Dublin Bus halts services for night

Dublin Bus has halted services for the night after attempting to resume services earlier this evening following a snowfall-affected day.

The company attempted to operate services during the evening peak but said conditions worsened, leaving it unable to provide a service on safety grounds.

Dublin Bus said the heavy programme of gritting planned for tonight should enable it to restore services tomorrow morning.

Earlier, the company attempted to restore a "limited service on main corridors" after suspending services.

A spokesman told The Irish Times earlier today there was "serious disruption to most services" and described driving conditions as "dangerous on all main city arteries". The company had said it was "waiting for roads to be made safe before resuming services".

During the afternoon drivers on numerous routes across the city were instructed to pull in and passengers were asked to disembark because conditions on ungritted roads had deteriorated to such an extent that the company felt it was unsafe to continue.

“Drivers had to use their own discretion on where and when they pulled in based on the road conditions in their area,” the spokesman said. He was unable to say how many passengers had been affected by the sudden withdrawal of the services.

The absence of a bus service at rush hour has put enormous strain on the city’s taxi service and people attempting to book taxis have been told to expect delays of up to two hours.