Another assault on rural Ireland - Axing bus routes

THE decision by Bus Éireann to axe almost 100 routes on its Expressway service is an indication of just how vulnerable the people of rural Ireland are when it comes to transport infrastructure. Fifteen towns and villages will be left without a direct link to Dublin in a move that Bus Éireann is blaming on low passenger numbers.

The services affected will be on Route 7, Dublin to Cork via Kilkenny, and Route 5, Dublin to Waterford via Wexford. A third route - from Athlone to Westport - is also under threat. Between all three routes, some 198 services a day are provided. That will fall to 105 if the cuts go ahead.

Bus Éireann says that the routes outlined for the cuts will need Government funding in order to survive. “Some of the routes on our Expressway network are incurring significant losses and are unsustainable in an increasingly competitive environment, for the business,” said the company.

This devastating decision comes in the same month that the National Transport Authority announced it is allocating more than €25m to sustainable transport projects in the Greater Dublin area.

Why is there so much Dublin-centred thinking when it comes to infrastructure? This decision is reminiscent of the closure of rural railways in the 1960s which cut off communities from Kerry to Donegal and is now regarded as a huge mistake.