Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, for coming to the Chamber for this important debate. Yesterday at about 4 p.m. users of Bus Éireann service 126N, the nightrider service from Dublin to Newbridge via Naas, were shocked when Bus Éireann tweeted that this service was being axed from this Saturday night. The 126 bus will continue, with a last run at 11 p.m.. As the last train to Newbridge leaves Dublin at 11.10 p.m., including at the weekend, the proposed withdrawal of this service has caused uproar among commuters. I was inundated with calls from constituents last night and this morning.

This morning, the NTA said it had approved the continuation of the 126 service, which will operate late services at 12.30 a.m. and 3.30 a.m., until the end of this year, following which there would be a review of the service to determine if a public service obligation is required for its continuation in 2019. The manner in which Bus Éireann and the NTA have handled this matter is unsatisfactory. What consultation took place between Bus Éireann and the NTA, if the Department was aware of it? If the NTA has known about this for a number of weeks, as a Bus Éireann representative told me today it did, it should have communicated it to us and not just issue a tweet, leaving people thinking all of their plans for the coming weeks were ruined.

Bus Éireann has said that operating costs for this service were not being covered owing to insufficient passenger numbers and that it is for this reason it is being axed as a commercial route. It is hard to believe the company has operated this route all year at a loss and is now proposing to axe it as we approach peak demand in the Christmas period. This smacks of an attempt to leverage the taxpayer to pay for the PSO for this route. There is great demand for this service. I have used it myself in the past. I have been contacted by many people about the proposed axing of this route. What analysis is undertaken of Bus Éireann proposals to axe a route on the basis that it is loss-making, in the full knowledge that this will cause uproar?

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