![\"Bus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766127918_944_2_Bus_Eireann-stock.png\")
Bus \u00c9ireann buses in Cork city centre (stock)(Image: Thomas Lawrance\/CorkBeo)<\/p>\nSinn F\u00e9in has also raised issues directly with the National Transport Authority<\/p>\n
12:44, 18 Dec 2025Updated 13:16, 18 Dec 2025<\/p>\n
Bus \u00c9ireann buses in Cork city centre (stock)(Image: Thomas Lawrance\/CorkBeo)<\/p>\n
Public representatives have held meetings with Bus \u00c9ireann<\/a> and the National Transport Authority as Christmas shoppers and workers across Cork city<\/a> continue to face public transport delays. Sinn F\u00e9in’s Thomas Gould TD and Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire TD said that the organisations have thrown Cork\u2019s Christmas public transport \u2018under the bus\u2019 in a statement issued this morning.<\/p>\n The Sinn F\u00e9in TDs stated that Bus \u00c9ireann and the NTA <\/a>have been aware of the impending ‘Christmas crisis’ since September, and they accused both organisations of failing to take action to resolve the issue before the festive season. Deputy Gould stated that temporary solutions were not duly considered for the Christmas <\/a>period.<\/p>\n Concerns were also raised with the National Transport Authority about the reliability of their TFI app, with Deputy Gould highlighting how the app regularly fails to deliver real-time information on busy routes.<\/p>\n Deputy Gould said: \u201cWe have just finished two extremely frustrating meetings with Bus \u00c9ireann and the NTA. What is clear is that they knew there was a crisis in September but failed to take any action to solve these issues before the Christmas period. There were no temporary solutions considered, and every single proposal we made was shot down.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been told they\u2019ve been meeting weekly since September because they knew there were serious issues. Why weren\u2019t the public told? Why weren\u2019t elected representatives told? Nobody was warned about the crisis coming down the line and instead we are facing another Christmas with people left in the cold and the rain at bus stops. We\u2019re stuck in Groundhog Day in Cork when it comes to the Christmas bus crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cBus \u00c9ireann is once again facing a Christmas period with insufficient driver and mechanic numbers to run a bus service. They have confirmed to me that they are currently short 20 drivers and 4 mechanics. This is the busiest time of year for public transport and yet neither organisation could outline any temporary solutions proposed to resolve these issues over the Christmas period.”<\/p>\n A total of 546 drivers are employed by Bus \u00c9ireann in Cork, which is four more than the recommended figure of 542. However, 24 of these drivers are currently in training and are scheduled to enter service across the next few months. The Capwell Depot is currently short 4 of the required 36 mechanics, but Bus \u00c9ireann said that those vacancies will be filled as mechanics complete their training in the coming months.<\/p>\n Sinn F\u00e9in also raised concerns about the number of buses available in Cork, noting that the county is relying on second-hand buses from Limerick or Galway. They also criticised Bus \u00c9ireann for asking bus drivers to work on rest days to fill the gaps in the stretched system.<\/p>\n Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire added: \u201cBus users in Cork are increasingly frustrated, and the NTA and Bus \u00c9ireann need to deliver. We have had a lot of promises, but the system is still not anywhere near good enough, despite the best efforts of drivers. In some instances, there is a full roster but not enough vehicles for the drivers. Other times there aren’t enough drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cToo many routes on the southside, including the 203, 214 and 207, are seeing buses late, or not showing up. People want to use the bus, but they have to be able to rely on it. That isn\u2019t the case at the minute – and too many people who have no choice are late to work, school and medical appointments. We need a major investment to ensure the confidence of the people of Cork – we need a public transport system for the 21st century for the people of Cork, but unfortunately, we are not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to the issues raised by Sinn F\u00e9in, Bus \u00c9ireann also noted that as of December 7, routes 203, 125 and 220x have undergone reviews with some improvements already noted along these routes. Bus \u00c9ireann expects further improvements on these routes after the Christmas holiday rush, with a review of the 208 service scheduled to take place in January.<\/p>\n Deputy Gould concluded: \u201cI don\u2019t accept that every Christmas must be a crisis. In no other city in Europe would it be accepted that the bus service collapses every single Christmas, why is it ok in Cork?<\/p>\n “We need the Minister for Transport to step up now and actually take a handle on these issues. There are temporary solutions that could resolve some of these issues \u2013 turning buses in the city centre, hiring seasonal drivers on short-term contracts and utilising private bus companies. These are not all long-term solutions but they will mean that people who want to use public transport this Christmas can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in has also raised issues directly with the National Transport Authority 12:44, 18 Dec 2025Updated 13:16, 18…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27801,72,61,60],"class_list":["post-199721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bus-eireann","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}