Frustration as Kildare/Wicklow bus service improvement delayed for another year

The bus service which will link west Wicklow and some Kildare commuters with Dublin has been described as “far too slow” and “unacceptably infrequent.”

The delayed rollout of BusConnects changes for Blessington has come under fire from Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore given the rapid population growth in the area. 

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“The population of Blessington has grown rapidly in recent years and is projected to continue growing, yet public transport services have failed to keep pace,”  she said.

 “People are still waiting for reliable, frequent connections to Tallaght and the city centre. These updated plans are welcome, but they should have been delivered years ago.” 

Under the revised plan, Blessington will be served by peak-time routes P43 and P44, connecting Blessington to the city centre via Tallaght, Templeogue, Terenure, Rathgar and Rathmines. These routes will replace the 65 and 65a. The changes are now due to come into effect in Autumn 2026 after years of delay, said Ms Whitmore. 

"The current bus service that connects Blessington to Tallaght and Dublin City operates every two hours. In 2000, this bus ran 15 services a day, today they run 16 - that is an increase of one service in two decades. It is an unacceptably infrequent service for such a populous area." 

The TD said she was concerned that service upgrades were initially delayed to 2025 but this delay has been extended by another year.

She said the need to improve the service was apparent eight years ago and “here we are being told we've to wait another year to see basic transport infrastructure progress for this community."