Politicians are coming under increasing pressure to protect the future of the public Bus Eireann Bus Service in rural Ireland.
Bus Eireann has to reverse losses of over €8m and it commissioned a report by Grant Thornton which outlines cutting Expressway services as part of a potential solution.
Bus Eireann, who is now under the leadersip of a new CEO Mr. Ray Hernan, formerly of Ryanair, says it would like to see the expressway services remain as part of its product.
Siptu representative Willie Noone however, says it is now time for talks with their employees.
He says workers remain in the dark as to what is happening or the timeframe involved and he’s calling on politicians to step up to the mark:
Meanwhile in a statement today, Sligo Leitrim Sinn Fein TD Martin Kenny has hit out at the National Transport Authority for allowing private operators to ‘cherry-pick’ more profitable routes.
He says as a result of such licences being allowed to flood the market, Bus Eireann has been left with less passengers on busy routes due to competition and it’s left to cover the less profitable routes alone which is costing the company dearly.
He’s urging the Minister for Transport Shane Ross to engage with stakeholders and to find alternatives to this rampant privatisation and cuts to public service as proposed.
These women come from Ballina and Tubbercurry on the bus, they told Ocean FM that they depend on the bus as they don’t drive:
