Latest news with #BusÉireann
The Journal
6 days ago
- The Journal
Rail line closed between Connolly Station and Dún Laoghaire for June bank holiday weekend
IRISH RAIL HAS announced that its services between Dublin's Connolly Station and Dún Laoghaire will be unavailable this weekend as commuters flock to a series of bank holiday events. Between today and Monday, 2 June, restrictions and alterations will apply to both rail and bus services because of limited capacity due to annual summer gatherings such as the Bloom festival and the VHI Women's Mini Marathon taking place. Here are the main changes to note across the primary public transport services. Irish Rail A revised timetable will be in place for the weekend, with Monday's times operating as Sunday schedules for Dart and commuter services. Dart services between Connolly Station and Dún Laoghaire will be unavailable due to major works on the line between Connolly and Blackrock which will also impact Rosslare Intercity services. However, rail tickets on affected routes are valid on Dublin Bus. Dart services are operating between Malahide/Howth and Connolly, and between Dún Laoghaire and Bray/Greystones. Irish Rail is reminding customers to pre-book tickets to ensure a seat on intercity trains because of high demand on Heuston-bound rail for the purpose of attending the Bord Bia Bloom festival in Dublin's Phoenix Park. Advertisement Some Dublin-bound trains from Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford are already fully booked, so additional trains will operate out of Cork and Galway to accommodate passenger numbers heading to Bloom Extra early trains from Cobh, Midleton and Mallow will be laid on to provide for high numbers attending the Cork City Marathon on Sunday. Bus Éireann The company says all services will operate to a Sunday schedule this weekend. This will include Dublin's Expressway services serving Ballina, Cavan, Donegal, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Monaghan, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford as well as serving Cork, Galway, Limerick and Tralee. Customers are strongly advised to pre-book their tickets and allow for delays if heading to and from Dublin Airport on Expressway due to holidaymakers jetting abroad. The VHI Women's Mini Marathon in the capital will cause road closures, so Bus Éireann says people must check service updates on its website for the latest travel information. Dublin Bus The company's Monday service will operate to a Sunday schedule. Its Nitelink service will continue today, but will not be in place tomorrow. Customers are told to be aware of traffic diversions in place across the city to facilitate the Women's Mini Marathon tomorrow. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Bus Éireann to spend €7 million on gift cards to reward staff for safe driving
Bus Éireann is set to spend around €7 million on gift cards for its staff to reward safe driving and other positive practices at work. The state-owned company, which relies heavily on public funding, recorded total losses of €2.2 million over the course of its two most recent financial years. It's now seeking tenders for the supply of pre-loaded gift cards for its staff members, which will be used to reward positive performance, such as safe driving and employee referrals. The estimated value of the contract for the supply of the gift cards is €7 million excluding VAT, according to tender documents, and it's for a period of five years with two possible 12-month extensions. Bus Éireann has specified that the gift cards it will purchase must be universally accepted in Ireland, but they will not be redeemable for the purpose of online gaming or gambling. The cards must remain valid for at least one year and recipients should be able to check the balance of each card by phone, online, or in store, the tender states. They will use debit card technology and will not feature the name of the beneficiary. 'Bus Éireann seeks to engage the services of a qualified agency to provide pre-loaded gift cards for its staff,' it said. 'The main demand will be for bonus cards for driving staff and engineering staff. The cards will be required in varying denominations.' The successful supplier will be required to deliver the cards to the company's offices throughout the country based on 'award lists' provided by Bus Éireann. They will be purchased in batches at various times during the year. The bus and coach operator receives significant public funding and was awarded a five-year contract worth €1.2 billion last year for services on Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes. In 2022, it recorded a €1.5 million loss, and a further loss of €700,000 the following year despite revenues rising by 14 per cent to €583.7 million, and passenger journeys climbing nearly 20 per cent to 107 million. Tenders for the €7 million contract for the supply of gift cards must be received by June 24, according to the company. Bus Éireann did not respond to a request for comment.
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Meath community remembers five girls who died in bus crash on 20th anniversary of their deaths
On May 23, 2005, five young girls lost their lives while on a school bus carrying 51 pupils on the Navan to Kentstown Road in Meath. Many other secondary school students were injured. At the site of the crash is a memorial with five cherry trees, one for each of the young girls who never made it home to their families. Their names are Lisa Callan (15), Clare McCluskey (18), Aimee McCabe (15), Deirdre Scanlon (17) and Sinead Ledwidge (15). Now 20 years later, what happened on that Monday afternoon is still 'cemented' in people's memories. Leas-Cathaoirleach of Navan, Alan Lawes said: 'The tragic event is cemented in the memories of everyone because so many young people died.' 'The children at the school were devastated. The whole community was devastated. They [the young girls] will always be remembered as this was a tragic thing to happen to any community.' Four of the girls, Aimee, Clare, Deirdre and Lisa attended St Michael's Loreto while Sinéad was a student at Beaufort College in Navan. This evening, the local parish priest Fr David Brennan will say a memorial mass in the Church of the Assumption, Yellow Furze, Beauparc. The annual mass offers another opportunity for the community to come together and support the families who lost loved ones. A councillor from the Ashbourne Municipal District, close to where the crash took place, Joe Bonner said: 'Our thoughts are still with the families. We recognise the suffering and loss they've had to go through.' Follow Independent Meath on Facebook In the aftermath of the crash, Bus Éireann, Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd, a garage which serviced the bus, pleaded guilty to various charges in relation to the crash. Bus Éireann was fined €2m and Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd were each fined €100,000. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Examiner
18-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Cork City designated special EU status to unlock major funding to achieve climate neutrality by 2030
