Bus Éireann local bus passenger journeys up almost 10% in the North West

Over 400,000 local trips made across the regional network

Passenger journeys on the Bus Éireann local bus service network in the Northwest of the country grew by an impressive 9.6% in 2016, according to preliminary figures released today.

The total number of local bus passenger journeys undertaken in the region grew by over 35,000 last year. There were 404,000 trips made on these local services in 2016 compared to almost 369,000 in 2015, which represents a significant increase of almost 10% year-on-year.

Bus Éireann - which employs 255 people in the North West - contributed €33m to the economy in the region in 2016.

This included payroll and procurement of goods and services. The company has local depots and offices in Ballina, Westport, Sligo, Donegal, Letterkenny and Stranorlar.

During 2016, Bus Éireann introduced several service improvements, in conjunction with the National Transport Authority (NTA), including:

Route 458 Ballina – Enniscrone – Sligo – Manorhamilton – Enniskillen and Route 456 Ballina – Westport – Galway

These routes saw improved weekday timetables and increased weekend frequency, along with more direct services and better connections.

On the Expressway inter-urban coach service, an additional service was introduced in each direction on Route 64 Derry- Letterkenny- Donegal-Sligo-Galway.

 Direct services to and from Dublin Airport and Ireland West Airport Knock also went from strength to strength in 2016.

The upgrade of our Expressway fleet continued during the year, with the arrival of seven new coaches in the region.

More local public service fleet improvements are planned for 2017.

Another key initiative in 2016 was the promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way coastal tourist route in association with Fáilte Ireland and 2FM.

Bus Éireann also ran special bus services to a number of local festivals including Sea Sessions (Bundoran) and the Warriors Run (Strandhill).

 Bus Éireann Regional Manager North West, Rory Leahy, said the growth in passenger journeys was testament to improvements to services and fleet.

 “For nearly 30 years, Bus Éireann has been an essential and integral part of Ireland’s transport infrastructure,” he said.

“We are continuing to build on that tradition of public service and transport expertise to give Ireland a bus and coach system which it can be proud of.”

Tuesday, 3rd January, 2017