On Trains & Buses

Bus Éireann has announced enhancements to the Sligo town bus services, introducing a new seven-day S3 route from Markievicz Road to Finisklin, along with improvements to the S1 and S2 routes. Starting on Sunday, 2^nd February 2025, Route S1, running from Cartron to Cairns Road, will offer increased evening services from 18:30 to midnight, including additional stops at Hollymount and Clarion Village. Route S2, from Strandhill to Rosses Point, will follow a revised route with new stops at Rosses Point Promenade, Oyster Island, and Wine Street.

Bus Éireann will resume full timetabled services for Cork City Routes 202/202A, 205, and 208 beginning 2^nd February 2025, after reduced frequency timetables were implemented in October 2024 due to driver recruitment challenges. Since then, ongoing recruitment efforts have strengthened the pipeline for the driver training school.

Route 202/202A will return to a 20-minute frequency, Route 205 to every 15 minutes, and Route 208 to every 10 minutes. The 220 service is under review for improvements in punctuality and reliability, with a new timetable anticipated by April 2025.

Expressway, Bus Éireann’s long distance coach service, announces an improved timetable for Route 30 from 26^th January 2025. With thirteen trips each-way daily, the updated schedule offers more frequent and punctual travel. Significant benefits include consistent arrival and departure times, a 10-minute comfort break in Cavan and increased service frequency for Beleek, Bellanaleck, Derrylin and Belturbet, moving from a three-hourly frequency to an hourly one. Passengers will see changes to departure times, with all services operating under the Route 30 pattern, eliminating the X30 route and Butlersbridge being served. The new timetable accommodates varying traffic conditions and operates on a different basis from Monday to Friday versus what happens during weekends and public holidays.

Due to a road closure on the R477 in County Clare, service 350 is temporarily diverted onto the N67 until 14^th March 2025 between Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna. During the diversion, an additional route, numbered 350C, will provide a shuttle service up to four times a day along the R477 between these locations.

My collection of festive season travel summaries got a lot of attention on Christmas Eve, with visitor numbers reaching several orders of magnitude beyond what usually happens. GenAI was in the production pipeline for this effort, and I deliberately avoided linking to temporary information sources. Hopefully, the information was useful to anyone who accessed it. Otherwise, all the very best for 2025.

During the 2024/5 Christmas and New Year period, High Peak Bus services will have adjusted schedules. On Christmas Eve, Tuesday 24 December, weekday timetables will operate with an early finish for the Skyline 199 and 185 services. There will be no services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On Friday 27 December, services will follow Saturday timetables, with the exception of service 394, which will use a weekday timetable. During the weekend of 28-29 December, normal Saturday and Sunday schedules apply. On Monday 30 December and New Year’s Eve, services will again follow Saturday timetables, except for service 394 which retains a weekday schedule, with early finishes on routes 199 and 185. There will be no service on New Year’s Day. Normal service levels will resume from Thursday 2 January 2025.

A new hourly express bus service, numbered X4 and running between Runcorn and Liverpool, commenced on 2024-12-16, stopping at Widnes, Speke and Aigburth. It provides quick and affordable connections to Halton with an average travel time between Runcorn and Liverpool ONE bus station of around 50 minutes - nearly half that of some existing services. The fare is only £2 per journey during the trial period.

There is good news in that bus fares cap is staying in England for 2025. However, the only catch is that the single fare increases to £3 to £2. The 50% increase, large though that sounds, only appears significant in relation to a low income and many journeys. Maybe that combination is infrequent, which could explain some of the logic underlying the increase for the sake of claimed sustainability. Nevertheless, that has done little to assuage the concerns of some, like those in the Campaign for Better Transport.

It appears that Moovit has become a fixture in public transport circles, being used by some 865 million people worldwide. The app bundles together various modes of transport into a single interface, and has features like Smart Cards, Smart Trips, and Smart Returns, which can suggest routes based on where one has been before and what one prefers. Handily, the app displays real time information, and gives a heads-up if there is any bother on the network. Some of the information comes from users reporting problems that they have spotted. Users can plan journeys across different parts of a country, with the app spelling out exactly what needs doing at each step.

Transport Focus offers tips for passengers looking to save money during the cost-of-living crisis, with value for money being a priority for rail travel. These include: being flexible about travel times, booking in advance, using Railcards, splitting journeys into multiple tickets, and considering coach or bus travel. Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets offer savings by travelling at less busy times, while Advance tickets provide discounts when committing to specific trains. Railcards are a good investment for those willing to pay the initial cost, with national and regional options available. Splitting journeys into multiple tickets could also save money and is easier than it seems, though all stations listed on the tickets must be used. Coaches can be a cheaper alternative for longer journeys, especially when travelling to or from airports, while buses offer a £2 fare cap until December 2024 and help reduce travel expenses for many passengers.