Change coming for Kildare 120 bus route

The first eight journeys of the days of the 120 Edenderry-Dublin bus service will be double decker buses from December 1, it has emerged.

Go-Ahead Ireland is to begin operation of the route from December 1.

Kildare councillor Aidan Farrelly said it has also confirmed to him today (October 24) that the first eight journeys of the day will be served by double-decker buses travelling to Dublin, “with the aim of ensuring capacity for the in-demand service.”

A further eight double-decker buses will operate from Dublin in the late afternoon on weekdays, he said.

Cllr Farrelly, who welcomed the news, said that the people of north Kildare and Offaly had been “consistently let down by this service in recent times, and hopes that assurances from the new operator will be fulfilled.”

Cllr Farrelly said reports from many passengers noticed that the double-decker buses that used to operate on this route were discontinued by Bus Eireann, quite often leading to buses being full and leaving many people behind. “We can’t ask people to leave their cars at home, and then not provide the transport services to replace them."

He said the transport infrastructure network is bursting at the seams whether it’s our buses or trains. “We shouldn’t forget that we pay a lot of money for our bus and train tickets, so it’s reasonable to expect a timely and consistent service.”

Meanwhile, Kildare North TD, James Lawless, criticised the decision by the NTA to remove double-deck buses from the 120 and other commuter coach services in Kildare. “Double-deck buses have been transferred to Go Ahead as they prepare to take over the operation of routes such as the 120 from Bus Eireann. This has created capacity issues with the service filling up at earlier points in the route at peak times.”

Deputy Lawless said he has been contacted by several commuters who are finding it increasingly difficult to find a space on the 120 and get to work or college in Dublin on time.

“Services at peak times simply do not have enough capacity and the decision by the NTA to transfer double-deck buses to Go Ahead and not make arrangements to alleviate the inevitable problems is frustrating and just not good enough.”

He said the National Transport Authority has informed him that Bus Eireann has put in place an operational plan to mitigate the problems. “Passengers cannot be expected to continue to pay for a lower quality service.” 

The NTA were asked to comment on Deputy Lawless’s statement but had not responded at the time of publication.