Dublin Bus shelve plans to curtail the 145 route to Kilmac

Sinn Fein councillor John Brady has welcomed the decision by Dublin
Bus to shelve their plans to scrap the 145 bus route to Kilmacanogue.
The Sinn Féin councillor was informed this week by the operations
manager of Dublin Bus that plans they had to terminate the 145 at
Springfield cemetery as opposed to Kilmac will now not proceed.

Speaking after receiving the positive news Councillor John Brady said
"I am delighted that common sense has prevailed and that Dublin Bus
has scrapped their plan of cutting the 145 bus route to Kilmacanogue.
When I first discovered the plans of Dublin Bus to cut the route back
in February it caused huge levels of concern in the village which
resulted in a big community campaign of opposition. The community
fought long and hard to get a bus service to Kilmac and they certainly
weren't prepared to give it up without a fight."

Brady continued "The 145 bus provides a critical link for the people
in the village and the evidence of that showed when i called a public
meeting on the issue in Kilmac in March, when over 150 people turned
up to listen to how the service could be saved. At that meeting many
people voiced their opposition to the plans, but more importantly
there were many constructive proposals on how to save the route,
improve and enhance it. We compiled a petition with over 1500 people
signing it, i also had the issue dealt with at a meeting of Wicklow
County Council and a motion was passed opposing any plans to cut the
route and this was relayed to Dublin Bus also."

Brady went onto say "Unfortunately it was disappointing however that a
number of requests to officials from Dublin Bus to sit down with a
representative group of residents and users of the route from Kilmac
was turned down. The reason given was that they don't do public
consultation, which is quite bizarre as Dublin Bus is there to provide
a public transport service and they receive substantial subsidies to
do so. One would imagine consulting with the public user with be a
critical part of the process in determining routes."

Brady concluded "Since February I have remained in constant contact
with officials in Dublin Bus and continued to voice opposition to
their plans, so i was delighted when I was finally informed that
curtailing the route at Springfield cemetery is now off the cards.
This is fantastic news for everyone in Kilmac and shows that when a
community comes together they can achieve a lot. I have committed to
work with Dublin Bus to try improve the service now and try address
any small issues that maybe of concern to the officials within Dublin
Bus. I will also continue now to push for a bus shelter and other
improvements for the public in the Kilmac area." Ends