Late nite bus service Dublin-Longford??

orbital83

Does anyone know does such a service exist, run by a private operator, on a Friday evening?

Since the demise of the 21.45 Dublin-Sligo Innisfree on Friday night there doesn't seem to be any way of getting home if you're going out somewhere... Tried the Midlands board to no avail... Maybe someone here knows of a late bus going to Mayo or Sligo?

Thanks in advance for any help!

John R

How much would a taxi from Mullingar be? There's the 23.00 Bus Eireann Dublin-Mullingar.

MarkoP11

Enfield is as far as you can get if you want really really late like 3am ok so you are still 50 odd miles out http://www.buseireann.ie/site/news_centre/special_offers.asp?action=view&news_id=395

orbital83

Cheers guys.
You'd prob be as well off staying overnight as getting a taxi from Mullingar, it's bound to be at least 50 euro!
Ah well.......

A private Dublin-Sligo bus service filling in those gaps could be pretty lucrative I'd say... something like Citylink, taking advantage of the new road, running on to the airport and bypassing all the sleepy villages Bus Eireann serves. It probably would be as fast as the train if not faster.

Presume the Dublin-Sligo licence is up for grabs, now that Innisfree have given up on it, after a decidedly half hearted attempt

loyatemu

John J wrote:

A private Dublin-Sligo bus service filling in those gaps could be pretty lucrative I'd say...

not sure about that - Sligo is a lot smaller than Galway or Limerick and large towns along the way are served by commuter rail.

John R

Why was the previously mentioned late bus to Sligo withdrawn?

orbital83

Why was the previously mentioned late bus to Sligo withdrawn?

It wasn't particularly successful!
Mind you, I'm not surprised as very few people were aware of it.
The operators relied on word of mouth, with no website, no advertising and usually no timetables available on board!
Even if lettering was put on the buses to advertise that it was a "Dublin - Sligo service" it might have helped.
Plus there were only three services in either direction per week and this was all before the dual carriageway opened and 29000's appeared on the Sligo train service

not sure about that - Sligo is a lot smaller than Galway or Limerick and large towns along the way are served by commuter rail.

True, Sligo is a lot smaller but there really isn't any strong public transport competition.
Don't forget Galway has Bus Eireann on the hour, Bus Nestor, frequent Citylink, more trains and a reasonable air service.

Bus Eireann to Sligo is scheduled to take around 4 hours and isn't particularly cheap.
The train takes 3:05, the rolling stock isn't great and getting worse.

I'd say a bus could do it 20 minutes quicker at peak times, with a stop in Carrick-on-Shannon and maybe Longford.
It could work, if good coaches were used (a la Citylink) and they provided the services that CIE refuse to do, i.e. an early bird from Sligo and a service leaving the capital after 7pm.
I wouldn't mind giving it a shot anyway!