New Carlow town bus service

Lad I'd wonder same re leap card & cash differences; maybe for first year/two they'll remain same?

1 Euro & Ten Cents to go from MSD to Dolmen Hotel is an absolute bargain.

Still be rumblings both here, the Carlow forum & various comments sections locally about lack of stop servicing train station; I've expressed it before how turnng in right, from Green Lane to up past Scoil Mhuire gan Smal to train station is a tough ask with a car; I'm not even sure such a turn is legal.

12 Shops selling leap cards; Centra, Tesco I presume, Londis, Easons, Circle K, Maxol-Mace; I don't think ALDI or LIDL do them generally? Dunnes of course but I presume not the Euro Giants/Dealz/Mr. Price etc.

Reckon a lot of people were caught out regarding Public Consultation Period back in 2020, possibly due to pandemic, possibly to lack of knowledge re Consult Carlow website for example.

As it happens the Barrack St. social housing plans got green light this past week or so; think only 1 consultation was received & that was from owner/s of Carlow Shopping Centre; most people prefer to complain AFTER the fact.

All maps etc.'re available to view in county council buildings & libraries for free during PCP.

Anyway looking forward to "July"; based on previous start dates, guidelines to times, I won't be holding breath re when in July but this is positive news for the town; just hoping the fuel guzzlers / cyclist & scooter haters can find it useful & maybe swap a car journey for a bus one once in a while; the town is so accessible that the wedded to the car types need to consider if their car journey is really necessary or can it be done using alternative transport including by foot to the bus stops at Askea, on Green Lane etc.

Probably won't be available in Tesco, none I've seen have payzone available (or will Carlow be the initial rollout of the Post Point offering of leap cards?)

Routes for CW1 & 2 here & train station IS mentioned along with town park........but no bus park stop (unless in CW1 Route there's a typo.....) & on CW1 "only" as far as Tyndall College & NOT Dolmen Hotel.

Totally understand concerns about some Tullow Rd. estates being somewhat excluded but there's gotta be some give & take & the ideal is to not be more than 450m from a bus stop.

If we keep chopping & changing then the "July" start date will end up being "Yes, July, but which year?".

We have to push on with this; make any corrections along the line; this is a learning process & I hope it will be embraced by many; I'll 100% be using both services & regularly.

Think some local Cllrs. fixation on EVs has been tempered by fact that the diesel buses will eventually be replaced by EV but we're talking about this at council level from since sometime in 2017 so EV preference has been sacrificed by the sense of urgency to get the services up & running.

Bear in mind the amount of false dawns there've already been based on this thread & the one in the Carlow forum itself; I reckon it's been due to commence on a number of occasions in past 6-9 months alone.

It’ll depend on staff recruitment primarily, I suspect.

Would resources not be better used towards connecting larger towns like Athlone and Carlow with the surrounding rural area as opposed to buses just within those towns. For example an hourly Carlow to Kilkenny bus serving Leiglinbridge, Bagnalstown and Paulstown may be useful as would a regular Athlone to Mullingar bus serving Moate.

One difference I notice between public transport in Ireland and the UK not that the UK is a shining light is that there seems to be a lot of bus routes operated by Arriva, Stagecoach, First etc. running to connect smaller towns as opposed to just within the one town or city.

There are more town services apparently being planned by the NTA - but like everything else they need buses and drivers!

That’s pretty much what the Connecting Ireland plan is all about I would suggest.

Your last sentence sums up Dublin Bus users experience also.

Sorry but that simply isn’t true in the case of the regular services.

Most of them are operated by the likes of Bernard Kavanagh, JJ Kavanagh, Wexford Bus, Wharton’s and other long established bus companies.

They all either have or are getting modern ticket machines that are capable of taking LEAP and will be capable of taking contactless payments in due course.

Anyhow this thread is specifically about the Carlow bus service - I would suggest that discussing the merits of other towns and inter-town services might be better in its own thread, rather than derailing this one.

Good idea. Force the people into a configuration to suit the service rather than have the services serve the people.

For 95% of Ireland there are no more houses than ever there were. People do not chose to live in villages because there is no effort to provide houses there and there is probably no service there either.

'Force the people into a configuration' this is called urban planning and it is the only way that public utilities can be provided, there would be no running water, sewers, electricity telecoms or public transport without 'forcing the people into a configuration'

Cheaper and more efficient economically and ecologically is to promote people living in the cities and towns or at least large villages, but not small villages or even once off houses in the middle of nowhere as they need to travel longer and will require services which can't be offered close enough. The problem is that some people move from the cities to the villages and expect equally or similarly available services which is difficult to deliver and expensive to maintain.

Looking forward to this being up and running! I hope it's a massive success for TFI/NTA

Strange isn't it? Even Athlone only runs from about 7am to 8pm and earlier again on weekends! And we're taking their old busses too.

Where did that streetlite come from? Never seen a 201 plate one before with white LEDs and TFI interior. Only streetlite with white LEDs that I'm aware of the ones that GAI use on the 197 but these are 16 plate and have high back seats. Could this be an hybrid/electric bus?

Wow. That daily timetable of 6am to Midnight is fantastic news for bus users in Carlow town. I hope it becomes a huge success for them in the near future.

That would make sense alright

Some stats & other info from a local Cllr. this evening about CW 1 & 2

Free travel cards will also be accepted and it is estimated that over 30% of passengers will travel for free.

94% of Carlow town’s population will be within 800m of a bus stop, and 68% will be within 400m

The two new Carlow town bus routes, CW1 and CW2, will be operational seven days a week, with buses every 30 minutes. In the town centre where the 2 routes meet, there will be a bus roughly every 15 mins.

(The bit about the 2 routes meeting; in the coach park; that is so important for crossovers on both routes going in either direction & will open up the town in so many different ways for employment & accommodation & accessibility + services etc.)

The buses will run from 6 am to 12 pm everyday. (Slightly later start on a Sunday). The early buses are time to allow passengers to connect to the early trains.

Fares are very affordable, at 55c for under 24s and €1.10 for an adult. That single fare also allows passengers to change from one route to another to continue their journey.

Anyone notice any stirring as of late? I hope we're still on track for a "mid" July launch!

I've seen buses on test around town several times recently

I see the bus markings are finally going down in more places. Starting with the ones at Dunnes and working towards Graigue Bridge and onwards

Another announcement; this time via current Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council for 2023-2024 & FF Cllr. Andrea Dalton that launch will be at 12 Noon on Thursday the 27th of July