Go Bus

Utopia Parkway · 01-02-2011 9:06pm #1

They still in operation? Have to get to the airport in the next few days and I thought they were in some financial difficulty a while back. Don't want to turn up and find no bus there.

Ficheall · 01-02-2011 9:14pm

They are, aye. gobus.ie'll sort you out.
And at worst, Citylink run every other half hour.

inisboffin · 01-02-2011 9:27pm

They are in full swing, just got one

gobus.ie

Malice · 01-02-2011 10:44pm

I used them to go to and from Dublin airport over the weekend so they are definitely still in operation. The bus was pretty full too on both trips which was good to see.

howyanow · 02-02-2011 3:11pm

they're busy and a very good service

kraggy · 02-02-2011 7:51pm

Much prefer gobus to citylink. And it's good to support an Irish company and see it do well.

Citylink drivers (some of them) are downright rude.

A few months ago, myself and herself went to Dublin. We knew we were on the quays and not long to go to the stop. The bus stopped well before O'Connell Street. We thought he was letting off 1 more person before the official stop in the city centre. It turned out that that was the official stop. Several people who meant to get off the bus in the city centre, including us, were still on bus as it left, went past O'Connell Street to go on to the airport. The driver in question never made any announcement that it was the Dublin stop.

So cue a crowd of people having to get off down past the dart bridge and having to walk back to town. Unbelievably, the driver snapped at us for not getting out "where we should have".

Gobshite.

JerryHispano · 02-02-2011 9:24pm

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

They still in operation? Have to get to the airport in the next few days and I thought they were in some financial difficulty a while back. Don't want to turn up and find no bus there.

Whoever said that they were in financial difficulty was grossly misinformed. Rumours abound in galway these days.

Sponge Bob · 02-02-2011 10:15pm

Gobus are fine, Citylink are owned by a well known predatory company called Stagecoach who like to start "Bus Wars" of which the best known one was the Darlington Bus Wars.

Stagecoach are never happy with anything less than a monopoly. Always remember that.

Unrealistic · 02-02-2011 10:43pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Gobus are fine, Citylink are owned by a well known predatory company called Stagecoach who like to start "Bus Wars" of which the best known one was the Darlington Bus Wars.

Stagecoach are never happy with anything less than a monopoly. Always remember that.

Are you sure about that? Any time I've seen Citylink covered in the news the owner has been listed as Singapore based ComfortDelGro.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ComfortDelGro

EDIT: Just found this. It seems ComfortDelGro is the majority owner and Stagecoach is a minority shareholder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Citylink

Utopia Parkway · 02-02-2011 10:59pm

JerryHispano wrote: »

Whoever said that they were in financial difficulty was grossly misinformed. Rumours abound in galway these days.

This was sometime in the middle of last year and was on the radio and in newspapers. Nothing do to with the spate of recent rumours. Either way they are still going so that's all that matters.

emptybladder · 02-02-2011 11:50pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Gobus are fine, Citylink are owned by a well known predatory company called Stagecoach who like to start "Bus Wars" of which the best known one was the Darlington Bus Wars.

Stagecoach are never happy with anything less than a monopoly. Always remember that.

True. But bear in mind Citylink is effectively Callinan Coaches now under the terms of the service provision contract, so *some* of the revenues go Claregalway way. And GoBus to Tuam.

BTW, GoBus is a far better provider, I've found.

kraggy · 03-02-2011 1:39pm

emptybladder wrote: »

True. But bear in mind Citylink is effectively Callinan Coaches now under the terms of the service provision contract, so *some* of the revenues go Claregalway way. And GoBus to Tuam.

BTW, GoBus is a far better provider, I've found.

Totally agree. Polite and punctual.

996tt · 03-02-2011 3:15pm

kraggy wrote: »

Totally agree. Polite and punctual.

Has allot to do with the hands on management by the owner, Jim Burke who owns GoBus can always be seen helping out at the galway bus station with bags or whatever needs doing. Hes a very nice man which has the knock on affect on emplyee morale and he has always had a queue of professional drivers wanting to work for him, even in the boom times.

Ara Musha · 03-02-2011 6:13pm

GoBus operate an excellent and reliable service. Their drivers always seem very friendly too, which is great to see. I have used them quite a few times and their coaches are all new and are very comfortable. I have a friend from Dublin who goes to college in Galway. She initially used Citylink to travel up and down as their times suited better. However, she had an experience with one very rude Citylink driver and that was enough for her to change to GoBus for good. She said there is no comparison: GoBus are miles ahead in every respect.

Pandoras Twist · 03-02-2011 6:18pm

In summary, Gobus FTW.

emptybladder · 03-02-2011 8:35pm

996tt wrote: »

Has allot to do with the hands on management by the owner, Jim Burke who owns GoBus can always be seen helping out at the galway bus station with bags or whatever needs doing. Hes a very nice man which has the knock on affect on emplyee morale and he has always had a queue of professional drivers wanting to work for him, even in the boom times.

He's a gent alright ... funny that it was actually him that set up CityLink originally almost 20 years ago.

Haven't been on a CityLink in a good while, I'd imagine there might be an improvement in service with Callinan's getting the contract?

