Athlone to Dublin bus for weekly commute

Blanco100

Does anyone know if any buses run from Athlone to Dublin return on week mornings?

surely there would be numbers in town to justify a daily return bus to city centre to have people in work for 8.30am to 9am?

The cost of daily commute to Dublin from Athlone by train is extortionate something like 550euro

flazio

First X20 bus leaves Athlone at 7:00 arrives in Dublin (Hueston Station) at 8:25. Citylink leaves B&Q earlier but arrives in Dublin roughly the same time.

Spanish Eyes

Can you get a taxsaver ticket from your employer, if you are working.

Blanco100

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Can you get a taxsaver ticket from your employer, if you are working.

still works out crazy expensive. no guarantee of being at Busaras for 9am with that bus eireann bus (thats at heuston at 8.25am). prob goes through every town and village aswell as to airport.

Mad to think only commuter option is a train. id imagine there definately would be numbers to fill a direct bus (return) from Athlone every day?

work with people all over the country who bus it into work (Cavan, Kilkenny, Wexford) daily and manage to be in the office for 9am.

does anyone know if that timetable is accurate, would the bus get to Busaras at the projected time every morning?

TimHorton

Blanco100 wrote: »

still works out crazy expensive. no guarantee of being at Busaras for 9am with that bus eireann bus (thats at heuston at 8.25am). prob goes through every town and village aswell as to airport.

Mad to think only commuter option is a train. id imagine there definately would be numbers to fill a direct bus (return) from Athlone every day?

work with people all over the country who bus it into work (Cavan, Kilkenny, Wexford) daily and manage to be in the office for 9am.

does anyone know if that timetable is accurate, would the bus get to Busaras at the projected time every morning?

X20 first stop is Heuston

Blanco100

TimHorton wrote: »

X20 first stop is Heuston

yeah but is it a reliable service? guaranteed to get you into bus aras for before 9? it says it is but surely traffic in the morning would put the skids on that

Fann Linn

Blanco100 wrote: »

Does anyone know if any buses run from Athlone to Dublin return on week mornings?

surely there would be numbers in town to justify a daily return bus to city centre to have people in work for 8.30am to 9am?

The cost of daily commute to Dublin from Athlone by train is extortionate something like 550euro

That daily commute of €550. Is that for 1 month/3months or ??

Try_harder

Get the train! Believe me, its worth it!

Blanco100

sorry its 550 per month in cost

Blanco100

Try_harder wrote: »

Get the train! Believe me, its worth it!

its expensive though its a serious chunk of change every month. id sacrific comfort if bus arrival time was reliable

ANXIOUS

Blanco100 wrote: »

its expensive though its a serious chunk of change every month. id sacrific comfort if bus arrival time was reliable

Best thing to do if possible would be drive to kilbeggan and get the Kearns bus, they have multiple buses to get you to dublin for 9,are cheap and very punctual.

yabadabado

The X20 is a reliable service and first stop is Heuston as has been mentioned. Should be no issue being at Busaras for 9.


Get a tax saver train ticket. Depending on your tax bracket ,it can work out at around €200 per month if you buy the yearly option.

Try_harder

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Best thing to do if possible would be drive to kilbeggan and get the Kearns bus, they have multiple buses to get you to dublin for 9,are cheap and very punctual.

From kilbeggan going through the villages to Dublin is annoying.

If you can get a tax saver ticket the train is excellent

Try_harder

I commute every day and the bus and train dont compare. However if the x20 goes 100% on the motorway from Athlone to Dublin it might be bareable

Try_harder

I travel from Tullamore btw

Blanco100

Try_harder wrote: »

I travel from Tullamore btw

i use the train, I can get tax saver but the saving is feck all.

big jump in price from athlone to dublin as opposed to tullamore to dublin even though its practically the next stop, which is annoying

Blanco100

yabadabado wrote: »

The X20 is a reliable service and first stop is Heuston as has been mentioned. Should be no issue being at Busaras for 9.


Get a tax saver train ticket. Depending on your tax bracket ,it can work out at around €200 per month if you buy the yearly option.

Bus is €93 per week, train is €153 per week its a fair jump in cost.

