[Article] Irish Rail lands in rough over Ryder Cup fares

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DUBLIN BUS has come under fire for providing more than 100 extra buses for the lucrative Ryder Cup not long after demanding that the Government buy the same number to expand its fleet.
A strike was averted last month when the Transport Minister agreed to provide the extra buses, at a cost of €30m to the taxpayer, for the city transport service.
Yet, the semi-state company has managed to come up with 120 extra buses after winning a €1.3m contract to operate a shuttle service to the K Club.
It is believed to be the biggest public transport project since Pope John Paul visited Ireland in 1979.
Last night, a spokesperson for the Coach Tourism and Transport Council, which represents big coach operators, said it was amazed that Dublin Bus could pull approximately 120 buses "out of a hat" to use on a commercial contract when it was so short of capacity.
Dublin Bus said it had secured the extra buses by delaying its bus replacement programme.
It said the extra buses being used for the Ryder Cup were those which would normally be replaced each year, while the purchase of replacement buses had also gone ahead.
But the Coach Tourism and Transport Council questioned how it could afford to buy the new buses without trading in its older fleet.
Chief Executive of the Coach Tourism and Transport, Cora Collins, pointed out that funding had been provided under the National Development Plan for the replacement of 513 buses for Dublin Bus.

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