Minister Hildegarde Naughton has received confirmation from the National Transport Authority (NTA ) that the bus route serving Galway City to Lettermullen, route 424, is to be subject to a new capacity review. This route serves many communities in Galway, including Barna, Furbo, Spiddal, etc.
“In recent months, I have been contacted again by local constituents about the bus being full when it arrives in Barna. It effectively means that the public bus service to and from Barna, in particular, cannot be relied on to get people to work or college.
“It is not an uncommon occurrence for many people to be left standing at a stop as the full bus passes them by. I consider that an unacceptable situation and I therefore contacted the NTA in order to raise the matter with them,” Minister Naughton said.
“This is not the first time I have done so, and my previous engagement with the NTA resulted in a new 08:10am weekday inbound service from Spiddal to Galway City and a 17:15pm weekday outbound from Galway City to Spiddal.
“In addition, two double-deck coaches have also been deployed on that route at peak times since mid-2024. However, the service is somewhat a victim of its own success with increased passenger demand in certain locations, including Barna,” Minister Naughton explained.
“This week, the NTA have confirmed that they are to carry out a review of capacity on Bus Éireann Route 424 in order to better determine what appropriate further permanent measures may be required. As an interim measure, they have requested Bus Éireann to monitor capacity in detail over the coming weeks, in order to determine if any additional temporary passenger capacity can be implemented on this route until such time as the full review is complete,” Minister Naughton added.
“While this is a positive step, I will be remaining in contact with the NTA to ensure this review is completed in as short a time frame as possible and additional capacity is introduced. People are more than happy to take public transport, but it has to be available to them, particularly at peak times.”
