Bus services in the Dublin area will move to a new reduced schedule on a phased basis from next week due to demand levels during Covid-19 restrictions,the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said.
Dublin Bus’s Monday to Friday services will move to a ‘Saturday plus’ level of service from Monday, January 18th,
A new schedule for Go-Ahead Ireland will come into effect from Monday, January 25th.
Under the revised timetables, services will run at approximately 80 per cent of current weekday levels. The operating hours of services will remain the same.
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“The revised schedules reflect reduced demand levels under the current Covid restrictions and will ensure service continuity and resilience for essential workers and carers who must travel,” the NTA said on Thursday.
Passenger numbers on bus services in the Dublin area are down by almost 80 per cent, compared to the same period in 2020.
“NTA and the transport operators are confident that the Level 5 requirement to operate each service at 25 per cent passenger capacity will continue to be met under the new timetables,” the NTA added.
“With these new schedules the operators will be in a position to ensure the ongoing reliable continuity of services in the context of high national rates of Covid.”
Public transport services were initially reduced in April 2020, during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and were largely restored to normal levels in June. The new schedules are broadly in line with those of April last.
No changes are proposed to Bus Éireann schedules at this time, although the company and the NTA are continuing to monitor the situation.
No major changes are proposed for Luas, although there will be some reduction in peak services on the Luas while no changes are proposed for Local Link services in rural areas or schedules for Go-Ahead Ireland commuter services along the Kildare corridor.
A revised Iarnród Éireann schedule was announced last week and took effect on Monday.
