A South Dublin County Councillor is calling on Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority (NTA) to urgently address issues such as lateness and cancellations relating to the route 68 bus.
According to Independent Cllr Francis Timmons, passengers have gotten in touch about "constant issues" around lateness, unreliabilty, cancellation and non-arrival for the route of the 68 bus in Newcastle. In September, the roll-out of the W6 BusConnects route was delayed until 2024 due to the Hazelhatch canal bridge not being wide enough for buses to pass each other, and the National Transport Authority has split the route into two, the W61 and W62.
Cllr Timmons told Dublin Live: "The 68 bus also serves Peamount Hospital and 30 years ago when I worked there it was the same hourly plus service, this is with the addition of thousands of new homes and families.
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"Many report to me they have to drive due to the unreliable nature of the bus," added Cllr Timmons.
Cllr Timmons has raised concerns that there will be "multiple issues" in providing additional services if the problems affecting the route 68 bus is not resolved. He said: "I find it hard to believe that if we cannot deliver a poor bus service like the 68 that there will be multiple issues in providing additional services."
Cllr Timmons has in recent days written to the National Transport Authority and Dublin Bus regarding his concerns about the 68 bus route.
In response to Cllr Timmons' query, a spokesman for the NTA said that due to "infrastructure constraints" on approach to Hazelhatch Bridge, the routes will initially be split into W61 and W62 until the infrastructure issues are resolved.
The NTA spokesman said: "This will commence as routes W61 (Maynooth-Hazelhatch Station) and W62 (Newcastle-Tallaght). It is currently anticipated that the W61 and W62 routes will be launched in late May or early June 2023 subject to operational readiness."
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