Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will meet with a county council (details supplied) in view of the proposed withdrawal of the Derry/Dublin express bus. [12456/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Deputy is no doubt aware, that Expressway services, such as route 33 Dublin/Derry, are commercial services operated by Bus Éireann and licensed under the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009. These routes are not eligible for any taxpayer funding and frequently operate in competition with other commercial licensed operators.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, in cases where a commercial operator, such as Expressway, decides to alter or withdraw a route, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has the statutory powers available to it to respond as appropriate to ensure continued transport connectivity.

In response to Bus Éireann's recent announcement of service changes, the NTA has published an assessment of the proposed changes and indicated what action it believes is necessary to ensure that continued connectivity.

As indicated in that published assessment, the NTA does not believe that connectivity issues arise on the route 33 corridor following the proposed withdrawal of Expressway's route 33. In publishing its assessment the NTA has invited feedback on its proposals. A copy of their assessment is available on www.nationaltransport.ie

The Deputy is aware that the county as a whole, and the route 33 corridor in particular, is served by a number of public transport options such as  -

- Expressway's route 32 services serving Dublin to Letterkenny (with connections possible at Strabane for onward journey to Derry);

- Translink's X3 services serving Dublin to Derry;

- A private licensed operator serving Monaghan to Dublin; and

- Bus Éireann PSO routes providing regional connectivity with Dundalk and Drogheda.

In light of the information I have provided I think it more beneficial if a meeting were to be arranged with the NTA and I have therefore forwarded the Deputy's request to them for direct reply.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive responses within ten working days.