Looking forward to M3?

munchkin_utd

as I said a few weeks, and posts, ago - it is planned in some shape or form and is supposed to be operated by a private operator.
more than that, nobody knows.

Now, maybe this would be a good issue to bring to the attention of one of the new TDs who will be representing the area?

Politicans dont take public transport, and "everyone" in Cavan monaghan has a car.
So unless you push the politicans, who will push the NTA (national transport authority), who will stop blocking Bus Eireann, nothing will happen or at least everything will remain completely untransparant.

anyhow, just to show what a shambles things are, and how the licencing sees bus companies as their principal interest, not the travelling public, heres a history of the cavan route

In July 2000 BE significantly increased the frequency of buses on the Cavan - Dublin route to an hourly service from 6am - 8pm, the service was very successful and dramatically increased loadings on the route.

sometime in 2002 another operator complained to DoT that they held a licence for this route and although they had not operated it for some time they wished to re-commence but the BE service was preventing them from doing so.
Late Dec 2002 The DoT instructed BE to stop operating the 6am, 7am and AFAK 8am weekday services from Cavan from Jan 1 2003 which they did, leaving passengers effectively stranded at Cavan watching the BE service leave the Cavan depot empty to pick up at the next town Virginia.

Passengers were left with the prospect of using one operator to get into Dublin and another to return to Cavan.
I am not sure exactly what service the privateer operates but it is not more than one or two trips per day.
The situation has changed somewhat in that BE resumed the 7 and 8 am services but the 6am bus still leaves empty, a similar situation also occoured with a different operator over the sunday evening Cavan - Dublin services where BE were once again stopped in favour of a small operator with no interest in offering a full service to Cavan just in scooping up the large student traffic.

from :http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1549453&postcount=15
NOTE: the route still has no 7pm service on a sunday to Dublin, DESPITE the private operator not holding ANY licence to run a route at any time, let alone 7pm on a Sunday evening.

munchkin_utd

The NTA has just released its transport strategy for the Greater Dublin Area.

No mention of any specific towns but this plan is relevant, and IF ITS ADHERED TO, should mean a positive change for cavan-dublin services, i.e. an express:
(on the negative, its called vision 2030 so hopefully thats not the date for the start of an express service!!)
point [ii] seems to almost scream of Cavan - Dublin, and that the level of service for the customer is stressed, rather than the great concept of having shedloads of paralel operators (with LESS actual travel slots for the customer coupled with multiple non interchangeable ticketing systems) is encouraging.

Measure BUS 5:
The Authority will seek the provision or maintenance of an express or limited stop type bus service from the Hinterland Designated Towns and larger Designated Districts to Dublin city centre at regular intervals, operating with, at a minimum:
(i) a 20 minute frequency at peak times and a 30 minute inter-peak daytime frequency in the case of the Hinterland Designated Towns; and
(ii) a 1 hour frequency at peak times and a 2 hour inter-peak daytime frequency in the case of the larger Designated Districts.
Services will include stops and interchange points where appropriate at outer Metropolitan town centres and employment centres and key suburban rail/Luas or Metro stations along a route.

page 3 here:
http://www.2030vision.ie/downloads/files/en/strategy_report/Chap%2010%20Public%20Transport.pdf

full report :
http://www.2030vision.ie/?p=download_strategy&l=en

greys24

I've emailed Bus Eireann & they advised me that they have had the licence application in with the National Transport Authority since before the M3 opened & they are still waiting on licence to be granted. I emailed the NTA & have yet to hear anything back from them. So it is probably all red-tape to be sorted out!!

anotherlostie

Ah I remember the days of healthy competition between Brady's Streamline and Whartons for the Dublin/Cavan route. Back then BE hardly got a look in unless you had a free pass as it didn't compete. It was £5 for an open ended return ticket when I started in college. Wharton's video player on the double decker coach was the main attraction I remember!

munchkin_utd

anotherlostie wrote: »

Ah I remember the days of healthy competition between Brady's Streamline and Whartons for the Dublin/Cavan route. Back then BE hardly got a look in unless you had a free pass as it didn't compete. It was £5 for an open ended return ticket when I started in college. Wharton's video player on the double decker coach was the main attraction I remember!

See, thats the thing.

Did Bus Eireann do a naughty thing by expanding services to an hourly basis, thus being much more attractive than the private "travel club" operators? And putting them out of business.
At one stage Cavan had the highest number of scheduled private services in the country (according to random claims made in the celt back in the days).
Now theres essentially only bus eireann, so less "choice" but if you ask me a much much better service than when the privates were in competition.

The choice previously was a half dozen operators leaving at 7.30 in the morning, and no other private busses all day, and shag all return journeys from Dublin with the private lads (normally only 5.30 with and afternoon and extra evening journey on a friday). And on the bus eireann side, more choice of departures but still nothing very early, or returning late and also nothing near an hourly service like there is now.

The price back in the days from the private coaches was good, but the service options you got for it was very very limited to be fair!