Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, with the exception of
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, where bus services are provided by sister company
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann ...
. It is a subsidiary of
Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). The company's primary hub is ''
Busáras'', located in
Store Street, Dublin. In 2022 it operated 229 Public Service Obligation Routes, 14 expressway routes and 8940 school transport routes.
History
Bus Éireann was established in February 1987 when it was split out from Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). The logo of Bus Éireann incorporates a red
Irish Setter
The Irish Setter (, literally "red setter") is a setter, a breed of gundog, and family dog originating in Ireland. The term ''Irish Setter'' is commonly used to encompass the show-bred dog recognised by the American Kennel Club as well a ...
, a breed of dog that originated in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
The National Development Plan 1999-2006 included a large expansion in commuter services, especially in the Greater Dublin Area, and so the company greatly increased services on routes such as
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
/
Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
/
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
, Dublin/
Ashbourne, Dublin/
Ratoath, Dublin/
Dunshaughlin
Dunshaughlin ( or locally ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. A commuter town for nearby Dublin, Dunshaughlin more than tripled in population (from 2,139 to 6,644 inhabitants) between the 1996 and 2022 censuses. The town is in a townland and ...
/
Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
/
Kells/
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...
.
In 2008 Bus Éireann stated that they also intended to develop similar services to the 24-hour Dublin-Belfast route on the following routes: Donegal-Dublin, Ballina-Dublin, Sligo-Dublin and Drogheda-Balbriggan-Dublin Airport-Dublin.
[ Due to the post-2008 economic downturn in Ireland these plans were never realised. On 20 January 2009, Bus Éireann announced that it was to let 320 staff go and withdraw 150 buses due to the economic crisis. Some services were permanently withdrawn or reduced due to the cutbacks.
During 2016, it was reported that Bus Éireann amassed losses of around and that these losses were set to rise throughout 2017. As a result, ]Shane Ross
Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is an Irish former Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2 ...
, TD, Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
's Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport
The Minister for Transport () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Transport. He is also Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy.
The current Minister for Transport is Darragh O'Brien
Darrag ...
, mentioned the company "faces insolvency within 18 months".
Bus Éireann concluded an all out strike on Thursday 13 April that lasted since Friday 24 March 2017.
In November 2020 Bus Éireann suspended its Dublin to Belfast service, route X1, along with its Expressway services linking Dublin to Cork (route X8), Galway (routes 20 and X20) and Limerick (route X12). The board of the company announced it had taken the decision to end these commercial services, as they were losing money, in order to protect core routes.[ The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was also cited as a reason for the suspension.][ Galway-Roscommon TD Claire Kerrane criticised the decision, highlighting the negative impact it would have on passengers who had relied on it in Aughrim, ]Ballinasloe
Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...
and Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
at a time when people were being encouraged to move back to such towns from the cities.[
During the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
of 2020-2022 it was noted that Bus Éireann had been the only bus company to continue operating long-distance routes in the country. Speaking to the BBC, the general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) Dermot O'Leary noted that as the majority of the Irish population stayed at home, the market for commercial companies to make profits on their normal routes ceased overnight, and they subsequently paused operations. As a result, "essential workers eliant on public transportcould not have gone into hospitals, doctor's surgeries, pharmacies" were it not for Bus Éireann.[ Bus Éireann also provided the only bus connection between Athlone and the cities of Galway and Dublin for a period in 2020 when private companies such as ]Citylink
CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine Freeway, Tullamarine, West Gate Freeway, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other ...
temporarily suspended services.
From 2021 Bus Éireann services were expanded as part of a general expansion of services of bus services in Ireland. In rural areas this is taking place under the Connecting Ireland programme. Connecting Ireland includes the expansion of LocalLink and Bus Éireann services, as well as a reorganisation of services nationally. In 2022 this included improvements to 20 bus routes under the purview of Bus Éireann. Services in urban areas have also been expanded, with the launch of new town bus services, such as Carlow's, in July 2023.
