Arklow commuters once again got the short end of the stick as they were left waiting for yet another no show bus this morning. The bus which had been publicised as the ‘New Route’ had been due to start this morning.
The expressway press release of 29th May 2023 was clear in its communications that commuters could look forward to the new service commencing on 6th June. The announcement of the new route came hot on the heels of widespread disappointment following the no-show of the previous 133 service at the beginning of May.
The 133 which had previously stopped at Arklow was abruptly ceased due to a re-route that appeared to have be poorly communicated to service users.
According to the Transport for Ireland website:
Connecting Arklow and Dublin from 6 June
Bus Éireann’s Expressway Route 2
From Tuesday 6 June, Bus Éireann’s Expressway Route 2 will add morning and evening services through Arklow. The change has been licenced by the National Transport Authority and is subject to final approvals from Wicklow County Council.
Departing Wexford town at 5.50am, the service will pick up in Arklow at 7.00am, arriving at Dublin’s Custom House Quay at 8.10am, and at Dublin Airport at 8.30am. Expressway runs between Arklow and Dublin on an hourly basis between 7.00am and 6.15pm, with the last departure at 8.30pm.The 5.00pm departure from Dublin airport will leave Busáras at 5.30pm and arrive in Arklow at 6.40pm. Expressway services depart Dublin airport for Arklow every hour from 10am to 7.00pm, with the last departure at midnight.
However, day 1 of the new service did not run as smoothly as hoped as the 7am service from Arklow to Dublin was yet again a no-show. Some of the stranded passengers took to social media to vent their frustrations. Were you affected by the non appearance of the 7am service from Arklow? Let us know here.
Bus eireann were contacted by Wicklow News for comment:
Bus Éireann regrets that Expressway Route 2 failed to service Arklow this morning, 6 June 2023. This arose to an error in our own communications around the introduction of the new 7.00am service from Arklow to Dublin.
“We sincerely apologise for this oversight and we have taken steps to ensure it does not recur,” said Eleanor Farrell, Chief Commercial Officer, Bus Éireann. “ We are very sorry to have disappointed affected customers and we will be contacting them directly to apologise and to offer concessions on future travel.”
Read more about the state of Arklows public transport services below:
