Issues with ‘inefficient’ bus service  in Limerick discussed at Oireachtas Committee

THE MAIN bus serving Limerick city is arriving between 15 and 23 minutes late every morning “even at off peak times”, transport officials have heard.

Issues with the 304 and the 304a bus, the route connecting the Dooradoyle and Raheen area across the city to Castletroy and Monaleen, were raised by Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne at a recent Joint Oireachtas committee on Transport. 

“They are two areas with large populations and each morning, even at off peak times, the bus arrives anything between 15 to 23 minutes late on a daily basis,” Senator Byrne told the National Transport Authority (NTA). 

There are similar delays in the evening, she added. 

“There are many people who are living or working in the city centre, travelling to the otherside for work or for various different reasons.” 

“There’s a number of issues as well in terms of the real time and the app,” Senator Byrne added. 

“The times never seem to be coordinated with the arrival time of the bus. This is from listening and speaking with people who choose the bus on a daily basis.” 

“If you check the app on the phone, it might say the bus is to arrive in two minutes, three minutes; it mightn’t arrive for half an hour.” 

“There is certainly a time lapse between the information that is on both the app and the real time information,” she added. 

“Also, in terms of the Leap Card, there’s very little places where you can actually top up your Leap Card and unless you are from Limerick and know the different places you can go, there isn’t any information.”

“For people who are maybe tourists or people visiting the city, it's very hard to find the information where to top up.” 

Senator Byrne’s concerns were noted by officials from the NTA, who advised they would response to the matters raised. 

At the beginning of December, the former secretary at the Department of Finance called for the local authority to take over the running of the bus service.  John Moran, current chair of the Hunt Museum, described the services as “woeful”.