Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
169. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Transport the measures he is taking to ensure the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Dublin Bus, as the service provider, can alleviate issues that have arisen with the rollout of the phase 7 of Bus Connects in Dublin north west, given he has no direct responsibility for the day-to-day operations of either the NTA or Dublin Bus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63325/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, in this case, Dublin Bus.
The NTA have advised that in advance of these new routes being implemented under the Phase 7 rollout, they distributed over 200,000 booklets to households across all the areas covered by the routes. They also advertised the new services in local media outlets and online, and they provided detailed briefings to local public representatives, and remain open to improving the communications around the rollout of the Network Redesign (NRD) phases and to that end will take on board any feedback received from customers.
It should be noted that the F-Spine, which is part of the BusConnects Dublin area NRD was finalised following three rounds of public consultations which culminated in over 72,000 submissions being received. The overall network represents a major investment in enhanced bus services, delivering a 35% increase in annual “in-service” kilometres, a significant increase in overall capacity and frequency for customers, as well as more evening and weekend services.
It is of course acknowledged that these changes require some passengers to make their journey in a different way. In some instances, people who previously had to interchange will now have a direct service, while others may now have to interchange where previously they did not.
For those who have to change, the process is made as straightforward as possible and thanks to the TFI-90 fare, there is no additional cost. The transport operators and NTA are working hard to ensure that the services are bedding in well, but understand that it can take some time for people to get accustomed to any new arrangement.
The kind of issues experienced at the launch of Phase 7 are similar to those experienced in the early stages of implementation of previous phases of Network Redesign that were addressed and resolved. Notwithstanding teething issues, it’s worth noting that for previous phases in all instances, the changes have resulted in significant increase in passenger numbers.
Customer satisfaction surveys conducted after the initial launch period of the new bus services have consistently shown positive results. Although some expectations may not have been fully met during the first week of operation, these services, including Phase 7, are expected to achieve long-term success.
The NTA have advised my Department they will continue to monitor things very closely in the days and weeks ahead, collaborating with operators and customers to enhance the punctuality and reliability of services throughout the Network Redesign.
