National Express Ireland announces €30m expansion

John Boughton, managing director, National Express Ireland said: “We believe that Ireland has an opportunity to be a global leader in public transport by accelerating plans for zero-emission vehicles."

Coach operator National Express has announced plans to invest €30m in Ireland to grow its bus fleet and hire new workers.

The UK's largest coach operator said its expansion plans will build on its existing operations in Dublin, as well as introducing wider intercity travel in Ireland. 

The company has said it will purchase up to 50 new vehicles over the next 5 years. 

The Irish branch of the coach operator currently employs 60 staff in its retail, driver and management teams. The company said they expect to grow to over 100 employees in 2023.

The company has already invested over €5m in its Dublin airport-based service ‘Dublin Express’ - with an existing operation of 14 buses projected to increase to 20 by the end of year. 

Last year, the city-airport bus service transported over 700,000 customers into Dublin city. 

John Boughton, managing director, National Express Ireland said: “We believe that Ireland has an opportunity to be a global leader in public transport by accelerating plans for zero-emission vehicles. 

"This inevitably includes both how vehicles and supporting infrastructure are funded. There are some well-established and successful models for private sector and public sector working together, including National Express’ experience in Birmingham," Mr Borughton added.

The company has said that it wants to be the first coach operator to have a fully zero emissions vehicle bus fleet in Dublin. This would be in line with its fleet zero emission target of 2030. 

National Express also aims that by 2035 all its coaches in Ireland and the UK would be zero emissions.

The National Express Group posted a 34% increase in revenue for the six months to the end of June 2022. The Group reported its highest half-year revenue in over a decade at £1.3bn (€1.55bn).