On Trains & Buses

Transport for Ireland has introduced changes to local bus services in Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow, including the renaming of Route WW10 to Route 800A, which now serves additional stops such as Coolboy, Annacurragh, Aughrim, Woodenbridge and Arklow while no longer stopping at Hacketstown, Kiltegan and Baltinglass. These adjustments aim to improve connectivity, particularly with Arklow Train Station and are part of broader enhancements to TFI Local Link services, which now include expanded timetables, increased frequency and seven-day operations for Routes 881 and 882. Route 881 connects Graiguenamanagh, Borris, Goresbridge, Gowran and Kilkenny with more daily trips, while Route 882 links Inistioge, Thomastown, Bennettsbridge and Kilkenny with improved access. The changes follow the withdrawal of Bus Éireann Route 374 and are temporarily implemented, with reviews planned for September 2026 to assess their impact on passenger needs and regional travel options.

The UAE’s Etihad Rail service is set to launch on 30^th June 2026, with the first route connecting Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, offering a one-hour 45-minute journey at speeds up to 200km/h in modern carriages. The network aims to reduce reliance on oil by providing a sustainable, affordable transport option, with initial tickets priced at Dh55 for Comfort Class and Dh120 for Premium Class. Future expansions will gradually connect additional emirates, including Dubai and Sharjah, as part of a broader strategy to support economic growth and decarbonisation across the region.

Bus Éireann announced on 27^th March 2026 that three Expressway commercial routes would be withdrawn from 24^th May 2026, citing sustained financial losses on services operating without State subsidy. The affected routes were the Waterford to Dublin and Dublin Airport service, the Ballina to Galway service and a segment of the Rosslare and Wexford to Waterford route.

In response, the National Transport Authority introduced a new subsidised public service, TFI Route 365, to maintain connectivity along the Waterford to Carlow corridor, operated by Bus Éireann on an interim basis under an emergency Direct Award Contract. The new service runs four daily return journeys Monday to Saturday and three on Sundays and Bank Holidays, serving communities including Mullinavat, Thomastown, Gowran, Paulstown, Leighlinbridge and Carlow, with additional stops at Thomastown, Muine Bheag and Dungarvan village not previously served. Connections are available in Carlow to onward bus and rail services to Dublin, and passengers can use TFI Leap Cards for reduced fares, with free travel passes remaining valid.

Launched in November 2025 following a major conservation and digitisation programme, the CIÉ Group Archives Catalogue is an online archival portal created by Córas Iompair Éireann that provides public access to a substantial collection of historical Irish transport records. More than 166,000 pages of material have already been digitised, covering corporate archives from 1945 onwards, records from 68 railway companies, and documentation relating to canal, tramway and road transport operations, with further material being added on an ongoing basis. Until now, Ireland has largely lacked a single, easily accessible online transport archive of this kind, meaning much of this material was previously difficult to discover without prior knowledge of the collections.

Historic minute books, annual reports, engineering documentation, maps, photographs and administrative papers are all represented, spanning organisations such as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the Great Southern and Western Railway, the Midland Great Western Railway and various tramway and canal undertakings. The catalogue follows a hierarchical structure familiar from professional archival systems, allowing users to browse collections, series and individual files, though only certain records are currently available to view or order directly online. A genealogical names database is also included, enabling searches for individuals connected with Irish transport companies.

Engineering works on Irish rail networks between 30^th May and 1^st June 2026 will disrupt services on the DART, Belfast, Northern and Rosslare routes, with no train operations between key stations such as Dublin Connolly and Greystones, Drogheda and Dundalk and Connolly and Bray. Affected passengers will face bus transfers for journeys between these locations, with altered schedules and reduced service availability on multiple routes, including changes to Enterprise services between Connolly and Belfast. Rosslare services will also require bus transfers from Connolly to Bray for certain departures.

FirstGroup has confirmed the launch of its Lumo open access service between Stirling and London on 25^th May 2026, following approval from the Office of Rail and Road in March 2024. The route will connect London Euston with Stirling via multiple stops, including Milton Keynes Central, Crewe and Carlisle, with Alstom collaborating on a £50 million contract to refurbish and maintain five Class 222 Meridian trains for the service. The company already operates Lumo services on the East Coast Main Line, extended to Glasgow.

Several bus routes in the Merseyside and Halton area are subject to timetable and routing changes from 26^th April 2026. On route 61, journeys towards Halton Hospital return to their usual route and are retimed between St Chads and Halton Hospital, arriving approximately four minutes earlier, while select journeys towards Liverpool are also slightly retimed. Routes 79C, 82A and X4 all revert to their usual routes following the reopening of the Northern Busway, with route 79C journeys towards Murdishaw and X4 journeys towards Windmill Hill returning to their original alignments alongside widespread time changes, and route 82A seeing various Monday to Friday and Saturday amendments including the removal of a late-night journey from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Murdishaw.

Plans to restore a railway line through the Peak District, connecting Derby and Manchester via Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton, have advanced with the submission of a feasibility study to the Department for Transport. The proposal, which would reinstate 18.5km of track to complete an 80km route, has been endorsed as having no major barriers to progress and is now set to move to the Strategic Outline Business Case stage. The project has received cross-party parliamentary backing, with 26 MPs supporting the initiative and is expected to be considered by Derbyshire County Council.

Economic benefits are estimated at between £2 billion and £8 billion, with the route also aiming to improve access to new housing developments and enhance walking and cycling networks. The line, which previously operated between London and Manchester before closing in the late 1960’s, currently has a heritage section running from Matlock to Rowsley South, while services from Manchester extend to Buxton. A spokesperson for the project highlighted its potential to address congestion, improve accessibility and reduce environmental pressures in the region.

On 19^th April 2026, several bus routes in areas including St Helens, Earlestown, Maghull and Lydiate will experience adjustments to departure times and route configurations. Route 20 sees altered Monday to Friday departures from Earlestown, while route 31’s Saturday and Sunday services will have their final journey from Maghull station re-timed to 23:52. The 44 and 300 routes will have timing points on Eastbank Street shifted near Part Street and Yellowhouse Lane, leading to minor changes for specific journeys. Route 201’s Monday to Saturday schedules will be fully revised and route 211’s circular service will include a minor route adjustment with the addition of the Morrisons interchange and the removal of a timing point near Speke Boulevard. Selected journeys on route 899 no longer will serve certain locations, instead rerouting via Knowsley Lane with adjusted timings. Other routes, including 320, 31A, 32A, 33, 897 and 898, will remain unchanged.

From 20^th April, Bus Éireann is taking over Limerick city route 310 from Dublin Coach. This goes between Sarsfield Street and the National Technology Park, serving the University of Limerick along the way. The frequency is half-hourly with the service period extending from early until late.

Complaints had been made about the way that Dublin Coach operated the service, though it worked well when I tried it a few years ago while meeting with my brother for a meal at a hotel. The route came into being as an emergency contract award in 2022 following the cancellation of commercial services 307 and 308 due to increases in operating costs. This also explains why it has not been operated by Bus Éireann until now, bringing all Limerick city services into their network, which probably should have been the case in the first place.