A woman has said she has to leave her home two hours before work for her 10km commute in south Dublin due to unreliable bus services.
Sharon Mongey (55), from Knocklyon, said she experiences cancelled and “disappearing buses” along the S8 route weekly.
Ms Mongey takes the route to and from work in Leopardstown and does not drive. Though she sometimes uses her electric bike to commute, Ms Mongey fractured her foot while holidaying in Spain recently and is now completely reliant on public transport.
She said she has been experiencing problems with the service for the last year during morning and evening times.
RM Block
The S8 bus route, operated by private provider Go-Ahead Ireland, runs between Citywest and Dún Laoghaire, with services scheduled for every 15 minutes at peak times.
“There’s no dependability on the bus,” she said. “Every day I wake up with the fear of I’m going to be delayed. If I was to be in the office for 9am, I’d be leaving the house at 7am.
“Last week I had to be in the office for 8am and some mornings I didn’t make it in because the bus was delayed or didn’t turn up. I feel really frustrated when I get to the office. I’m trying to explain to people that even though I only live 10 minutes away by car, the bus service just doesn’t run. Even last night I was stranded at the bus stop, it didn’t turn up.”
Ms Mongey said she has raised the issue continuously with Go-Ahead Ireland, the National Transport Authority (NTA), local politicians and the Department of Transport over recent months.
“Two of my colleagues who are living in Citywest, they were getting the S8, but have started to take the red Luas line into town and then the green line out [to Leopardstown] because the bus keeps getting cancelled and they can’t turn up late to work. One of them is leaving the house at 6.30am,” she added.
“I was in San Sebastián and Seville in Spain a few weeks ago, where the economy is not the same as Ireland. They have bus services constantly. I used them for a whole week and nothing was cancelled and they have services all around the city. Then I came home and was like, ‘this is ridiculous’. You can’t get anywhere.”
[ New deal for Go–Ahead buses despite criticism of serviceOpens in new window ]
Go-Ahead Ireland said it acknowledged there were “several issues” that have impacted the S8 service recently. These issues are primarily mechanical breakdowns, and “more broadly, heavy traffic and congestion affecting the route”.
However, it added that more than 97 per cent of its contracted kilometres were operated, according to most recent figures.
“We are currently in the process of recruiting 10 new vehicle mechanics who will join GAI (Go-Ahead Ireland) in September, enhancing our maintenance capacity, and we are also in the process of training 100 new drivers who will operate across our service routes,” a spokesman for the company said.
The NTA said it acknowledged that an inadequate level of service was provided on the S8 route in recent months, and “we apologise for the difficulties and inconvenience experienced by passengers”.
“The operator and the NTA meet weekly to discuss performance issues,” it said.
“Go-Ahead Ireland has provided the NTA with an updated S8 timetable to better reflect operating conditions. This timetable requires additional fleet and drivers to reflect longer journey times. It has been approved by the NTA and is due to be implemented in Q4 2025. The NTA are confident that these changes will further improve the punctuality and reliability of this service.”
