Dublin Bus cuts dressed up as an improvement to local services

Wicklow Sinn Féin councillor John Brady has slammed the decision by
Dublin Bus to cut its 84 and 45 routes in the North Wicklow area. Cllr
Brady described the cuts as a slashing of the service dressed up as an
improvement.

Speaking after receiving the news from the project manager with Dublin
Bus Ray Coyne, Cllr Brady said "I am very disappointed that after the
massive pressure that has been exerted on Dublin Bus they have simply
gone ahead and implemented the cuts to the 45 and 84 routes. They have
dressed the cuts up to look like the new layout will lead to an
improved service for people in North Wicklow, however the cuts will
hit the public transport users hard and will simply act as a deterrent
and force people away from using public transport"

"The cuts will see the 45 and 84 routes amalgamated and the new
service will run from Newcastle/Kilcoole to Blackrock. The result of
this is there will be a huge reduction in buses from Wicklow linking
us to the city centre, anyone looking to do so will have to transfer
over to the 145, it also means vital services such as the National
maternity Hospital in
Holles St. or St. Vincents Hospital have no direct Bus and this will
have a big impact on people reliant on public transport to get medical
treatment and it will get worse if the cuts to the A&E in
Loughlinstown go ahead"

Cllr Brady continued "Students in UCD will also be badly hit. The 84
which had been a hourly service from Kilcoole to UCD will now end and
the amalgamated 84/45 route will terminate in Blackrock. Dublin Bus
are saying they are going to increase the 84x by 33%, even this will
go nowhere near replacing the service of the 84, this is going to see
a huge reduction in the service to Belfield. The 45a in Bray will be
given a new route from Oldcourt to Dún Laoghaire, this means the
entire Killarney Rd area will have no link to Bray DART station, again
a huge disincentive for people using public transport"

Cllr Brady concluded "I had taken hope that Dublin Bus might finally
deliver a service for North Wicklow that people wanted and might use
in larger numbers. Sinn Féin and the public of North Wicklow had put a
huge amount of pressure on Dublin Bus, we had presented them with a
petition containing thousands of signatures calling on them not to
implement these drastic cuts and to ensure that the network was fit
for purpose and that point was hit home with the public protest we had
organised to meet them at the Council meeting in Greystones. However
what Dublin Bus have done is the complete opposite, they have cut the
service to shreds and have dressed it up as a positive move. Students,
Hospital users, commuters and ordinary members of the public who want
to use public transport are the real people who loose out here. This
application is being assessed by the National Transport Authority and
i am urging Labour TD Alan Kelly who is Minister of State, at the
Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport to intervene to stop the
licence being issued. I also calling on Wicklow's 5 TD to use their
influence in Leinster House to save our public transport service in
North Wicklow"