Deputy Martin Kenny has called on Bus Éireann to clarity their commitment to the Expressway service between Donegal and Dublin Airport after commuters faced another slew of disruptions on the service over the last number of weeks.
The Sinn Fein Deputy made the call after people along the route raised the ongoing issues with him recently.
He said “People depend on this service, whether that is to get to work or catch a flight for a holiday.
“It’s one of the main transport links between Donegal and Dublin. For commuters and passengers to be left on the roadside is unacceptable”.
Deputy Kenny said said he was contacted by a commuter in the Ballyshannon area recently who uses this service to catch a flight from Dublin for work.
He revealed “He told me of one instance where the usual 44 seater bus had been swapped for a 26 seater. This left him and a number of others stranded on the roadside. This young man missed his flight and lost half a day at work due to the failures on this service.”
“Government is focused on improving Irelands’ carbon footprint and encourages us to use public transport. Yet commuters in rural Ireland, particularly in the west and north west, face unexpected service disruptions like this. It leads some to label the service as unreliable for their needs”.
Deputy Kenny has written to management in Bus Éireann to highlight the many issues those in the area have raised, and asked for clarification on a number of points.
These include what is causing these unexpected disruptions and what contingency plan is in place for the people of Ballyshannon and the surrounding localities where the service also operates”
Deputy Kenny added “When this service works, it works very well. However with the level of disruption people in Ballyshannon face, we need answers to what is causing this disruption and how it can be improved in order to restore the service to people in the area”
