More competition for the railways on a key corridor:

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Thomas Ralph

I remember it being an issue when I was trying to emigrate last December in the height of the snow, when Aircoach kept running but Dublin Bus gave up the ghost. There were passengers in Donnybrook pleading to be let on to go to the city centre and willing to pay the full €8 fare, and the driver steadfastly refused to take them.

Not all drivers were so strict about the rules One of them let me and several others on an Aircoach from O'Connell St. to Sandyford when the Luas was OOO during the snow. He even refused to take money from us because the ticket machine can't issue southbound tickets from anywhere other than the airport.

[Traincustomer]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

to answer my own question - cork services stop here still, which i think are every two hours each way.

Yep. Aircoach serves Monasterevin every two hours but not Ballybrittas at any time.http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.cork.php Also Dublin Coach (http://www.dublincoach.ie/timetables.html ) serve Monasterevin (but not Ballybrittas).

Infrequent local BÉ route 124 (Portlaoise-Dublin) serves Ballybrittas and Monasterevin on Saturday and Sunday only.http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1272289651-124.pdf

On their Shannon Airport-Dublin Airport route J.J. Kavanagh & Sons have been bypassing both since last September.

[Laois Commuter]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

to answer my own question - cork services stop here still, which i think are every two hours each way.

No - service 8 is non stop Portlaoise Hospital - Newlands Cross, both request stops. BE still operate a weekend 124 (round trip Saturday, inboind only Sunday) with a lot of empty running. Ballybrittas and Monasterevin are served by Dublin Coach (hourly 24/7), and Kavanaghs. Martleys have an equivalent to the old commuter 124 on weekdays.

My point was that CIE have surrendered local traffic east from Portlaoise. Neither road nor rail offer an adequate service eastbound from the town for anything other than Dublin, thanks to the motorway running of the coaches and the uneven, gapped stopping pattern of the rail service (eg no train 0855 to 1117, making a mockery of the cheap €12 fare for day trips). I feel Dublin Coach have taken the market by offering a better product, in terms of comfort and frequency, at a lower price. They are also innovative - for example, offering a 50% discount to airport workers on production of an airport pass.

LC

[Thomas J Stamp]

BE have surrendered local traffic in many areas, including Tipperary, but there is no real point in mentioning it, as the BE fanboys/drivers seem to engage in even more blinkered defensive postings than the IE fanboys.

Simply put, if BE pulls out of an area or route and a private operator steps in and is able to run it, it begs the question as to how BE could not do so in the first place.

Goes back to culture, and to CIE culture, and in my very humble opinion this is soemthing that IE are very scared of too.

[Traincustomer]

Interesting term. That's the first time I've heard of "fanboys".