Inside the two-year saga of delays and missed launch dates for Bus Éireann’s Route 132 upgrade
The Wicklow PeopleThe long promised upgrade of Bus Éireann’s Route 132 between Dublin, Blessington, Baltinglass, Tullow and Bunclody has been beset by more than two years of delays, missed launch dates and unresolved operational issues, according to internal National Transport Authority (NTA) correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The documents, spanning 2024 to 2026, show a project repeatedly announced as imminent, but continually pushed back, with Local Link services and Wicklow County Council left seeking clarity that never arrived.
The upgrade was first signalled in May 2024, when NTA planners told Local Link Wexford that the 132 was “due to be upgraded this year subject to funding and resources”.
A draft timetable was issued to Bus Éireann shortly afterwards, setting out a more frequent service designed to improve rural connectivity along the corridor and integrate with Local Link routes such as the 369 and WW10.
The NTA’s internal planning documents show that the enhanced 132 was intended to act as a spine service, with feeder routes timed to meet it at Baltinglass and Tullow.
By late 2024, the NTA believed the project was close to delivery. An internal update from December that year described the 132 as “on track” for implementation on January 26, 2025, with Bus Éireann expected to send the final timetable.
The update rated progress at “98pc+” and instructed staff to prepare the necessary Technical Assessment Report and operational variation notice.
But even at that point, other correspondence shows the first signs of slippage. In October 2024, NTA planners warned Local Link Carlow–Kilkenny–Wicklow that the launch of the enhanced 132 might need to be delayed “depending on the readiness of BE”.
The FOI records show that readiness never materialised.
In May 2025, the NTA informed Local Link that the new launch date was June 29, 2025.
By early July, Local Link Wexford was asking whether July 27 was “confirmed 100pc,” warning that operators were being “strung along.”
The answer came the following day: Bus Éireann had still not confirmed the timetable, and the launch was being pushed back again.
On July 9, 2025, NTA staff reported a new target date of August 24, 2025, the fourth announced implementation date in less than a year.
Local Link services WW10 and 369 were redesigned to connect with the upgraded 132, but without a confirmed timetable they could not be finalised.
Local Link managers repeatedly sought clarity on whether their routes could stop in Bunclody or adjust departure times to meet the 132, only to be told that Bus Éireann had not yet confirmed the schedule. One email from July 2025 captures the growing frustration: “We can’t keep stringing along the operator.”
Wicklow County Council also sought updates. Ahead of a meeting in September 2025, councillors submitted a list of questions to the NTA, including queries about the status of the 132 upgrade. Internal emails show NTA officials debating how much information to provide.
One planner wrote that he would be “hesitant to give too much detail” and wanted to retain “wriggle room for alternative approaches”.
Another email from the same day states that the NTA would reiterate to councillors that it was “awaiting confirmation of PSO funding before we implement a new TT”.
The correspondence suggests that by late 2025, funding uncertainty had become a significant barrier to progress. The internal exchanges show that the NTA arrived at the council meeting prepared to give only high level commentary, despite the council’s expectation of concrete updates.
One staff member explicitly noted that the 132 and the Fassaroe park and ride proposals were “sensitive matters” and that he did not have the latest information.
The result was a meeting in which Wicklow County Council, the local authority most directly affected by the stalled upgrade, was given little more than high level assurances, even as internal NTA discussions acknowledged that the project was delayed, unfunded and operationally uncertain.
The FOI decision itself sheds further light on the unresolved issues. While 54 records were released in full, several key documents were withheld under Section 36(1)(b) of the FOI Act, which covers commercially sensitive information. These included Bus Éireann’s Technical Assessment Reports and internal cost and resource planning files.
The NTA argued that releasing these documents could prejudice Bus Éireann’s competitive position or reveal sensitive financial information. The refusal indicates that the operational and financial feasibility of the upgraded 132 remained under active consideration well into 2026.
The correspondence also reveals the complexity of the project. Bus Éireann warned the NTA in August 2024 that the initially proposed timetable created “driving hour issues” that would limit drivers to operating only one round trip per day.
The company proposed an alternative schedule that reduced the number of Bunclody trips to make the service deliverable with available vehicles and staff.
The NTA, meanwhile, was attempting to coordinate the 132 with other Connecting Ireland routes, including the 369 and 183, and to ensure that feeder services could meet the main corridor without requiring major timetable changes.
Despite these efforts, the upgraded service never launched on any of the dates announced internally.
By the time the FOI request was submitted in April 2026, the project had been delayed for more than two years.
The NTA’s decision letter, issued in May 2026, makes no reference to any new implementation date, and the internal correspondence released under FOI contains no indication that the timetable had been finalised.
The delays have left communities along the corridor without the improved connectivity promised under the Connecting Ireland programme.
The 132 serves a wide catchment across west Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford, linking rural towns to Dublin via Tallaght and Blessington. The upgrade was intended to increase frequency, improve reliability and provide better integration with Local Link services.
Instead, the FOI records show a project repeatedly stalled by operational constraints, funding uncertainty and a lack of final confirmation from Bus Éireann.
The correspondence also highlights the challenges faced by local authorities and operators in planning around an uncertain timeline.
Wicklow County Council was unable to provide detailed information to its members, while Local Link operators were left adjusting and re‑adjusting their own timetables in anticipation of a service that never materialised. The NTA’s internal caution about releasing details suggests a reluctance to commit publicly to a timeline that might slip again.
As of mid‑2026, the future of the upgraded 132 remains unclear. The FOI records provide a detailed account of the obstacles encountered, but they do not indicate when, or whether, the enhanced service will finally be delivered.
For the communities along the route, the promised improvements remain on paper, delayed by a combination of operational, financial and organisational factors that have yet to be resolved.
Last month, in response to a series of parliamentary questions from Wicklow TDs Edward Timmins and Jennifer Whitmore, junior transport minister Jerry Buttimer, confirmed that there is currently no timeline for the long‑promised upgrade of the 132.
He said the government’s focus for the coming year is instead on “stabilising the PSO position”, with the NTA’s €940 million PSO budget directed towards maintaining the existing network and advancing only those projects already in motion, such as BusConnects Phase 7 and a new Mullingar town service.