Last month private bus operator Aircoach announced it will end its service on several routes, including the direct bus service from Shankill, Ballybrack and Loughlinstown to the airport.
People Before Profit Councillor Dave O’Keeffe said 'After last month’s announcement of the ending of the direct bus service from Shankill, Ballybrack and Loughlinstown to the airport, Richard Boyd Barrett raised the matter with the Taoiseach in the Dáil and submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister for Transport. Today we have received a predictable but deeply frustrating answer from the National Transport Authority (NTA), saying it is a matter for the private operator only and that the NTA has no plans to provide a direct bus route to the airport for the communities affected.'
Yet another bus route is to be ended because a private operator says it's nor profitable enough for it, but the NTA and the Minister intend to take no action. This, coupled with the utter failure of Go Ahead private bus operator, demonstrates that privatisation of the bus service is a rolling disaster.
Cllr O'Keeffe was clear: 'The direct bus service from Shankill, Ballybrack and Loughlinstown should continue and all the bus routes that have been privatised should be returned to the public service and operated to meet the needs of communities'.
We need a public bus service that is operated as a public good serving the transport needs of communities, not the endless profits demands of corporations.