Kilkenny bus service slammed as a 'lottery' amid rising 'anger and frustration'

Deputy Mayor of Kilkenny, Cllr Maria Dollard, has hit out at what she has decribed as 'the failure of Transport for Ireland to rectify issues' that have been brought to her attention by regular users of the city bus service.

"The failure of buses to turn up on time is forgiven the odd time by passengers but this issue has been going on so long now, it can only be described as a degradation of service to the people of Kilkenny," she told Kilkenny Live.

"It's not good enough and shows how little commitment there is at government level to public transport improvements and expansion."

Cllr Dollard said that the issues described to her are 'multiple at this stage' and 'demonstrate a service under sustained pressure to deliver'.

She added that these service deficits are having a significant impact on ordinary working people and children trying to get to and from work or school, 'being left standing for long periods in the wet and cold weather'.

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Cllr Dollard stated that many of the issues reported to her by bus users relate to the KK1 service.

"People waiting for periods of up to an hour when they have been in plenty of time for a scheduled bus," she said.

"Given that we do not have any real time information to go on, people are waiting in vain hope that a bus is a bit late but it
frequently can be 50 minutes late.

"For a service that allegedly runs every 30 minutes means the whole schedule is thrown out and catching a bus becomes a lottery."

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Cllr Dollard stated that from her own interactions with people who have been impacted, that the bus drivers are 'very courteous' but when passengers try to complain to the depot, 'the phone isn’t being answered'.

"Passengers are reporting that some times and routes are consistently late, some buses consistently don’t turn up and that even maintenance of the shelters are not being addressed," she said.

"Just last week, I had a message from an eagle-eyed passenger who reported they saw the KK1 bus turn around before finishing the route, leaving some stops unserved."

Cllr Dollard stated that she has written to Transport for Ireland requesting a review of this route to understand why so many customers are complaining about the service.

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"The problems appear to have started since the new timetable was introduced and is causing a lot of anger and frustration to parents of children trying to avoid bringing their children to school in cars and people trying to get to and from work on time," she added.

"Ordinary Kilkenny people have taken to using the bus with enthusiasm but we cannot solve congestion in the city at peak times until be have a reliable public transport service and that’s the bottom line."

Kilkenny Live have reached out to the National Transport Authority (NTA) for comment.

The NTA oversee and operate the Transport for Ireland network.

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