A UCD student has been forced to spend wages on taxis to college due to no-show buses.
The C-Spine launched last November in west Dublin and east Kildare, as part of Phase Two of the BusConnects Network Redesign.
It replaced all of the previous buses that served the Lucan, Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth areas, including the Express buses.
The new network now has four express buses that go from those areas to UCD every morning.
However, issues with no-show buses and changes of route have been affecting those travelling to UCD at rush hour.
Darragh is a Lucan resident and UCD student who relies on the bus to get to college every morning.
He gets the bus from the Vesey Park stop near the Lucan bypass.
However, he said that some buses do not show up as timetabled.
Darragh told Dublin Live: "According to the Transport for Ireland's live timetable, it states that the first bus to UCD after seven o'clock generally should be at around 7:10am. The next one should be at 7:20.
"So for me to get in for a 9am lecture generally, I should get the bus at 7:20am..
"So every morning, the bus says it will arrive at 7:27am, but upon arriving to the bus stop 5-10 minutes early, 7:27am comes and goes, and no bus comes.
"Ten minutes later, still no sign of a bus. However, not to worry because according to TFI, the new X27 and X28 buses should arrive every 7 to 10 minutes."
Darragh said that next X27 or X28 bus that comes doesn't go to UCD as timetabled.
"The next bus, the X27 or the X28, should bring me to UCD, it says UCD Belfield (on the timetable).
"Said bus arrives and what's on it, only Leeson Street.
"I say it to the bus drivers who say they go to Leeson Street but it's confusing because on the timetable on the app it says it's going to UCD and on the timetable at the bus stop it also says that."
Darragh usually ends up taking the bus into the city centre and switching onto a different service that goes in the direction of UCD, often making him late for college.
He described having to help a blind woman at the bus stop as she didn't know that routes on the buses had changed.
He said: "When I was at the bus stop on Tuesday, there was a girl heading to UCD and she was blind. I had to explain to her, I said 'I've been getting the bus here the past few weeks and I have no idea what buses are going to bring us where.'
"She said this was extremely frustrating for her because of course she can't see what buses are coming and as far as she was aware or told, these buses would have been going to UCD. That was the original plan but now that plan has changed."
Darragh said issues with the bus services have forced him to pay for taxis to get to work or college.
He said: "I've often had to get parents to drop me into town. I've had to spend my wages on taxis just to get into work on time so I'm not in trouble or to get into college on time so I don't miss an exam."
A spokesperson for the NTA told Dublin Live that four UCD Belfield bound buses serve the Vesey Park stop between 07:19 and 07:44.
They said: "There are 5 departures of Route X28 each morning from Celbridge. The stop specific time listed at Stop no. 7049 Vesey Park is an estimate based on an expectation of heavier traffic conditions.
"As we are currently experiencing lower traffic volumes than expected the running time between Celbridge and Vesey Park is closer to 20 minutes than the 27 minutes listed. The 07:00 departure will serve this stop between 07:19 and 07:24. The 07:20 departure will serve Vesey Park at approximately 07:40.
"Three of the six Route X27 departures from Celbridge 06:40, 07:10 and 07:30, terminate at Leeson Street Lower. The 07:00, 07:20 and 07:40 serve UCD Belfield.
"Each day Stop no. 7049 at Vesey Park is served by four X services between 07:19 and 07:44 which will operate to UCD.
"A new profile (running times) for Routes X27 and X28 will be available on the apps and RTPI street signs from this month. This will give a much better estimated bus stop time, but the specific times at the bus stop will be updated in the coming months to allow time for this new change to be configured."
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