Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead and tramway operator Luas have been fined a total of €5m by Ireland’s National Transport Authority for late and cancelled journeys, reports the Irish Independent.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) fined Dublin Bus with almost €1.5m, while relative newcomer to the market Go-Ahead – which took over many of the routes previously operated by Dublin Bus – was fined more than €850,000.
The Luas service received a penalty of €2.67m for the number of journeys not operated or which didn’t run to time.
Reflecting similar sentiments across the UK, the newspaper reported that frustrated commuters had said the bus service ‘makes a mockery of assertions by governments that more people should use public transport and leave their cars at home.’
An NTA spokesperson said that bus operators, as with other sectors of the economy, had been experiencing difficulties recruiting staff following the pandemic: “The Authority apologises to passengers for the inconvenience that the current poor reduction in service performance is causing them,” the spokesperson said.
Go-Ahead Ireland told the newspaper that it ‘sincerely apologised to any customers impacted by this disruption’ and it is working to avoid a repeat of such events. A spokesperson said: “Go-Ahead Ireland has recently launched its largest ever recruitment campaign for drivers and staff across our business. We have had an excellent response and currently have new drivers undertaking training in our driver school and being deployed across our network to enhance our service and the experience of our passengers.”
