UrBus sets up Dublin service

A new company, UrBus, has entered the bus market in Dublin with a route from Blanchardstown to Swords starting this Saturday.

The €1 million investment in the route is being made by well- known bus industry figure Mr Paddy Kavanagh. The route goes via Dublin Airport and terminates at Swords shopping centre (The Pavillions).

The bus market, while still controlled overwhelmingly by Dublin Bus, is opening up gradually and Aircoach is already operating several routes. Mr Kavanagh said the investment involved an "unsubsidised service operated by a wholly owned Irish company".

The new UrBus vehicles will have low-floor wheelchair access and a bright orange livery. Each bus will be able to accommodate 39 seated passengers and 29 standing passengers. Some four buses will service the route and the company will assess the need for further buses later. Expansion into other routes is also under consideration by the company.

UrBus service is expected to transport 30,000 passengers in the first six months of operation, said a spokesman.

"It will provide direct access to Dublin Airport and Swords from Castleknock and Blanchardstown where no public transport service currently exists on that route. In the Blanchardstown area, passengers can jump onto the service in Castleknock, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre and the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown," he explained.

There would be 17 departures each day in both directions providing excellent frequency, he said. Fares on the service start at €1.20 and it will cost €4.20 to get from terminus to terminus.

Mr Kavanagh said: "For some time now we have seen increasing consumer demand for choice in the bus transport market.

"UrBus is all about the passenger and is driven by the market needs for a new service. That's why we were very careful about the name of this service. This is a bus service for you the customer, you the person who needs to get from one side of the city to the other, smoothly, efficiently and reliably."