Bus passengers given afree ride as technical glitch stalls ticket system

Bus passengers in parts of Dublin got a pleasant surprise yesterday morning when a technical problem meant they were able to hop on board for free.

A spokesman for Dublin Bus said “a small number” of buses operating out of the Donnybrook and Ringsend depots had reported problems with the ticket payment system from about 7am yesterday.

With peak time pressure on the system due to the large number of commuters travelling into work, drivers on any buses unable to process payment were told to allow passengers on for free.

A Dublin Bus spokesman stressed that the glitch was “an isolated incident”, but it nonetheless provided some cheer for passengers who recently saw prices increase on bus services in the city.

According to Dublin Bus, work on an upgrade of the wayfarer system — where money is dropped into the coin slot and the ticket is printed off — hit problems with a number of buses in which the tickets could not be printed.

Some buses operating out of the Donnybrook depot, which services the southeast of the city, and the Ringsend depot, which services parts of the southwest of Dublin, were affected, meaning passengers got a free ride.

“It was not all buses; just a small number of buses,” the Dublin Bus spokesman said.

The problem persisted on a number of buses yesterday but the spokesman said: “It will be fully resolved by the evening peak [period].”

The company was unable to specify exactly how many buses were affected or the routes, or how much it is likely to have cost.

Dublin Bus stressed that not all buses operating out of the two depots were affected. The Ringsend depot includes routes covering areas such as Sandymount and University College Dublin, while the Donnybrook depot includes routes such as the busy 46a route from the city centre to Dún Laoghaire.