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EILEEN KEOGH (79) USED to be able to get the bus from outside her home in McKee Avenue in Finglas to her doctor off Ballymun Road in Glasnevin, a journey of about 10 minutes.
Since the introduction of the Phase 7 of Bus Connects in October, however, this has changed.
“If I need to go to my doctor, I have to get three buses, where before it was only a 10-minute drive on the bus when it wasn’t busy,” Keogh told The Journal.
So now I have to get three buses down to my doctor.
Keogh recently stopped driving, and on certain days she finds it difficult to walk short distances. The Number 9 bus used to stop directly outside her home and drop her at her doctor’s practice.
However, with the recent changes she says she now needs to get a combination of buses to make the same journey. Some days she can walk the additional distance to shorten her journey, but on other days she is unable to do so.
“I’ve another appointment next week. Now, depending on my leg, I could walk part of the way, but it depends how I feel when I get up in the morning. What should I do?
At my age, I depend on the bus.
The Number 9 bus route, along with the 140, 83, and the 40, have been replaced as part of the latest phase of of the Bus Connects rollout, which is significantly changing the bus network across the city, aimed at increasing the efficiency, frequency and reliability of buses.
Finglas and parts of Glasnevin are now served by the F and N spines, and local connecting routes, Numbers 23 and 24, which do not go directly to the city centre.
Eileen also used to be able to take the 9 directly into O’Connell Street, in the city centre, to shop on Henry Street. But this has also changed with the new bus routes.
“I can’t get into the city centre. I’m a northsider, so I can’t get a bus from my house to O’Connell Street. They’ve brought new buses down Church Street, which is a bottleneck at any time.”
“So, you know, northsiders are just being neglected. If you go into town, you see Talbot Street, O’Connell Street, shops closing down.
“I’m living out here 50 years, and there was always a bus service. So they haven’t replaced what they’ve took off.
You know the Number 23, you could be waiting on one that’s supposed to be coming in 10 minutes. I was waiting an hour for the 23 from Charlestown. They take buses off without notifying anybody. So what do you do?
Keogh was one of about 45 local residents and representatives protesting this morning in Finglas Village against the changes to the routes and what they say is a worsened bus service in the area.
Since the rollout of Phase 7, locals in Finglas and Glasnevin have complained about fewer buses, scheduled buses not appearing, longer wait times, busier buses at peak hours, and worsened connectivity.
Protestors today marched and chanted, holding blue placards calling on the National Transport Authority (NTA) to “Fix our Finglas busses”.
“Nobody knows where the buses are going, the drivers don’t even seem to know,” said Anne Donnelly, who works in the Mater Private Hospital and says her early morning trip to work has worsened since the changes were brought in.
Anthony Byrne, from Northway Estate, said the frequency of the buses was the main issue for him.
“A lot of people are very disappointed with the way things are working out,” he said.
It’s the frequency of the buses that’s the problem. They say they have no drivers and all but it’s a big problem. 45, 50 minutes waiting on the bus where it used to be a 10 minute wait.
Philomena Murphy said that she supports change, but that the NTA, which is overseeing the rollout of Bus Connects, had gotten key elements wrong.
“I’m a native of Finglas all my life and I think it’s appalling what after the happening the buses,” she said.
I’m all for change, but I think the change was too dramatic. They need to track back on what they have done… and look at it again.
Murphy raised the long wait times for people going and coming home from work in the mornings and evenings, and the fact that Beneavin Road, which has a number of nursing homes, now has no bus going down it.
She also mentioned that Finglas south and Finglas west no longer have a connecting bus route, which affects residents being able to travel to the local Charlestown Shopping Centre to shop.
The demonstration today was organised by the Finglas Bus Action Group, and follows on from a public meeting held in the area two weeks ago, organised by local People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy.
TDs and and local councillors from across the political spectrum were present at the protest today. The three sitting Dublin North West TDs, Rory Hearne, Paul McAuliffe and Dessie Ellis were present. As were Reddy, Independent councillor Gavin Pepper, and Fianna Fáil councillor Keith Connolly.
All public representatives addressed the crowd at different points, and all showed support for the objectives of the campaign to address local commuters’ issues.
The NTA confirmed last Thursday that it would amend certain parts of Routes 23 and 24 “in response to reliability issues and feedback from passengers and local representatives”.
The NTA acknowledged that commuters in Finglas had lately experienced “persistent reliability challenges”.
“These have been caused primarily by traffic congestion on new city centre alignments as well as driver availability. While driver recruitment and timetable adjustments are expected to improve performance after Christmas, congestion remains the key issue,” the authority said in a statement.
The short-term solution will be to re-route the 23 and 24 buses down the Quays, to cross over the River Liffey at either O’Connell Bridge or the Rose Hackett Bridge, which the NTA said should “improve reliability and maintain connectivity with the O’Connell Bridge area, previously served by Route 83″.
The authority also said it would “review service provision” in the Beneavin Road area.
While the moves by the NTA to address the concerns of residents were welcomed today, campaigners said they did not go far enough and that the changes were not being implemented quickly enough.
“What we want to say to the NTA is that [spring] is too far away. We need these links restored now. Particularly for the Christmas period. And we want to see action on cancellations and frequency as well,” Councillor Conor Reddy told TheJournal.
“I think the community has been very clear. We want greater frequency, more reliability, and we want changes to the routes.
“We’ve not got a Dart link, we’ve not got a rail link. We’ve delays to the metro project and Finglas Luas extension.
So really if you’re in Finglas, the only show in town is the bus. And the fact is, is that these changes have not worked for us. I think there has to be attention paid to how that can be remedied.
A separate demonstration by the Glasnevin Bus Action Group is scheduled for Tuesday, 16 December outside Leinster House.
a spokesperson for the NTA reiterated to The Journal the upcoming changes to Routes 23 and 24. In relation to why the changes cannot be implemented immediately, the spokesperson said:
“Given the need to revise schedules, to communicate changes to drivers, to train drivers on the new route as required, and to provide up-to-date customer information in advance of the revision, it cannot be implemented immediately.”
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