Bus driver unions have said Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe’s last-minute intervention ahead of this weekend’s 48 hour stoppage is “welcome but not enough” and said the strike will go ahead as planned.

Bus passengers could still face a national strike at the start of the May bank holiday unless Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann managements and the National Transport Authority address drivers’ concerns over the opening of routes to private tender.

Have we now become a State that feeds on the many for the benefit of the few?

Bus and rail passengers will be hit with fare hikes of up to 2% next year.

Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus returned to profit last year while Iarnród Éireann cut its costs by €25m, according to the CIÉ annual report issued yesterday.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has baulked at the €2.1m price tag put on a rail stop to serve a village with a population of 864 people.

CIÉ has warned of further cuts as records revealed it was more than €43m in the red last year before the Government bailed it out.

THE CIE Group of companies is projecting a combined loss of €25 million this year, with passenger numbers expected to drop by 5% in 2011.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar is warning that there will be a substantial increase in public transport fares next year.

The president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Paul Mallee has been appointed the new chairperson on Bus Éireann.

MOTORISTS have hit out at the latest increases in the cost of motor fuel which, they claim, have pushed the cost of petrol and diesel to all-time record levels.

A NEW super-authority is to assume responsibility for implementing the Government’s €14 billion programme to improve public transport services in the greater Dublin region.

THOUSANDS of sports and music fans face travel chaos this weekend if rail workers go ahead with a planned strike tomorrow morning.

UNION leaders are defending the indefensible in seeking to justify yesterday’s unofficial strike by bus and rail workers which brought public transport to a standstill.

Industrial action threatened by the CIE group of unions next week has been deferred after talks between unions and the Department of Transport.

COMMUTERS face transport chaos from tomorrow as bus and rail workers embark on a series of strikes in protest over Government plans to break up CIÉ.

Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke TD, has launched the new CIE Group portal.

The CIE group has said traffic gridlock is now costing the State's bus company £40m.