67 new or enhances services nationwide have been announced as part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan.
Commuters in the midlands will benefit from six new bus routes.
The Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan will see 67 new or enhanced bus services have been proposed to connect more towns and town-lands nationwide.
New services from Roscrea to Portlaoise, Athlone to Mullingar and Mountrath to Carlow are among those included.
Some of the routes are already in operation, while others are in the procurement, and planning and design stages.
Speaking in Tullamore today, Anne Graham from Transport for Ireland says there's a plan in place to convert all public transport to electric vehicles:
Commenting at today’s launch, Minister Eamon Ryan, said: “Massively improving rural transport is one of my key priorities as Minister for Transport. The Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, launched in 2021, has already played a key role in towns and villages across Ireland and providing people with new choices to travel by bus. But now, we want to go further and build on that success with many more new and enhanced routes planned for 2023. It’s clear that when you build it, they will come. We know from last year’s statistics that people respond positively to new routes and services, backed up by our new cheaper fares. Young people, in particular, are choosing to use public transport more which is great. It’s more convenient, it’s more accessible and frequent than it’s been and it’s cheaper than driving and paying for a parking spot all day in college or school. The more people choose public transport the better it is for our environment as well. Public transport, both rural and urban, is a key to Ireland meeting our emissions targets.”
Frances Byrne, Manager TFI Local Link Laois Offaly, who attended today’s launch said: “‘TFI Local Link Laois Offaly welcomes the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan 2023.
“It represents the significant investment by Government in rural public transport and will provide greater connectivity and flexibility for rural users.
“Already, Laois Offaly has seen an enhancement on the 840 Banagher to Tullamore service and the new addition of the 823 Birr to Portlaoise with more new services planned for this year.
“With reduced fares, LEAP and TFI Go ticketing, public transport has never been as cheap and accessible.”
The Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, an initiative of the NTA, is an ambitious programme of enhancements to create a more integrated, accessible and sustainable public transport network for rural Ireland.
The new or enhanced bus services in the midlands include:
- Roscrea - Portlaoise
- Roscrea - Athlone
- Mullingar - Athlone via Castletown Geoghegan
- Westport - Athlone
- Mountrath - Carlow
- Athlone - Nenagh - Limerick
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