Campaigners with the Dublin Commuter Coalition, a group which advocates for sustainable transport, said they are “incredibly concerned” about the plans for public transport over Christmas due to the delay of Phase 6a of BusConnects and the temporary loss of cross-city Dart services.
Jason Cullen, chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, said: “It is extremely frustrating that commuters are yet again left with inadequate public transport services over the busy Christmas period, especially when so many people will have made plans expecting Phase 6a to be in place to get them home.”
“Commuters on the South of the City will be particularly impacted over Christmas, as they will have no Dart access to the City Centre. Phase 6a [now delayed until after the New Year] was supposed to provide the 24-hour E-spine service from Bray and Dun Laoghaire, two communities that will now be forced to rely on expensive taxis for their late-night journeys.”
He added: “It is essential that the NTA honour their commitment to the commuters of Dublin, by relocating the resources from Phase 6a [to] increase the frequency of the following services: 46a, 46e, 63, 63a, 84, 84a, 84x, 143, 144, 145, 155, 184 and 185.”
Irish Rail has said that it is closing the railway between Connolly and Grand Canal Dock, with both stations remaining open. North and south Dart and commuter services will all terminate at the two stations. The railway company said that the section of tracks is the country’s busiest section of the rail line and that it was the first full renewal in 20 years.
The company said that Dublin Bus will accept rail tickets for southside customers going to the city centre. Those using Leap cards within the 90-minute area can also switch for free within that timeframe.
There will be two exceptions to the closure of the Connolly to Grand Canal Dock. Night Dart services will operate on New Year’s Eve from 11pm onwards from Pearse to Bray/Greystones. During this time, northern and western line services will still leave from Connolly. And on Thursday and Friday, January 2nd to 3rd, from 6am to 6pm southside Dart trains will also operate to/from Pearse.
But Cullen says more action is needed to support bus services and allow Dart passengers to switch to get into the core city centre and beyond.
He said: “We are calling on the NTA to honour their commitment to reallocate the Phase 6a resources and provide additional bus services over the Christmas and New Year period to cover the loss of Dart services from Grand Canal Dock to Connolly. There are also no Dart or rail services planned for St Stephens Day which is likely to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, meaning many commuters will need to rely on an inadequate provision of bus services instead.”
“The festive period are some of the biggest weeks of the year for retailers, publicans and the night-time economy and we must support them by providing the appropriate safe transportation options to meet demand,” he said.
Cullen added: “The NTA and Dublin bus have announced that there will be some additional nitelink and 24 hours services but there needs to be additional services to address the lost capacity from the Rail line closure between Connolly and Grand Canal.”
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the National Transport Authority (NTA) referred to a list on its website for extra Christmas services published yesterday.
On Dublin Bus, the NTA said: “Dublin Bus is enhancing its late-night services for the festive season, adding 45 additional departures on key routes and extending Nitelink services by six extra days in December, including December 12, 19, 22, 23, 30, and 31.”
“These enhancements, which include the popular Route 41 to Dublin Airport and the 39A to Ongar, will provide capacity for over 50,000 extra passengers, ensuring greater convenience for late-night travellers during the busy Christmas period,” the authority said.
The NTA said that Night Luas services will operate on the Red Line and Green Line every weekend leading up to Christmas, as well as New Year’s Eve.
On Irish Rail, it said: “To support rail users, Iarnród Eireann will operate late-night special services every Thursday to Saturday up until, and including, Saturday, 21 December. No services will operate on Christmas Day or Stephen’s day, but revised timetables will operate from Friday, 27 December with the exception of the Phoenix Park Tunnel which will have no services.”
According to Irish Rail, “Late night DART and Commuter services will operate in the lead-up to Christmas, on Thursdays to Saturdays 5th to 7th, 12th to 14th and 19th to 21st December, as well as on New Year’s Eve after midnight.”