Services
Bus Éireann's main services are in Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
but they also provide services to Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
in association with Ulsterbus
Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...
including: ''expressway'' (intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...
), ''commuter
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
'', ''local'' and ''school'' services. Additional services within Ireland include city services in Cork, Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
and Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
and town services in Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
, Balbriggan, Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
, Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
, Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
, Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...
and Sligo
Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
.
Bus Éireann operates international services to Great Britain and mainland Europe, via the ports at Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort () is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland. The port is the primary Irish port serving the European Continent with 36 direct servi ...
. Cities served include London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
. These are operated under the Eurolines
Eurolines is a brand of intercity bus service owned by an international non-profit organisation formed under Belgian law. Using the Eurolines brand, partner bus companies operate service in Europe and Morocco.
History
Eurolines was founded in ...
brand.
When the company was first established in February 1987, there were no bus services between Dublin and Belfast. The Dublin/ Dublin Airport/Newry
Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...
/Belfast route was initiated soon after and came to be jointly operated by Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus
Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...
. Reasons for the route's expansion in the 1990s and 2000s included the economic boom in the Republic, known as the Celtic Tiger
The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...
; the Northern Ireland peace process
The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...
which helped boost the economy there, and the rise of the low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
industry, which greatly increased the numbers of people flying in and out of Dublin Airport from both sides of the border. By the 2000s the route operated an hourly service, each way, from 06:00 to 21:00 daily. In October 2006, further services were introduced on the route, departing at 01:00, 03:00, 05:00, and 23:00, thus establishing the route as the first "24-hour inter-city bus service" in the country.[Ireland's First 24 Hour Inter-City]
Inside Government In November 2020 the service was suspended indefinitely by Bus Éireann but the service is now operated by Translink[ although private companies continue to offer bus services between the two cities.] These include Aircoach route 705X which operates between Dublin-Belfast-Derry.
A similar service to the Dublin-Belfast route was implemented on route 2 between Dublin Airport and Wexford
Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...
, which started on 18 January 2009. Services departed Dublin Airport for Wexford on the hour from 05:00 to 23:00, with services during the night at 01:00 and 03:00. As of May 2022, no services exist on this route now between the hours of 00:00 and 06:00.
Expressway
‘Expressway’ is a division of Bus Éireann that provides intercity services throughout the country serving most of the main airports and cities in Ireland.
It is a commercial part of the company which, unlike the local and city services, does not receive government funding to operate.
Bus Éireann has also introduced regular clockface schedules on popular Expressway routes, such as hourly services on the routes Dublin/Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
/Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Tralee
Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...
/Killarney
Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...
/ Cork/Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
, Cork/Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
/Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...
/Galway.
In 2021 with the launch of a new ticketing system for Expressway services, tickets ceased being interchangeable between expressway operated routes and PSO (i.e. Bus Éireann-branded) routes.
Nightrider
Bus Éireann introduced a number of Dublin 'Nightrider' services in the early 2000s, offering special Friday and Saturday night buses for people departing the city centre to return to locations in the Greater Dublin Area. Over busy periods, the Nightrider could also be extended to operate six days a week, Mon-Sat (observed during the Christmas 2005 period), offering late-night transport options to the towns of Newbridge, Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
, Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
, Enfield and Wicklow
Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...
. The route numbers on the Nightrider services were suffixed with an 'N' to denote their night status.
* Route 101N operated from Dublin to Drogheda via Dublin Airport, Swords
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
, Balrothery
Balrothery () is a village and civil parish located in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland. The town has historically been called in Irish (Town of Ruairí).
The 2022 census population for Balrothery was 2,282.
Geography
The village is located ab ...
, Balbriggan, Gormanston Cross and Julianstown. The service left Dublin at 00:30 and 03:30 each Friday and Saturday night. At some point after the year 2013, the route was scrapped as the regular route 101 began to operate on a 24-hours a day basis, with the largest gap between departures being those at 01:30, 03:30 and 05:30.
