Residents of a south Dublin suburb say the area is being “left behind” and “forgotten by those that make the decisions” due to infrequent and unreliable bus services, despite its recent population growth.
Cristina Gheorghe, originally from Romania, has lived in the Kilternan area, in the foothills of the Dublin mountains about 1.5km from Carrickmines and 6km from Bray, since 2009.
She described the issues as “demoralising and sad”.
To access the city centre by bus, the area has the 118, which runs only once a day from Kilternan to Eden Quay at 7.45am from Monday to Friday with no return service, and the 44 bus from Enniskerry to Dublin City University, running about once every hour.
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She takes public transport to work in the city centre but if it doesn’t come, she says, she can’t wait an hour on the next bus and has to get a taxi or a lift to the Luas stop, which is two kilometres away.
“How can we have independent kids and grandparents – when we have to jump in the car?”
“It has a massive impact, you’re left with no solution. Everyone here drives but it’s not good for the environment.”
Local Fine Gael councillor Pierce Dargan sees it as a “failing” that the Luas is not supported by bus routes.
He also said not everyone can take the Luas, depending on where their destination is.
He said the routes in the area had “always been an issue” but the situation had become “more severe” when BusConnects changed the routes earlier this year.
“There are more houses being built here than almost anywhere else in the country ... the population has increased by so much and we don’t see any more routes being announced or frequency increased.”
He said the 63 bus route, which directly linked Kilternan with the large town of Dún Laoghaire, had been split into two routes, the L26 and the L27.
He said people need to travel to Dún Laoghaire for work, school or any county council services.
Barry Mason, who lives in Kilternan, takes the L26, which is scheduled to run every half an hour, to work in Blackrock.
“The situation is frustrating. More often than not I’m complaining about it. My daughter calls the L26 my arch-nemesis,” he said.
Mason uses the service in the morning on his way to work but said “as the day progresses it gets worse”.
He said there were at least 20 other people from the area who travel to Blackrock for work and more rely on it to catch connecting services such as the L27 to Dún Laoghaire or the Luas.
In the evening, he waits for the 4.25pm bus to get home. Last week the bus arrived on time only once, he said.
He said there was no direct bus to Bray. “If there was a bus that could go to Bray via Shankill, it would connect Kilternan and surrounding areas to the Dart,” he said.
“As it currently stands it feels as we have been left very short of alternatives and heavily reliant on the L26, which ghosts people.”
Brian Vaughan, who lives in nearby Carrickmines, is considering moving to Bray as there is no direct route to Bray for his twin daughters and at least 10 others from the area, where they attend their nearest Gaelscoil secondary school.
“It’s very hard for them to get around. It’s 15 minutes by car but it’s almost impossible for them to get to school.”
He said the family had to buy a second car as they cannot rely on public transport.
“It’s difficult on my daughters and people of the same age in the area. We’re spending a lot of time in the car and on petrol when we shouldn’t have to.”
A spokeswoman for the National Transport Authority said it “regularly reviews services” across the Transport for Ireland network to “ensure they meet passenger needs and values feedback from local communities”.
“Concerns regarding services, direct connections from Kilternan and overall reliability will be taken into account as part of ongoing service reviews.”
