Bus Éireann is set to cut a number of inter-city routes due to financial pressures brought on by Covid-19, it is being reported this afternoon.
The
Irish Times states that Bus Éireann will end its current Dublin-Cork. Dublin-Limerick and Dublin-Galway routes, while the company's Dublin-Belfast route could be suspended. An express service from Galway to Limerick which was suspended during the summer is also not expected to resume. Instead, Bus Éireann will focus on an expansion of its operations in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The National Bus and Rail Union has been assured that no jobs will be lost, however, General Secretary Dermot O'Leary has said that 'The politicians should ponder on the fact that Bus Éireann, in the vast majority of areas across Ireland, was the only bus service left standing during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, from March through to July.'
He added that 'Without such services, large parts of Ireland would have been cut-off, essential workers would not have had public transport availability to attend vital workplaces, such as hospitals, doctors surgeries, pharmacies and retail."
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