Thesisman2 · 09-02-2011 5:24pm

Gobus give a fantastic service at a really great price. I have used the service on a weekly basis for the past year and have to say they are always on time and the drivers are very polite and expert drivers.

Curious Geroge · 09-02-2011 5:38pm

kraggy wrote: »

Much prefer gobus to citylink. And it's good to support an Irish company and see it do well.

Citylink drivers (some of them) are downright rude.

Gobshite.

+1.. even complaints go un-noticed by the Citylink management in Galway, worst service..

Wompa1 · 09-02-2011 5:55pm

Don't like CityLink...got on a bus at the airport thanks to the helpful advise of a guy wear a high vis CityLink jacket...he blatantly lied about how long the bus would take and what time we would get in. The drivers aren't particularly friends and I prefer the GoBus buses themsevels.

GoBus all the way

Thargor · 09-02-2011 9:36pm

By God this thread has made we want to swith to GoBus, Im buying a student return to Dublin for tomorrow, I have to say though, Citylink have always given me excellent service.

Thargor · 09-02-2011 9:46pm

Uh-oh, whats that Gobus? I have to print my ticket myself at home? Well I dont have a printer at hand tonight and I doubt Ill be able to find anywhere with one at 6am tomorrow, cost yourself a sale there, I doubt Ill be the first person to switch to Citylink because of that, they'll text my ticket to my phone after I pay for it.

magentas · 09-02-2011 11:10pm

GoBus have a great service, the buses are comfy, drivers courteous and so cheap. always use them anytime I go to Dublin...no high petrol costs, no tolls, no parking and don't need to worry about driving under the influence the next day!:D

inisboffin · 10-02-2011 1:10am

Thargor wrote: »

Uh-oh, whats that Gobus? I have to print my ticket myself at home? Well I dont have a printer at hand tonight and I doubt Ill be able to find anywhere with one at 6am tomorrow, cost yourself a sale there, I doubt Ill be the first person to switch to Citylink because of that, they'll text my ticket to my phone after I pay for it.

Yeah, that's one thing I wish Gobus had. Citylink's cr*ppy website puts me off more though. Re the text booking, I can understand how you possibly would want to make 100% sure by booking, but to date, I have never not gotten a seat when paying day of, on the bus. But it could happen I suppose.

RolandIRL · 10-02-2011 1:21am

went on the €1 citylink to dublin at the weekend. coming back, was at the bus stop early, and the express bus driver let me on, even though i was supposed to be on the one that makes all the stops. dead nice of him. it all depends on the driver tbh.

inisboffin · 10-02-2011 2:09am

whiteman19 wrote: »

went on the €1 citylink to dublin at the weekend. coming back, was at the bus stop early, and the express bus driver let me on, even though i was supposed to be on the one that makes all the stops. dead nice of him. it all depends on the driver tbh.

Yeah, I had to get a CL recently as I just missed my gobus and would be dead late for something. Driver was dead sound and helpful to someone with ticket problems. There are nice drivers with CL for sure, but it is hit and miss. They have a good few grumpy feckers. I find the gobus drivers *consistently* sound and polite.

JJRocket · 10-02-2011 10:48am

Thargor wrote: »

Uh-oh, whats that Gobus? I have to print my ticket myself at home? Well I dont have a printer at hand tonight and I doubt Ill be able to find anywhere with one at 6am tomorrow, cost yourself a sale there, I doubt Ill be the first person to switch to Citylink because of that, they'll text my ticket to my phone after I pay for it.

I dunno tho, I prefer to have it printed and its there in black and white, sort of like going for a flight, it gives me a sense of security I supppose.
Havent travelled to Dublin in a while, but I know last year my printer ran out of ink after I bought a ticket online and I rang the GB office and they said theyd print it off for me...no good for 6am I know, but handy to know all the same.

Thargor · 10-02-2011 9:52pm

How do you get the Citylink €1 tickets? Are they on the Galway-Dublin routes?

inisboffin · 10-02-2011 10:26pm

Thargor wrote: »

How do you get the Citylink €1 tickets? Are they on the Galway-Dublin routes?

I *believe* it is on the commuter route, ie the one that goes through all the towns. There are a small number of €1 tix on each I believe

Thargor · 10-02-2011 10:31pm

Well Ive booked the Commuter route online many times and Ive tried everything with it but I cant get it to give me a €1 ticket, even though there might only be 3 other people leaving the station that time, Im going to ask in the office tomorrow and Ill post what the story is with them.

Fey! · 11-02-2011 2:10pm

Over Christmas I had Citylink booked for 4 relatives return from Dublin Airport to Galway. The day they were due to travel I had to email Citylink to cancel. I was able to book 2 Galway to Dublin Airport trips for 2 people each rather than lose my money. The girl I dealt with was brilliant.

My uncle had GoBus booked, and got a refund when he had to cancel.

Different companies, different policies. But we both ended up as satisfied customers.

RolandIRL · 11-02-2011 2:15pm

Thargor wrote: »

Well Ive booked the Commuter route online many times and Ive tried everything with it but I cant get it to give me a €1 ticket, even though there might only be 3 other people leaving the station that time, Im going to ask in the office tomorrow and Ill post what the story is with them.

you have to book a few weeks in advance, on the bus that takes >3 hours to go. i booked a ticket in january for the start of february, and it's still advertised so they're still doing it

Go Bus

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