Calls for additional Galway service for morning commuters – ‘If you start work at 8:00am the bus arrives too late’
Bus commuters travelling from Oughterard into Galway are calling for a second morning service on the 419 routes, with Galway West TD John Connolly pressing the National Transport Authority (NTA) to address the issue.
Deputy Connolly said he had raised the matter with the NTA on behalf of constituents who rely on the service for their daily commute. He asked that an additional service be introduced to allow passengers to reach work in time for an 8am start.
At present, the Bus Éireann 419 service reaches Moycullen at 7.46am and arrives in Eyre Square at 8.21am. The next bus on the route does not depart until around three hours later, leaving commuters struggling to arrive on time.
“For those who start work at 8:00am in Galway City the bus arrives too late,” Deputy Connolly said. “The second issue is that the bus is often full and unable to accept new passengers at Moycullen.”
The NTA responded to the Fianna Fáil TD, noting that the 419’s timetable and capacity issues will be discussed as part of a wider review of “capacity challenges” across the bus network. The authority said particular attention will be paid to the timing of the first morning service, which currently gets commuters into Galway after 8am.
Deputy Connolly also asked the NTA to look at increasing capacity on the 424 route from Galway to Leitir Mealláin.
“This is welcome news for early morning commuters that the NTA and Bus Éireann have highlighted these capacity issues for discussion,” he said. “Obviously, this is subject to funding, and the potential effects on other services have to be considered, but if we are to encourage people to use public transport, especially when there is a public demand for it, such as from people in the Moycullen area, then such positive changes to the service must be strongly considered.”