– Drivers are ready and leaflets are printed.
– Announcement made yesterday by a general election candidate.
– NTA has confirmed postponement today and said decision only made today.
— Delay expected to have knock on affect to BusConnects rollout.
– Main proposal in E-spine includes year-round cross-city 24-hour spine routes E1 and E2, which are planned to serve Bray, the N11/UCD, the city centre, Phibsborough, Glasnevin, Ballymun and Northwood/Santry.
Senator and general election candidate Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil) announced on social media that the National Transport Authority (NTA) will announce the postponement of BusConnects E-Spine bus capacity improvements until next year.
When asked if she could confirm how she knew about the postponement before the NTA announced it or apparently even officially made any decision on the issue, Senator Fitzpatrick told IrishCycle.com that it was “residents who came back to her” with the news of the postponement.
She said she was “disappointed that the NTA are not being clear about this”.
Senator Fitzpatrick said: “I’m a big supporter of improvements in our public transport and active travel infrastructure, but we don’t always get it right, and, in this instance, the proposal to take away the 11 cross-city bus service is not the right solution at this time, and I’ve been calling on the NTA for quite a while to pull back from that proposal.”
Other candidates also against the E-spine changes going ahead were Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon and the same party’s candidate Rory Hearne, and Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe.
Misinformation widely spread locally has included 11 bus routes being cancelled without outlining that the more frequent 19 bus route is replacing the northside section of the route and that Parnell Square would be the only place to transfer when users of the bus could transfer to other buses in the suburbs.
The NTA was contacted last night and again this early morning for comment, including asking the authority who it told about the apparent postponement of the BusConnects rollout.
The NTA told this website after midday today that the final decision on the deferral was made this morning (Thursday) and that the authority did not communicate the postponement to third parties yesterday.
In an email to public representatives a short time ago, the NTA said: “We are emailing you to let you know that Phase 6A of the new bus network for Dublin under BusConnects, which was intended to be implemented on 8th December, will now be deferred until January of next year.”
“We believe that the short-term disruption that the changes would involve for some customers would be an unwelcome complication in the run-up to Christmas,” the authority said.
The NTA said that rescheduling of Phase 6A “will free up resources, allowing additional bus services, including additional night services, to operate over the Christmas period.”
The NTA added: “This will contribute to the city centre promotional campaign planned by Dublin City Council and businesses, and will support the retail and hospitality sector in the city and suburbs during the busy December period.”
The opposition to the E-Spine has mounted for a wide range of reasons linked to misinformation being spread about the bus route changes, but one source outlined that there are issues with the jigsaw pieces fitting together with how BusConnects is being rolled out.
When asked for comment, Jason Cullen, chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, pointed to a social media thread the group put out.
The group, which advocates for sustainable transport, said: “Phase 6a of BusConnects is being delayed again! This is becoming unacceptable, we can’t accept delaying of the 24-hour E-Spine route over the Christmas period due to yet another ‘Save Our XX Bus’ campaign.”
“The new 19 route effectively serves the exact same journey as the 11 as far as Parnell Square where commuters can connect to the Green Line Luas. There is definitely an argument to extend the 19 further into the core city centre, but that shouldn’t delay the rest of the phase,” said the statement from the Dublin Commuter Coalition.
“Transport in Dublin is moving towards an interchanging system, it’s very common in cities all over the world to swap services when moving across the city, it does mean changing over, but it speeds up the whole system by making it far more efficient,” they said.
The group said: “The Social Democrats representatives have been incredibly short-sighted on transport projects over the last few months Phase 6a needs to go ahead, the commuters of Dublin will not accept delays to their services any longer.”
“The argument that people weren’t consulted on BusConnects is absolutely nonsense political pandering. We’ve been responding to consultations on this since we set up in 2018,” they said.
This refers to what Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told the Irish Independent yesterday.
Gannon, who launched a petition to “save the number 11”, told the newspaper that residents have been “told that they’d been consulted with” but he claimed that “Nobody on Home Farm Road or anywhere through Drumcondra seemed to know anything about it. People felt it was unfair.”
He said: “This particular route shouldn’t happen. I think there’s a lot of merit to BusConnects as a whole.”
The Dublin Commuter Coalition said: “Public meetings on these routes were happening in Drumcondra back as far as 21st September 2018. We are six years on from the start of the engagement on this project, so to have these last-minute petitions and public meetings during an election is incredibly transparent.”
The group added: “The immediate impact of this is going to cost the people living in Bray a small fortune in taxi costs over the Christmas period because the 24-hour E-Spine they were expecting will not be there for them. It’s simply unacceptable.”
The amount of misinformation about the E-spine has been wide-ranging, including about the number 19 bus, which replaces most of the northside section of the 11 route.
It is claimed that because the 19 will start at Dublin Airport, it will be full before it reaches Glasnevin, but – after public consultation – the NTA changed the plans so that not only would the 19 will be more frequent service, some services would start at Wadelai Park where the 11 currently starts.
The lack of clarity on this issue was apparent in the replies to the above-mentioned X (formally Twitter) thread, which the Dublin Commuter Coalition posted.
In a previous Twitter thread, the Dublin Commuter Coalition said candidates are spreading misinformation about BusConnects. The group said that while they call for more higher frequency buses and 24-hour service, they have also attacked the changes that will lead to these improvements.
The nta is very poor at information f spine was due to start in february and residents in finglas were prepared but its nearly years end and e spine is been pushed ahead first. They need to stop announcing dates until they are 100% accurate
Such a shame. Social Democrats had been moved to my second preference but I’m questioning that now.
Feels there’s no real party to vote for around these issues aside from the greens. Terrible to see and really shook my confidence in SD after this.
i have to say, I’m certainly not voting Gary Gannon again.
Really disappointed in his attitude. Not suprised by FF attitudes. I know that residents were consulted and that this is a knee jerk reaction from a few residents
disappointing to see a few hold up wider social good.
God forbid any Dubliner had to face “an unwelcome complication” in their daily travel. At some point our society needs to accept that there will be some challenges and teething problems for travelers adjusting to these changes. The attitude of complete aversion to change by some in this country is so self-defeating on the whole. I yearn for an Ireland that embraces change and shows a willingness to put up with a little inconvenience for the greater good of the wider community.