Cork City has secured a special EU designation that will help unlock vast European and State funding and private investment, for projects to accelerate its journey to climate neutral. Taoiseach Micheál Martin marked the formal awarding of the prestigious EU Mission Label to Cork by the European Commission at a special discussion event in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, with input from the city council, the third-level sector, businesses, Irish Rail and Bus Éireann. David Joyce, the city council's director of services for emergency management and climate action, said the designation now provides the city with exciting opportunities to access funding through various EU and European Investment Bank funding streams. 'It is an endorsement of the approach we have taken, and we look forward to working with local, national, and international stakeholders and partners to deliver projects that would make a meaningful difference on our path towards making Cork City climate neutral,' he said. Cork produces nearly one million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, with UCC research for the city council, published in 2023, showing home energy usage and road transport emissions are responsible for two-thirds of the emissions. Households alone account for 34% of the total emissions, with road transport, especially cars, accounting for another 29%. The balance of emissions come from commercial and industrial buildings (22%), public services (7%), agriculture and fisheries (6%), and waste (2%). Climate neutral city by 2030 Around the same time, Cork was selected to take part in the EU's 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, with the participating cities striving to become climate neutral by 2030. Each had to bring stakeholders together and demonstrate a whole-of-city approach to tackling emissions. In Cork, the group includes representatives from the city council, Comhairle na nÓg, MTU, UCC, Cork Business Association, Cork Chamber of Commerce, the HSE, the Construction Industry Federation, business group Ibec, Iarnród Éireann, Bus Éireann, ESB Networks, An Garda Síochána, the Cork Public Participation Network, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, and the Cork ETB. The city also had to prepare a climate contract which went through a rigorous assessment before the Mission Label status could be formally awarded earlier this month. The European Commission said the designation for Cork is in recognition of the city's strong leadership and very ambitious climate action plans, which includes plans to try and achieve climate neutrality by 2030, with a target of at least 80% greenhouse gas emissions reduction over 2018 levels. Several major projects are already under way across the city in a bid to reach those targets, including: The retrofitting by the city council of more than 1,000 social homes; The construction of more than 70km of safe cycle routes and greenways around the city; Advancing plans for BusConnects Cork, which is set to increase bus services by 53% and electrify the bus fleet; Consultation of the emerging preferred route for the 17km Cork Luas; Expansion of the commuter rail network, and preparation for the electrification of the service; And the creation of a €860,000 fund to help Cork community organisations deliver climate action projects. Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Dan Boyle described the Mission Label as a 'powerful lever for change'. 'This award is European recognition of our ambition to have a city with top-class public transport, a vibrant, greener city, with safe, new and attractive amenities, more energy-efficient buildings, and a city that is easier to get around on foot or by bike,' he said. 'We have developed our approach to climate action in a holistic way to encourage innovation, new ways of working, new partnerships and new social and economic opportunities'.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Retired CIÉ staff in line for first pension increase in 17 years
Nearly 6,400 retired staff who worked at the State-owned CIÉ transport group are to receive their first pension increase in 17 years under an initiative to be announced on Thursday. Pension increases of up to 5 per cent will be set out as part of a deal drawn up following talks by the CIÉ group and trade unions, and backed by the Government. It is understood the CIÉ group, which comprises Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, will provide about €30 million to fund the cost of the rise for retired personnel who last received a pension increase in 2008, with the Government providing 'a letter of support' for the proposed pension deal. Retired staff have been campaigning for years for a pension increase, citing the rising cost of living . Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien told the Dáil in March that the pension schemes operated in the CIÉ group had a deficit of about €371 million and that the scheme actuary did not believe that a pension rise was affordable. READ MORE The CIÉ board told the Minister in February that all the constituent companies believed that 'pensioners deserve an increase and the pension scheme deficits need to be dealt with'. Under the new proposals, the precise increase for pensioners would be calculated on a sliding basis depending on the date of retirement of the individual concerned. [ Half a million euro for a 'moderate' retirement? The lump sums you need to save Opens in new window ] Former staff who retired on or before December 31st, 2020, would receive a 5 per cent pension increase, with those who retired in 2021 getting 4 per cent, while those who retired in 2022 are in line for a 3 per cent rise. It is also proposed that a new 'pension protocol' will be put in place – similar to the arrangement in other commercial State companies – to determine increases that may apply in future years. Under the proposals, which follow lengthy talks between the CIÉ companies and trade unions, there would be some changes to existing pension schemes operated in the group, but no diminution of benefits for members. Members' contributions would not change under the proposals. The CIÉ group employs more than 12,500 people, including contractors, and there are more than 10,000 active members in the two defined benefit pension schemes in operation. These are known as the regular wages scheme and the 1951 scheme. There are about 2,260 people receiving benefits under the 1951 scheme and 4,125 in the regular wages scheme. [ Tariffs and your pension pot: Whatever you do, don't look now Opens in new window ] Under the proposals, staff taken on in future will be enrolled in a new defined contribution scheme. This is described as a 'best in class' scheme. They would also be covered by a death-in-service benefit of three times their salary as well as a spouse's and children's pension. Under other proposed reforms, current employees in the regular wages scheme would receive an enhanced retirement gratuity, up from 325 times to 351 times the weekly pension. This could see lump sums for drivers in the different companies increase by between €3,600 and €6,500. Staff covered by the 1951 scheme could, under the new proposals, retire earlier than they may have planned with improved benefits. They could also opt to cease paying contributions to the defined benefit scheme once they reached maximum service and contribute instead to the new defined contribution scheme. The Minister said in March that his officials were in contact with financial advisers at NewERA, the Pensions Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure to bring CIÉ pensions on to a more stable footing for the benefit of active and retired scheme members.