* Route 109N operated from Dublin to Kells via Dublin Airport, Ashbourne, Ratoath, Dunshaughlin
Dunshaughlin ( or locally ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. A commuter town for nearby Dublin, Dunshaughlin more than tripled in population (from 2,139 to 6,644 inhabitants) between the 1996 and 2022 censuses. The town is in a townland and ...
and Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
. On 30 May 2017, Bus Éireann announced it would be discontinuing the route. They did however notify that an alternative service was available on route 109A which operates hourly throughout the night, 7 days per week, 364 days per year. Route 109A operates hourly between 00:30-05:30 whilst the daytime route 109 is inactive.
* Route 126N operated from Dublin to Newbridge via Heuston Station, Inchicore
Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...
, Newlands Cross, Citywest, Rathcoole Junction, Kill
Kill often refers to:
*Homicide, one human killing another
*cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death
Other common uses include:
*Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek
*Kill (command), a computing command
*K ...
Junction and Naas
Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...
. The service left Dublin at 00.30 and 03:30 each Friday and Saturday night. On 19 November 2018, Bus Éireann announced the termination of the route noting that costs to run the service were not being covered due to insufficient passenger numbers and it had been loss-making for some time. The operation of the daytime route 126 remained unaffected, but the last departure now left from Dublin at the earlier time of 23.00. In early December 2019 Go-Ahead Ireland took over operation of the route, and the National Transport Authority reinstated late night departures from the city. As of May 2022, route 126 caters for late-night passengers by departing from Connolly station
Connolly station () or Dublin Connolly is the busiest List of railway stations in Ireland, railway station in Dublin and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and is a focal point in the rail transport in Ireland, Irish route network. On the Northsid ...
(Mon-Sat) at the times of 00:05, 01:05 and 03:35.
* Route 133N operated from Dublin to Wicklow town, incorporating the towns of Kilmacanogue, Newtownmountkennedy
Newtownmountkennedy () is a small town in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It developed within the historic townland of Ballygarny () (now Mount Kennedy Demesne), although all that remains is a motte where a church, graveyard and a ...
, Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, Ashford and Rathnew
Rathnew () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. Located south of the capital Dublin along the N11 road (Ireland), M11 between Dublin and Wexford, it is close to the county town of Wicklow, which is situated to the east. The village is in a ...
. The service left Dublin at 00.30 and 03:00 each Friday and Saturday night.[ In October 2008, Bus Éireann cancelled the service, mentioning that the route was no longer commercially viable.] Others blamed the poor passenger numbers on the lack of adequate promotion or advertisement on the part of Bus Éireann with many people not even knowing the service existed.[
The Nightrider service was also extended to Cork city and its environs during Christmas and other high-capacity events such as the Cork Jazz Festival. The service was also extended to Galway city for a time in 2008, departing ]Eyre Square
Eyre Square ( ; ) is a city public park in Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The park is within the city centre, adjoining the nearby shopping area of William Street and Shop Street. Galway railway station is adjacent to Eyre Square.
The ...
at 01:30 for Moycullen
Moycullen () is a village situated in the Gaeltacht region of County Galway, Ireland, about 10 km (7 mi) northwest of Galway city. It is near Lough Corrib, on the N59 road to Oughterard and Clifden, in Connemara. Moycullen is now ...
, 02.30 for Spiddal
Spiddal, also known as Spiddle (Irish language, Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road (Ireland), R336 road. It is o ...
and 03.30 for the towns of Oranmore
Oranmore ( or ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, east of Galway city on an inlet of Galway Bay. At the 2022 census, Oranmore had a population of 5,819. The town is in a civil parish of the same name.
Etymology
Oranmore is the anglicisat ...
and Claregalway. In December 2010 during a period of cold weather, Nightrider services from Dublin to Drogheda, Meath and Kildare were cancelled due to icy conditions.
Real-time passenger information
RTPI is run by the National Transport Authority under the brand Transport for Ireland, a single portal providing information on public transport in Ireland.
