CORK County councillors are seeking a meeting with Minister for Transport Shane Ross to discuss proposed cuts to Expressway services.
Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy criticised the proposal that the Expressway service be axed to save costs at Bus Éireann, saying that it would cut off whole towns in Cork.
“We will have no alternative transport if we lose the X8,” said Cllr McCarthy, referring to the Expressway bus which passes through his hometown of Fermoy.
“They have 30 routes in the country, and it will affect other towns in Cork too.”
“It’s an invaluable service for people in these areas and town, and, obviously, people are worried about it,” he added.
He said that Bus Éireann and Mr Ross needed to look past the commercial cost of running these services.
“It’s more than just a money-making exercise. It’s a great service to people to know that they can get the bus from their hometown,” he said.
Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn added his support.
“This is a service we cannot leave go. This is an essential service. It’s another attack on rural Ireland. The importance of the existing service cannot be overstated,” he said.
His Fianna Fáil colleague Cllr Deirdre O’Brien agreed that cutting the Expressway routes would harm rural areas.
She said that the Government wants people to move back into rural areas from urban areas, but plans like this would stop them.
“It’s another nail in the coffin for rural Ireland. Why would you be encouraged to move back if you had no public transport,” she said.
Bus Éireann has warned that without “drastic and decisive” action, the entire company, and not just its loss-making division Expressway, will go out of business in a short period of time with the loss of all its 2,600 jobs.
Acting chief executive Ray Hernan says the company’s financial situation is “critical” — with losses for 2016 now forecast to go as high as €9m.
Unions have vowed to fight against any cuts that will see workers carry the burden for fixing the dire financial situation.
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