Concerns over the future of bus routes
A public meeting will be held in Tubbercurry tonight as fears grow about the future of the Expressway service in rural Ireland.
The meeting is being organised by the National Bus and Rail Union which claims only profitable routes will remain if Bus Eireann moves ahead with plans to change the terms and conditions of its Expressway staff.
A series of NBRU will be held nationwide with the gathering getting underway in Cawley’s hotel in Tubbercurry at 7.30pm,, a town which is along the route of the service from Sligo to Galway. There are also Expressway routes to Derry, Enniskillen and Ballina operating from the depot in Sligo.
NBRU General Secretary Dermot O’Leary said: “There is a real danger that rural bus services will disappear over the coming months leaving large swathes of rural Ireland without vital services if Bus Éireann moves ahead with plans to alter the terms and conditions of its Expressway staff.
He said the Department of Transport policy of issuing and amending commercial bus licences had led to market saturation, resulting in losses in the region of € 6 million being incurred by Bus Éireann.
Mr O’Leary claimed the move was forcing a State- owned company off multiple routes across Ireland. “We have seen rural Ireland systematically attacked by the closure of post offices, bank branches and Garda Stations.
“Public transport users and those who work in the industry are entitled to ask if the political classes of the State are going to remain silent on this issue and simply allow for vital eco- nomic and social bus services to disappear.
“The NBRU intends to engage in a public information campaign over the next number of weeks in order to alert communities to the stark reality that its bus service may just simply vanish leaving rural Ireland abandoned and alone.”
Bus Éireann lost € 5.6 million last year and had projected losses of € 6 million in 2016.
In a letter to the company’s 2,600 workers chief executive Martin Nolan said its commercial Expressway inter- regional coach service was facing chal- lenges from growing competition and increasing costs.
The company had formulated an outline commercial plan to address the severe financial difficulties it was facing.
This will involve separating Expressway from the rest of the business and implementing new lower terms and conditions for its staff. It is proposed to sub- contract a number of routes within the plan, but it is expected that all routes currently operated will continue to operate. SIPTU, which also represents some workers are also opposed to the plan.