Real-time information is available across most Bus Éireann services providing up-to-the-minute details about the arrival of a bus at a specific stop. It is calculated using the GPS location of a bus and is estimated and changed with current traffic conditions. Real-time information is available on the Bus Éireann website and via the Real Time Ireland App. Many stops across Ireland have real-time information that allows the customer to see exactly when the bus will arrive.
RTPI began to roll out across bus services in Ireland from 2011.
Bus Scoile
Bus Éireann operates "Bus Scoile" (School Bus), the School Transport Scheme on behalf of the Department of Education. County Meath VEC assists Bus Éireann in administering the service in County Meath to all second-level schools. Bus Éireann is responsible for planning routes, employing bus drivers, collecting fares and ensuring compliance with safety regulations and insurance. For the 2023/2024 school year 161,000 students used the service.
The 'Schools' services are mostly operated by cascaded second-hand ex-frontline vehicles. Due to recent regulations regarding seatbelts, all dated and unsuited vehicles were withdrawn and replaced with second-hand vehicles (mainly from the UK). From 2006 to 2016 Bus Éireann has been purchasing brand new buses from BMC, Euro Coach Builders Donegal, Alexander Dennis and TAM Motors Slovenia in 2016.
A number of the routes are outsourced to local bus companies such as Dunshaughlin Coach Hire, Jerry Ryan, O'Rourkes, Bernard Kavanaghs, Bartons, and James Mullally Coach Hire.
Stations
Bus Éireann operates from 17 bus stations across Ireland:
* Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
* Ballina
* Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 road (Ireland), N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 road (Ireland), N15 crosses the River Erne. The town was inc ...
* Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...
* Cork
* Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
* Busáras, Dublin
* Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
* Ennis
Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...
* Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
* Killarney
Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...
* Letterkenny
Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...
* Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
* Monaghan
Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony.
The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...
* Sligo
Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
* Tralee
Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...
* Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
Safety
Bus Éireann has had a few fatal incidents, with those involving school buses being particularly scrutinised. After the death of five schoolgirls in a fatal accident in County Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
in 2005 involving a 1993 DAF MB230/Van Hool (ex-front line expressway) school bus. All school buses are fitted with seatbelts since 31 October 2011.
Some non-fatal incidents have also been quite serious, for example, an off-duty bus plunging into the River Liffey
The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...
in Dublin, after a collision with another vehicle.
The company has also posted notices to encourage orderly queuing at bus stops after a series of incidents where pedestrians on the footpath were struck on the head by the wing mirrors of city buses.
In 2023 an Expressway bus caught fire, shortly after departing from Donegal Town
Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 1 ...
. The 15 passengers on the bus escaped uninjured.
Natural gas buses
Bus Éireann introduced the first NGV on 17 July 2012 in Cork. It operated on the 216 ( Cork University Hospital - City Centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
- Monkstown) route until mid-August 2012 on a trial that was undertaken in partnership with Ervia. The Eco-city bus was made by MAN
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
.
Fleet
As of January 2018, the fleet consists of 1,200 buses and coaches.Our Fleet
Bus Éireann
The company mainly uses buses built by firms such as Scania
Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...
, VDL Berkhof
Berkhof Groep (later Berkhof Jonckheere Groep and VDL Berkhof) was a Netherlands based bus and Coach (vehicle), coach builder, founded in 1970 by Arthur Berkhof and his son Henk. It started with only 10 employees in a 1,000 m2 factory. During ...
and Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
. Bus Éireann's fleet has been substantially invested in as part of the National Development Plan
National Development Plan (NDP, ) is the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on (mainly) national infrastructure. The first five-year plan ran from 1988 to 1993, the second was a six-year plan f ...
. The vast majority of the operating fleet for expressway, commuter, and local services are now five years old or less.
References
External links
Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bus Eireann
Bus companies of the Republic of Ireland
Bus transport in the Republic of Ireland
CIÉ