Contingency plan gets mixed reaction from commuters

HOMEWARD BOUND:WHILE HOMEWARD-BOUND commuters arriving at Dublin's Connolly Station last night were variously "not too annoyed" and "totally fed up" at the prospect of having to journey northwards by bus, private bus operators were "happy to be busy".

Eoin Sheehan, a marketing consultant from Dundalk, arrived at the car park to the rear of the station from where buses were pulling out every 15 minutes a little out of breath. “I wasn’t sure where the buses were leaving from. I’ve just run here from Busáras. I have to get to Dundalk. I am hoping this bus will get me to Drogheda in time for the 7pm train onto Dundalk.

“This morning wasn’t bad, we got here in good time but I’d say when the schools are back next week and traffic is heavier on the roads, well we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

Brian Murphy, from Drogheda, was “a bit put out”. He said he would usually disembark at Pearse Station close to his job in Hatch Street. “So now it’s a 30 minute walk. It’s going to add to the length of my day. I think the estimate that this is going to last three months is a bit optimistic.”

One woman, Marlin Lagerdahl, from Sweden and living in Drogheda, said she was “lucky” she was about to finish her stint working in Dublin.

“I am moving back to Sweden. If I was staying it would have been a total mess,” she laughed.

Within about 15 minutes the 53-seater bus was full and on its way, with another lining up behind to start loading its cargo.

Bus Éireann is providing some of the 25 buses, but as one man in his navy-blue uniform put it:

“We couldn’t cope with all this. We have our own services to provide.”

Which is where the private operators come in. One man, who did not give his name but was overseeing the filling of Bernard Kavanagh buses, reeled off five private operators from Cashel to Blanchardstown to Ardee.

“Everyone is getting work out of it. It has come at a lean time. The tourism business is down 40 per cent so it’s good for us, yes. You have to take the work while it’s going.”

He said his last bus would leave at 11.20pm, in place of the 11.20 commuter train to Drogheda.

“We’ve been working flat out since Saturday morning. It’s work though and that’s welcome.”