Bus Éireann to halt many inter-city services due to financial concerns

A number of routes are expected to stop next year.

Bus Éireann plans to halt a number of its inter-city services over the coming months due to the financial impact of Covid-19. It is understood the company’s Expressway services between Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Galway and Dublin and Limerick are to cease, and the Dublin to Belfast service is to be suspended indefinitely. It's expected the routes will cease from early next year when emergency supports expire. The decision was made at a meeting of the company’s board on Monday. No job losses are expected as a result of the changes with drivers already needed on other routes. The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has hit out at the decision and called on the government to intervene. General Secretary Dermot O’Leary said the NBRU “has been warning that the threat to a number of communities’ bus services has been evident for a number of years”. He said the issuing of licences to private companies meant that “capacity outstripped demand on a number of those inter-urban corridors”, including the Cork, Limerick and Galway routes to Dublin. SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Murphy, has described the decision to discontinue several of its high profile expressway routes as “short sighted, flawed and a kick in the teeth for workers and passengers”. “While Bus Eireann has assured SIPTU representatives that this decision will not impact negatively on the job security of our members it will, if left unchallenged, severely disrupt passengers and connectivity," Murphy said. “Our members are calling for an immediate intervention by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Eamon Ryan, to reverse this decision. "SIPTU representatives will lobby extensively on this matter and will seek the support of those dependent on these services and the public representatives within the regions and areas affected.”