Dublin Bus to be told to axe routes due to Luas double-up

The Government is poised to tell Dublin Bus it needs to "redeploy" some of its fleet after passengers have deserted the service in favour of the Luas.

Moving the bus routes is potentially the most controversial of nine issues the Department of Transport will "take up with" CIE in the coming weeks.

The bus company has lost millions of passengers since the introduction of the light rail system.

The issue is on a list, drawn up after a group of consultants examined whether the Government got "value for money" for the massive subsidies it pays to the CIE group.

Consultants Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) found that the €1.2bn in subventions, given to CIE between 2001 and 2005, largely represented value for money.

But BAH also expressed concern about several issues, including the fall-off in Dublin Bus passenger numbers following the introduction of the Luas, Dublin Bus's ability to fund its future needs, and cost levels across all three state transport companies.

Efficiency

The Government has now vowed to "take up" a list of specific issues with CIE, including the need to redeploy the bus fleet away from Luas lines, the level of subcontractor costs at Bus Eireann and the impact of bus garage locations on the efficiency of services.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport told the Irish Independent the issues "will all be formally taken up with CIE by the Department within weeks".

The Government's bid to secure value for money came as consumers were faced with a raft of price hikes on public transport this week.

The consultants found Dublin Bus had received almost €291m in government subventions over the five years, plus €79.64m in capital grants and €1.46m in EU money.

The bus company's performance over the period was constrained, however, by a increased congestion that hampered bus speeds and a lack of capital funding for fleet expansion, the consultants said.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the Luas also posed serious challenges for Dublin Bus, prompting annual patronage to fall three million (to 146 million) in 2005.

"By the end of the period, the annual operating surplus had not increase significantly," the consultants noted.

Funds

"Consequently, there is a concern as to whether Dublin Bus is accumulating sufficient funds for its future needs, the most urgent of which is fleet renewal and expansion."

A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said the company knew the Luas was just one of the factors influencing fleet deployment.

"Dublin Bus passenger numbers have grown once again since 2005, and the company remains, by far, the largest public transport provider in the Dublin area," she added.

Private operators are working towards a 15pc share of the Dublin bus market, after a 2006 agreement gave private services access to all new routes until this threshold is reached.

By autumn 2007, however, just five private operators (Mortons, Aircoach, Executive Express, Dualway and Eirebus) were running Dublin Bus-style services in the Dublin area.

Laura Noonan
Irish Independent

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