NTA called on to explain delays to Bus Connects routes

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has been called on to provide an update on when new Bus Connects routes in south Dublin will begin running.

At this month’s Dundrum Area Committee meeting, councillors unanimously passed a motion calling on the NTA to indicate when the five routes will commence.

Fine Gael councillor John Kennedy, who tabled the motion, said the motion “concerns routes serving Stillorgan, Dundrum, Kilmacud, Goatstown, Cabinteely and other areas where enhanced service was set to begin a number of months ago but has yet to be initialized.

“The Bus Connects plan was spoken about with significant attention nearly five years ago now in 2018 and while beneficial new routes have begun in other parts of Dublin, so far local residents are still waiting to see the generally improved routes throughout the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area.”

Kennedy says that delays to the delivery of the routes have not yet been explained.

“At least one of the routes was originally earmarked for introduction in Q4 last year, while other southern orbital routes were pledged to begin in February early this year.

“More clarity on the latest timelines should be provided as these routes are now overdue.”

The five routes discussed in the motion are route ‘L25’ to replace the 75 bus route running from Dún Laoghaire via Stillorgan and the Upper Kilmacud Road to Dundrum with an increased typical frequency of every 15 minutes.

Route ‘L26’ and Route ‘L27’ to replace the 63 bus route, the former running from Kilternan via Cornelscourt Hill Road to Blackrock and the latter running from Ballyogan via Cornelscourt Hill Road to Dún Laoghaire, both routes running typically every 30 minutes.

Route ‘S6’ to replace the 175 route now to run from Tallaght via Mount Anville Road and UCD to Blackrock typically every 30 minutes.

Route ‘S8’ to replace the 114 route running from Dún Laoghaire via Leopardstown Road to Citywest typically every 15-20 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at weekends.

Kennedy’s motion read: “That this Committee writes to the National Transport Authority to seek the latest likely timeframes for the initialization of the following bus routes serving the area of this committee under the Bus Connects plan: the ‘L25’ route previously expected to begin in Q4 2022; the ‘L26’ route; the ‘L27’ route; the ‘S6’ route previously expected to begin in February 2023; the ‘S8’ route.”