Department of Transport: 2007

Cullen announces new buses for Waterford as part of Bus Éireann's plans for the area and commits to a sustainable transport action plan

19 February 2007

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen TD today (Monday 19 February 2007) announced details, together with Bus Éireann officials, including CIÉ Chairman Dr. John Lynch, of the company's proposals for new and improved bus services in the Waterford area. Plans for the future development at Waterford Train Station were also outlined.

Under its planned developments for Waterford for the period 2007 2009, Bus Éireann wishes to increase passenger numbers by 3.4 million and bring new and additional buses on to its service routes.

The company is planning improvements over a three-year period in a number of cities around the country including Galway, Limerick and Cork.

Bus Éireann currently operates a wide range of city, rural, local and expressway services in Waterford. From 2000 to 2006, there has been a 17% increase in its departure services. Bus Éireann's current fleet at Waterford comprises nearly 60 buses serving six routes in Waterford City; 24 routes in the Waterford area and seven expressway routes from Waterford to Cork/Tralee, Limerick and Galway, Dublin via Carlow, Dublin via Gorey and Athlone via Carlow/Kilkenny. Twenty thousand students are catered for each day under the school transport scheme.

Railway services to and from Waterford have also improved in recent years with over €40 million in Government funding invested in the route by Irish Rail over the past decade. Services on the Waterford/Dublin route have increased from four to six each way in the past three years. Irish Rail intend to provide two-hourly services on the route when the 150 new rail cars, (which will service the country's main intercity routes) begin to arrive in March. Plunkett Train Station in Waterford is also to be developed.

Speaking today, Minister Martin Cullen said: "The Bus Éireann Waterford development proposals i.e. - for 35 replacement and additional buses; to extend the range of city services and commuter services and for extensive bus priority measures, - are wide-ranging and I welcome the ambition underpinning them. They rightly reflect the Waterford Planning, Land Use and Transport Study and the Waterford City Development plan.

"Bus services are and will remain a vital part of this country's overall transport system. This is recognised in Transport 21 which provides for major investment in bus services, bus priority measures and park and ride facilities over the lifetime of Transport 21 (2006-2015). This year alone, the Government is investing €777 million in public transport a 58% increase on last year's estimate".

The Minister announced today that exchequer funding has been approved for the new and additional buses proposed for Waterford by Bus Éireann as part of the funding package approved by Government for the purchase of new buses by Bus Éireann for deployment throughout the country.

Minister Cullen also viewed on Waterford's quays, a 12-metre "streetcar", provided by Bus Éireann, which has been manufactured by Wrights in Ballymena, Co Antrim. Bus Éireann is currently examining the potential for the introduction in cities, of 'BRT' (Bus Rapid Transit), a system of "bus trams" or "streetcars" popular in the US, Canada and in a number of European cities. Minister Cullen said: "The attractiveness of Bus Rapid Transit lies in its potential to deliver a very high frequency service at a fraction of the cost of designing, building and maintaining a full-scale tram system".

Bus trams can operate on ordinary road space and are capable of running on alternative, more environmentally friendly fuels, making them cleaner and quieter than traditional diesel buses.

Speaking about sustainable public transport at today's Bus Éireann event, the Minister said: "The Government's Ministerial Task Force, of which I am a member, will be preparing a new climate change strategy before Easter. This will be a comprehensive plan demanding ambition and action across the economy.

"A sustainable transport action plan will be prepared as part of this overall strategy. It will address a range of issues and forecast how the transport sector will significantly contribute to reductions in carbon emissions by 2020. The public transport sector will be expected to show strong leadership in this regard and I am prepared to support proposals to move the public transport fleet to a more sustainable basis as speedily as it is feasible. I have asked Dr. Lynch, Chairman of CIE, as An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD, announced on Saturday in Galway, to move all Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus existing fleet to a 5% bio-diesel blend and to plan to achieve a 30% bio-diesel blend in all new buses".

Also today in Dublin, the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce is holding an information seminar on a new pilot initiative - Biofuels for Transport. This is the first pilot project of its kind between the Department of Transport and the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The project, which has received funding under Transport 21, will involve practical use of pure plant oil among key transport users, such as road hauliers. The intention of the pilot is to demonstrate a viable, replicable green transport model for Ireland.

The Minister concluded: "We need to promote and facilitate a switch in transport mode from the private car to public transport, thereby reducing fossil fuel consumption and green house gas emissions in the transport sector".

Issued by: Michelle Hoctor, 087 8563070