Bus Éireann boost Co. Galway economy by €40m in 2019

  • Bus Éireann employs 300 people in Galway
  • Passengers numbers in Galway city services  at a whopping 5.6m, an increase of 20%  
  • Leap Card usage has grown by 56%

Bus services in Galway City

Bus Éireann boosted its service offering to customers in Galway in 2019 with the introduction of new and additional services. Galway city passenger numbers have grown by over 20% to a whopping 5.6m passenger journeys. There is also a 56% increase in passengers using their Leap Card on all trips in Galway.

Bus Éireann employs 300 people in Galway and contributed in excess of €40m annually to the West economy. This included payments to a large number of local supplies across the county.

Following a review of public transport services in Galway in conjunction with the National Transport Authority (NTA), Bus Éireann announced improvements recently to its Route 424 service and enhancements to its Route 419 service. These changes provide customers with an improved level of service offering including more frequent services and increased reliability.

Since the recent introduction of the improvements to Routes 424 and 419, there has been a very positive reaction from the general public.

Revised Route 424 between Galway, Carraroe, Lettermullen and Carna includes: 

  • New 1930 service to Lettermullen
  • New 2100 service to Carraroe
  • New 2300 service to Carraroe
  • New 0630 departure from Lettermullen to Galway
  • New 0730 service from Carraroe to Galway

In addition to the above, there is an enhanced frequency throughout the day. Frequency has also been increased substantially on Saturdays and Sundays with Sunday services seeing a 50% increase in frequency.

Enhanced service on Route 419: Galway – Oughterard – Clifden, which includes the following services:

  • New daily 2015 service from Galway to Oughterard
  • New daily 2215 service from Galway to Oughterard
  • New daily 2100 service from Oughterard to Galway
  • New daily 2300 service from Oughterard to Galway

For the best value fares, customers can save by using their Leap Card and by getting up to 30% savings on the price of a single ticket or by using a zonal product for best value multi-journey fares. This year, Galway Leap Card usage grew by 56% on all trips, which shows that there is great savings to be had by using your Leap Card.

One of the highlights every year is the Galway Races and Bus Éireann play a major part in transporting all the race-goers over the seven day event, which involved transporting up to 33,000 passenger journeys in July. Bus Éireann Galway are also sponsors of the Galway Senior and Minor Hurling and Gaelic Football teams as well as the ladies football and camogie.

This year, the Galway Depot was awarded ‘Depot of the Year’ and the team was praised for its collaborative approach to ensuring best possible service delivery, operational excellence, customer care and safety. This was a major achievement for all the staff who work tirelessly and show ongoing dedication throughout the year at the Galway Depot.

Bus Éireann Regional Operations Manager (West) Brian Connolly said: “Bus Éireann is very proud of the huge uptake in services across the Galway network in 2019. We have worked hard with the National Transport Authority and relevant stakeholders to continually improve the service offering for our Galway customers. In 2020, we will continue to provide further service enhancements that our customers will benefit from”.

Bus Éireann would like to thank our customers in Galway for their continued support of the public transport services throughout 2019 and we look forward to welcoming you on-board our services in 2020.

Tuesday, 17th December, 2019