Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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646. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the threat to the Dublin to Derry Bus Éireann Expressway route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22093/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The Dublin to Derry route is a commercial licensed bus service operated by Expressway. As with any such commercial service, decisions regarding the route are a matter for the individual operator. These services receive no taxpayer funding and operate on a fully commercial basis.

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

The NTA published an assessment of the proposed changes on the Dublin to Derry Bus Éireann Expressway route (Route 33) and as indicated in that published assessment, the NTA does not believe that connectivity issues arise on the route 33 corridor.  The majority of the corridor will continue to be served by Expressway's route 32 (Dublin to Letterkenny) while Dublin to Derry itself will continue to be served by two Translink operated services - the X3 and the X4.

In publishing its assessment the NTA invited feedback on its proposals. A copy of the assessment is available on www.nationaltransport.ie.