Bus Éireann takes on 66 new drivers

By Sean O’Riordan

Bus Éireann has hired 66 new drivers this year in an effort to provide better services in the face of increased traffic congestion and a near 20% increase in passenger numbers in Cork City.

Plans are in place to shortly increase opening hours at the Black Ash park-and-ride and August 9 will see the re-introduction of bus priority measures in Patrick Street which will benefit most of its services with quicker journey times.

A spokeswoman for Bus Éireann said it is expected that the National Transport Authority (NTA) will run some promotional city fares as a result of this.

“Congestion and traffic levels in Cork City are exceeding the pre-recession peak levels of 2006-2008 so the bus priority is very much welcomed,” the spokeswoman said.

Passengers journeys in Cork City are up just under 20% year-on-year to 5.046 million.

They were also up 14.4% in July compared to June.

The spokeswoman said that 12 additional double-deckers will be introduced to the fleet next month, specifically to provide extra capacity for city services.

“A further tranche of new state-of-the-art buses will be introduced into the fleet in early 2019 with NTA funding,” she said.

The 66 new drivers are from a number of countries including Ireland, Italy, Africa, Romania, and mainland Europe.

Park and Ride at Black Ash, operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of Cork City Council, will shortly operate for longer hours from 7am to 8pm and will now serve Patrick Street.

There will be a 10-minute frequency of buses between 7am and 9.30am and 4pm and 7pm.

Meanwhile, major changes are set to come into effect on the busy Route 220/220X by the end of September with an increase in frequency to every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm.

There will also be increased Saturday and Sunday services.