Deputy Michael Lowry calls on Expressway to reconsider their position

I am asking that Bus Eireann not make this decision based on the current situation, says Deputy Lowry.

Deputy Michael Lowry has called on Bus Eireann to reconsider their plans to end the vital Expressway bus link between Dublin and Limerick at the end of this month.

Deputy Lowry is also asking the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, to intervene in this matter.

Bus Eireann issued an update on their proposal to cease the operation of this essential route from Limerick to Dublin on Friday 29th January.

It also supports a number of important Strategic National Goals, such as promoting the growth of the retrofit and energy service company market thereby creating more quality sustainable and green jobs. Reducing energy waste, energy bills and carbon emissions which helps us meet national and EU efficiency and environment goals.

Tipperary Deputy Michael Lowry

‘With the country currently in the midst of the third and most vicious wave of the Covid pandemic, people may not be travelling in the numbers that they did. However travel demands will return to normal as the vaccine is rolled out and life returns to normal and these services will one again be vital to daily living. I am asking that Bus Eireann not make this decision based on the current situation’ he adds.

Uncertainty remains over the Expressway service that serves Cashel and Nenagh. Deputy Lowry has made contact with Minister Eamon Ryan in relation to this route, underlining the impact the withdrawal the Expressway service will take on both Cashel and Nenagh. Both towns are busy hubs and it is crucial for them to have connectivity. For many, the bus service is the only means of connecting for work, educational and recreational purposes.

The Expressway service is valued in each of these towns in Tipperary and is used extensively in all four. In Cashel, a Chamber of Commerce petition gained 773 signatures in a bid to have the Expressway service retained.

‘Withdrawing such vital services is an assault on rural towns and villages across the country. The aim will be to rebuild our communities after the ravages of this virus, not to make life more difficult for them. Ending services that will assist with a full return to work and education is the opposite to what we should be working towards’ concluded Deputy Lowry.