Transport body defends spend of €35m on Cork BusConnects amid cuts to city's bus service
Bus Éireann has blamed a shortage of bus drivers, combined with gridlock and a lack of enforcement in bus lanes, for its decision to cut up to 800 services a week from high-frequency routes.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has defended spending more than €35m on Cork BusConnects while the city’s bus services are being cut.
It has emerged it will be 2026 at the earliest before the city’s new bus network is introduced.
It was initially hoped the new network, which cost €3.5m to design and which was unveiled in June 2022, would be introduced on a phased basis during 2023 and 2024.
But the NTA has now told the it intends to start introducing the new network on a phased basis during 2026 “subject to funding and operational readiness”.
It comes as new figures from the NTA show almost €27m of the €35m spend on BusConnects Cork since 2021 has gone into the design of the 11 proposed strategic transport corridors (STCs) — a network of dedicated bus and bike lanes designed to ensure buses run on time.
A breakdown of the figures shows since 2021, the NTA has spent:
- €26,879,156 on designing the corridors;
- €3,534,257 on depot designs;
- €3,529,205 on the city’s new bus network;
- And €920,840 on ‘support costs’.
The depot design relates to proposed work at Capwell bus depot to support the electrification of the fleet, while ‘support costs’ relate to governance and integration of the wider BusConnects programme and the development of items such as a strategic assessment report and the ongoing development of a preliminary business case for that wider programme.
The figures were released to Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould just weeks after Bus Éireann announced a raft of cuts to the city’s high-frequency service, with the company blaming a shortage of bus drivers, combined with gridlock and a lack of enforcement in bus lanes, for its decision to cut up to 800 services a week from its high-frequency 202, 202A, 205, 208 and the 24-hour 220 routes.
“We are very much supportive of BusConnects,” Mr Gould said.
“Our bus service is currently in crisis and there are some issues that can only be fixed through the BusConnects plan.
He also said he had been asking for months for a timetable review, with bus drivers insisting they just cannot deliver on the current timetable.
“Instead, they have spent tens of millions of euros producing glossy brochures and talking to people about a plan,” Mr Gould said.
He also criticised the spend at a time when bus drivers have seen no improvement to their pay and conditions.
A spokesman for NTA defended the spend and said the STC element was classed as “a mega project”, which involves detailed studies and design work.
“It has included three rounds of public consultation with each round requiring extensive public engagement and design development work,” he said.
The strategic transport corridors applications to An Bórd Pleanála will begin from mid-2025, in the hope all will be submitted by the fourth quarter of 2025.
“The public will have an opportunity to make submissions to An Bord Pleanála as part of the planning process,” he said.
