Discontinuation of Longford rail station-Drumlish-Arva-Cavan bus:

[Traincustomer]

The longstanding bus service linking Longford rail station & town to Cavan Town via Drumlish, Arva, Crossdoney and smaller places along the way is destined to cease operation after the operation of the 18.00hrs Longford Rail Stn to Cavan Bus Station journey next Saturday, 15th March, 2014.

Operated by Wharton's Travel of Crossdoney since the 1970s, the route dates back to the earliest days of bus operation.

According to local media reports the service has been operating at a loss for some time. It receives a sum for the carriage of free travel pass holders but, appreciably, as a commercial service receives no subsidy. The operator is conscious of the importance of the route and has tried to keep it running but apparently can no longer sustain it.

Extensive efforts are underway in the areas concerned to retain a service of some description including an extremely well attended public meeting in Moyne last week and a petition.

[Inniskeen]

I must admit I was wasn't even aware of the existence of this service despite being a reasonably frequent user of Longford station over the years. Says a lot for the dis-integrated nature of public transport in Ireland that a service of this nature has so little visibility.

[Traincustomer]

There is certainly significant potential to improve rail to bus links in many locations across the country but there seems to be very little interest in doing so.

In very recent years the bus timetable for the route to Cavan has been displayed on a noticeboard in the waiting room at Longford station - I think it's still there. But what's really needed is a higher profile display i.e. a dedicated display board "Bus links from this station" with a schematic map and timetable.

While dedicated feeder buses would need to be carefully planned and structured and could not be sustained in all locations (or only on a limited peak-time basis) there are numerous opportunities for existing scheduled routes to integrate with rail. As I see it it's a "win win" for IÉ and the bus operator/s concerned.

Subsidised rural community buses should also be serving rail stations when they coincide with a train time and not just feeding into commercial bus services.

There is a severe paucity of bus-rail integration improvements. Cork (Kent) springs to mind as a significant improvement in recent years and it's good that the subsidised M & A Coaches routes 828 & 828X serve Portlaoise station.

A plan for a feeder bus in Co. Cork from Mitchelstown and Fermoy to Mallow appears abandoned - presumably due to the motorway. Significant improvements in the Drogheda area bus routes were introduced last November but none serve the rail station.

[Traincustomer]

The National Transport Authority (NTA) have examined the matter and have determined that a public service obligation (PSO) exists.

Accordingly there will be a competitive tender process to put in place a replacement service.

It's unclear how long of a break in service there will be; I'd be inclined to think a few weeks at minimum.

[Traincustomer]

The tender notice is currently on the ireland-tenders.eu website with a closing date of 28th May so the route should be back on the road by the end of June.

[Mark Gleeson]

I would be very careful making such statements

If no one bids, or no bid's meet NTA requirements there won't be a service.

NTA hasn't exactly been successful with bus routes.