200 euro per month for the taxsaver is some discount considering its 550 euro per month (350euro saving). I thought max discount is 40%. And its only a pro rata discount aswell, youd want to be on 100k to avail of the full 40%

Try_harder

https://www.taxsaver.ie/Ticket-Calculator/Ticket-Calculator/


You save up to 51% if you are on the top rate of tax. 26% if the lower. The savings are huge

Try_harder

Thats incorrect it reduces your taxable income so reduces your income by the ticket price. If you earn 50K ticket is 5k your taxable income is only 45000 effectively taking 2500 off your tax bill

yabadabado

Blanco100 wrote: »

Bus is €93 per week, train is €153 per week its a fair jump in cost.

200 euro per month for the taxsaver is some discount considering its 550 euro per month (350euro saving). I thought max discount is 40%. And its only a pro rata discount aswell, youd want to be on 100k to avail of the full 40%

Looks like you are calculating that all wrong .

Its certainly a large savings on a normal montly ticket,I thought the montly ticket was just under €500 pm.Even at the 20% band the train will be under €300 with tax saver.

Best thing OP can do is ask their employer are they in the scheme or call taxsaver,none of us know the OP details.

Blanco100

yabadabado wrote: »

Looks like you are calculating that all wrong .

Its certainly a large savings on a normal montly ticket,I thought the montly ticket was just under €500 pm.Even at the 20% band the train will be under €300 with tax saver.

Best thing OP can do is ask their employer are they in the scheme or call taxsaver,none of us know the OP details.

apologies the 550euro figure is inclusive of LUAS aswell

thanks for the detailed feedback by the way. It complicates the bejaysus out of me. Employer is definately in the scheme, only annual tickets though spread out over 12 months from your wages. Complicated further that I anticipate working 1-2 days from home some weeks.

just trying to maximise the saving

how can a monthly 500euro ticket be under 300euro with tax saver (at 20% band)?

yabadabado

Blanco100 wrote: »

apologies the 550euro figure is inclusive of LUAS aswell

thanks for the detailed feedback by the way. It complicates the bejaysus out of me. Employer is definately in the scheme, only annual tickets though spread out over 12 months from your wages. Complicated further that I anticipate working 1-2 days from home some weeks.

just trying to maximise the saving

how can a monthly 500euro ticket be under 300euro with tax saver (at 20% band)?

The cost of the ticket is taken from your gross pay before any deductions are made.Therefore you pay tax,PRSI and USC on the gross minus the train ticket coat.

It's all on the tax saver site.

The poster Try Harder has it explained earlier.

flazio

I know the rental market in Dublin is abominable, but is relocating 120 kilometres out really the right thing to do? That's 1200 kilometres every week. Of course that's going to cost.

TimHorton

I know a guy who commutes 4 days a week, Here is his daily trip.

1. Drive 20 Minutes to Athlone Station
2. Gets the 5.20 AM to Heuston
3. Runs from Heuston to his place of Work in Ballsbridge

Then does the whole lot in reverse getting the 6.15 Train home.

This is no joke !!

flazio

I get aghast looks from my workmates when I tell them I take a 40 minute drive from Ballinasloe to Mervue Galway to get in for 7am. I tell them it could be much much worse.

Blanco100

flazio wrote: »

I know the rental market in Dublin is abominable, but is relocating 120 kilometres out really the right thing to do? That's 1200 kilometres every week. Of course that's going to cost.

wouldnt change my decision for the world.

Glad to get out of Dublin in the evening. Seeing youmg families on a packed LUAS with their buggy is not something id see myself doing. And paying for the privilege.

I work with commuters from Cavan, Wexford and Kilkenny. Its the way things are going. Ironically, the aforementioned places are easier to commute from for 9am and cheaper aswell.

Blanco100

TimHorton wrote: »

I know a guy who commutes 4 days a week, Here is his daily trip.

1. Drive 20 Minutes to Athlone Station
2. Gets the 5.20 AM to Heuston
3. Runs from Heuston to his place of Work in Ballsbridge

Then does the whole lot in reverse getting the 6.15 Train home.

This is no joke !!

That is pretty outrageous.