service from Navan to Dublin operating every 20 minutes between the hours of 5.40am and 8pm.

Bus Éireann – now headed up by former Ryanair finance director Ray Hernan – blamed the disruptions on ‘operational issues’ but did not allude to staff shortages, which had been suggested by angry commuters yesterday.

The cancellations were announced online at 7am yesterday, leaving customers who intended to take the 9am bus from Dublin to Wicklow just two hours to make alternative travel plans.

Furious Bus Éireann customers took to Twitter to complain. Ita O’Brien wrote: ‘Another shambolic day in the Eastern region. If you don’t have the buses or drivers for the routes, don’t implement change #ifitsnotbroke.’ And Hugh G Kennedy referenced the Ryanair flight cancellations fiasco, writing: ‘Maybe Bus Éireann are short on pilots too?’

Many on Twitter blamed new bus services for the cancellations. In an official statement, Bus Éireann referenced these new services, but said ‘a number of factors’ were to blame.

A Bus Éireann spokesman said: ‘A major new timetable commenced along the M3 corridor of services last Sunday. These services were re-aligned to provide greatly increased frequency between Meath and Dublin. Due to unforeseen operational difficulties, caused by a number of factors, some trips within the East are not operating to schedule. Regular updates of these are being posted on our website.’