Bus services to resume in west Tallaght this weekend
Regular bus services will resume in west Tallaght

Bus services to resume in west Tallaght this weekend

DUBLIN Bus has announced that regular bus services will resume in west Tallaght from Sunday, April 30.

In January, routes serving west Tallaght were partially suspended after Dublin Bus reached an agreement with trade unions SIPTU and NBRU to operate an anti-social behaviour protocol after 6pm.

As a result, 27, 77A, 65B, and 56A buses altered their routes “until further notice” and there was an increase in Garda patrols in the affected communities to combat anti-social issues.

However, today Dublin Bus revealed that full normal services would resume.

“Following extensive engagement between Dublin Bus and our trade unions and consultations with local resident representatives, political representatives, and An Garda Síochána, we are pleased to inform our customers that normal services will resume in the West Tallaght community,” a statement from Dublin Bus reads.

“Dublin Bus, the NBRU, and SIPTU believe that the measures implemented through these processes now provide an environment for the resumption of normal services on Routes 27, 56a, 65b, 77a from Sunday, 30 April.

“Dublin Bus and its representative Trade Unions will continue to work actively with all stakeholders towards providing a safe and reliable transport service for our customers, employees and the communities we serve.”

The curtailing of regular bus services came after some 34 instances of anti-social behaviour affecting buses, drivers and passengers, primarily in west Tallaght, were reported in December.

The instances included assaults on drivers, an assault on a passenger, projectiles such as eggs and stones being thrown at buses, vandalism, and verbal abuse.

Since then, South Dublin County Council has carried out a number of actions to increase safety on the roads.

The need for the full resumption of bus services was a particular discussion point at the West Tallaght Community Safety Forum Public Meeting in The Plaza Hotel on Tuesday night.

Sean Crowe TD said that people were “at a loss” and that it was “most vulnerable people being impacted” by the suspension of full services.

In response, superintendent of Tallaght Garda Station, Tomás Gormley, expressed anxiety to get the bus service back in full operation.

“We are in constant communication with Dublin Bus and we are just as anxious to get the service back to where it was before it was reduced,” Supt Gormley told the forum.

“The bus services should be reintroduced and we thought the same leaving that meeting, we thought we would have had something positive before now.

“Based on our latest conversation, we are getting very close to coming to an agreement and reintroducing the bus services.”

Two days after Supt Gormley’s comments, Dublin Bus announced that full service would return to west Tallaght, starting April 30.

For full access to all content on Echo.ie and to support the continuation of local news and local journalism in your community subscribe HERE. Thanks for your ongoing support.

TAGS
Share This