Sligo bus services to Ballina and Enniskillen are significantly enhanced

SLIGO’S connection with Ballina and Enniskillen has been “significantly enhanced” as Bus Éireann unveiled an increase in services between the towns.

As part of Bus Éireann’s plans to boost bus routes in Ireland’s rural areas, the 458 bus service that stops off at Sligo en route to the Mayo and Fermanagh destinations respectively will see more buses laid on.

The new timetable, which kicked in before Christmas, will put on eight round trips which will include earlier and later departure times.

It is hoped that those who had previously been commuting to and from Sligo will ditch the car and take advantage of these new services. Students at the Atlantic Technological University who leave Sligo at weekends to go home could benefit with seven return trips on a

Sunday being laid on.

Brian Connolly, senior operations manager (west) with Bus Éireann stated that the new services were made possible thanks to the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan – which is funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of the Transport for Ireland (TFI) Network.

He said: “Bus Éireann is delighted to introduce these significant enhancements to Route 458, Ballina to Enniskillen, increasing the daily service to eight round trips Monday to Saturday and eight round trips on a Sunday.

“Thanks to the National Transport Authority, through the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, we have added almost 1.8 million kilometres to our network this month, creating over 58 new jobs.

“Demand for our services in the West is higher now than pre-pandemic, passenger numbers nationally are 20 to 30 per cent higher than they were in 2019, this enhanced service will enable us to connect our growing number of customers with who and what matters to them.”

Updated details on the new Route 458 timetable, and a list of all its stops, is available on www.buseireann.ie.