Letter to schools

Letter to Schools from Go-Ahead Ireland re changes to Bus Routes in Your Area

On Sunday 21st October 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland takes over the operation of the following South County Dublin/Wicklow bus routes; 111, 184, 185

These routes are ones your pupils, teachers and parents will be familiar with which is why we have taken this opportunity to outline what you can expect over the coming weeks.

By way of background, the change in service provider on these routes is a result of a public tender process undertaken by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in 2017 which saw Go-Ahead Ireland awarded the contract to operate 10% of the Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area bus routes. In September, we introduced the only new route - the 175 - which runs between Citywest and UCD Belfield, and earlier this month we took over the 45A, 59, 63 & 75 routes. The remaining routes will switch over to Go-Ahead Ireland over the coming months.

The NTA, and its consumer facing brand Transport for Ireland (TFI), are running a comprehensive information campaign about these new routes, which includes advertising on radio, in national and local press, on outdoor posters and across all digital platforms. However, we also wanted to contact schools directly, so you can share the information with bus users, allowing them to plan their journeys accordingly. We hope the following will be helpful in that regard.

What will be the same?

Fares will remain the same on all these routes with Leap cards, cash, Free Travel Pass and annual saver tickets all accepted. The Journey Planner and Realtime information are available on the TFI Journey Planner and RTPI apps, the same as now.

What will be different?

Most important is the fact that there are some changes to both the timetables and on occasion, locations of bus stops. These changes have been put in place to improve services; in consultation with the NTA and approved by them.

Please refer to the new timetables on the www.transportforireland.ie website to ensure bus users are aware of these changes and their journeys aren’t impacted negatively.

The bus livery is blue, green and white with a yellow front and Go-Ahead Ireland and TFI logos along both sides.

The NTA is in the process of switching over printed timetables at all bus stops to be displayed in the new Transport for Ireland branding. Information on the routes and timetables will no longer be available on Dublin Bus but will be on TFI website, Journey Planner and RTPI apps.

Where can you get more information?

Further information can be accessed on the www.transportforireland.ie and www.goaheadireland.ie websites. In addition, our customer service email is Customercomment@goaheadireland.ie and our telephone number is 1850 80 40 71. Our Twitter account is @goaheadireland which we monitor regularly.

It is important to us that all our customers, particularly school children, are made aware of the changes and we would kindly ask that you share this information where you feel it will have most visibility.

If you have any further queries, please contact Go-Ahead Ireland for information relating to operation of the buses and Transport for Ireland for other queries.

Yours sincerely,

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