BusConnects Cork: 'How was €11m been spent in the last eight months with no measurable benefit?'

€85m has been spent on BusConnects Cork since 2021, yet depots and planning applications years behind schedule

More than half of the expenditure by the National Transport Authority (NTA), €48.4m, was allocated to the 11 Sustainable Transport Corridors (STCs) that will form the backbone of the new bus lane network. File picture: Larry Cummins

Nearly €85m has been spent on BusConnects Cork since 2021, despite key elements of the project remaining years behind schedule and a local TD claiming there is almost nothing to show for it.

More than half of the expenditure by the National Transport Authority (NTA), €48.4m, was allocated to the 11 Sustainable Transport Corridors (STCs) that will form the backbone of the new bus lane network.

However, the Irish Examiner reported last week that planning applications for some of the STCs are not expected to be lodged until the final quarter of this year, almost two years later than initially planned.

A further €23m has been spent on bus depot projects, including €15.3m on a temporary depot at Tivoli, which opened last week more than a year behind schedule.

The spending also includes €3.6m on the purchase of a site at Kinsale Road for a permanent depot and almost €4m on planning and development work at Tivoli, Capwell, and Little Island.

Planning applications for Kinsale Road and Little Island permanent depots are due this year and next year respectively.

Other costs incurred by the NTA since 2021 include €6.6m for the delivery of bus stops, shelters, and terminus infrastructure, €5.6m for the planning and design of the new network, and €2.8m for “programme management, governance oversight, and external technical support”.

A new bus network was originally due to be rolled out in 2023. However, just one new route, the 31 linking Knockraha with Cork city centre, has been introduced, while no funding has been allocated for additional routes in 2026.

A total of €11.5m has been spent in the first six months of 2026, compared with €30.7m for all of 2025 and €27.8m in 2024.

The figures were provided to Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould, who said: “These eyewatering figures are insulting to Cork’s commuters who still cannot depend on our bus service.

“How has €11m been spent in the last eight months with no measurable benefit?” 

Half of passengers feel unsafe

Meanwhile, half of public transport passengers have felt unsafe at least once, according to a report by the NTA, prompting calls for local safety surveys.

The report found that 82% of passengers nationwide had witnessed some form of antisocial behaviour while using public transport.

Dermot O’Leary, general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NRBU), recently told the Irish Examiner that drivers had left the industry because of antisocial behaviour or been out on leave for long periods due to assaults.

Mr O'Leary said the 203 route in Cork in particular remained a significant concern, with drivers questioning how long the service could continue to operate given incidents occurring on the buses on a daily basis. 

Labour’s Peter Horgan, chair of Cork City Council’s Transport Committee, said the NTA report provides valuable national evidence, “but we now need to understand what is happening on individual networks". 

He said there should be regional studies into passenger and staff safety on public transport, starting with Cork, as “a national average can hide very real local problems” that are preventing people from using buses and trains.