National Transport Authority (NTA) contracts with bus operators must be “tightened up” to ensure they have sufficient mechanics and drivers when the deal is signed, the Minister for Transport has warned as he came under increasing pressure over delays and “ghost-bus” cancellations.
Darragh O’Brien also said traffic congestion in Dublin has been the “most significant factor” in recent months and “punctuality is being affected by rising traffic volumes in the city in particular”.
O’Brien and his Ministers of State Seán Canney and Jerry Buttimer will meet bus operators and the NTA later this month, looking at congestion in the city and the M50 to see what “immediate short-term things” could be done to address delays.
Government and Opposition TDs have voiced their frustration at persistent bus tardiness and problems with new BusConnect routes that came into effect last October.
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Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger described the 238 route from Tyrrelstown to Mulhuddart as an “infamous ghost bus” and said it was “absolutely unacceptable that between 4.2 per cent and 8.2 per cent of the 238 bus journeys are cancelled every week.
“The people of Tyrrelstown are losing their jobs and losing their livelihoods. They are ending up late for work and late for school,” she said.
“Ghost” or “disappearing” buses are services listed by on-street screens and the Transport for Ireland phone app to arrive at a set time, only for them to vanish from the screen or app or appear as having been cancelled.
Raising the issue in the Dáil last week Coppinger said the 39 route, which runs from Ongar in Dublin 15, “is like a coffin ship. It just keeps being added to and the journey keeps getting longer”.
The Minister acknowledged “an 8 per cent cancellation rate is unacceptable” and said he would raise these routes with the NTA at their meeting.
Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said delays following the roll-out of BusConnects on the F spine routes 23 and 24 have had “a profound impact” in his Dublin North-West constituency.
The NTA told public representatives October was a difficult time to implement a new service, with increasing congestion in the run-up to Christmas and there were difficulties with recruitment, he said, adding: “Providers need to have these matters in order.”
McAuliffe said contractors should have to abide by the conditions under which they tendered.
Private operator Go-Ahead, long criticised for persistent delays, had a “big issue” with mechanics, the Minister said. They then employed 10 more mechanics, who were “delayed in getting here” but are now in place.
Dublin Bus had an insufficient number of drivers and is recruiting 100 from South Africa.
The Minister said he had told the NTA “when an operator bids for a route and is awarded it, we must be absolutely certain the resources are there to manage it” before issues arise, and not after the contract has been signed.
“We need to tighten up on that big time between the NTA and the operators. Fines will continue,” he said, pointing to the almost €1.5 million penalty imposed on Go Ahead in 2024, the latest available full-year figure.
Labour transport spokesman Ciarán Ahern said the new Dublin South-West F1 route was adding 20 to 30 minutes every morning to workers’ commutes from areas such as Tallaght, Knocklyon and Firhouse to the city centre.
Such issues would continue until all the infrastructure was in place and the routes “perfectly link up” and he called for the NTA to re-implement the previous 49 route “to run alongside the F1 route in the interim while this is going on”.
O’Brien said bus frequency was improving but acknowledged journey times on some services “are longer because the route is more interconnected to take in more people”. He would raise the matter with the NTA.
