NTA Response to F-Spine Feedback

Since the launch of the F-Spine I have collected aver 70 detailed reports from local residents on the performance of the new F-Spine and S-Spine bus routes. These submissions highlighted repeated cancellations, buses failing to turn up, overcrowding, and inaccurate real-time information on routes like the F1, F2, F3, 15, 15B, 150, 84, S4 and S8.

I submitted the full dataset to the NTA, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead and asked for clear answers on what actions are being taken and how local feedback will be used to improve services.

19 days after my submissions, the NTA have now replied. The reply was largely a standardised, background briefing that didn’t address the specific issues I raised. They referenced routes I never mentioned, avoided answering key questions, and didn’t outline any concrete plan to resolve the poor reliability affecting commuters in Dublin South West.

I will be following up again to seek a proper, route-specific response. People here deserve a bus service they can depend on, and I’ll continue to push for the improvements our community needs. See below the lengthy yet largely useless response.

Dear Mr Lynch,

I refer to your enquiry dated 5th of November 2025.

We are grateful for this feedback from your constituent.

It should be noted that the BusConnects Dublin area network redesign 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. Phase 7 of the new network includes routes F1, F2, F3, 23, 24, 73, 80, 82 and L89. There are 24-hour services on routes F1, F2 and 80. Overall service levels have increased by 14% thanks to the revised network.

We acknowledge 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.

In advance of these changes being brought in, we distributed over 200,000 booklets to households across all the areas covered. We also advertised the new services in local media outlets and online, and we provided detailed briefings to local public representatives. We’re always open to improving the communications around the rollout of the Network Redesign phases and to that end we will take on board any feedback that we get from customers.

The transport operators and NTA are working hard to ensure that the services are running well. As with all previous phases of BusConnects, we are carefully monitoring capacity and reliability. We will of course continue to keep a close watch on this, making adjustments where appropriate.

There are no plans to change the roads used by routes 23 or 24 as the full capacity is needed on their current alignment. We are aware of slow speeds at some times of day on sections of routes 23 and 24 in the City Centre and are discussing this with Dublin City Council.

Bus cancellations do occur for a variety of reasons, such as a shortage of drivers or mechanics preventing services from operating. Or it can be due to incidents occurring in service, such as traffic accidents, health emergencies or bus breakdown.

A common reason for bus cancellations in recent times has been related to traffic congestion / traffic delays. Buses that are meant to reach the end of an outbound trip in sufficient time to make the return journey, frequently get held up in heavier than usual traffic congestion such that they are not in position to undertake the scheduled return journey. That journey then has to be cancelled, impacting passengers. Unfortunately, this is a frequent occurrence as traffic congestion increases.

We are in regular dialogue with the operators in relation to the performance of the routes and will continue to work with them to identify any adjustments that may be required to the route timetable to address the impacts of such traffic congestion on route reliability. Any such changes will be introduced subject to the availability of resources, including buses and drivers, as well as funding.

Dublin Bus have also been recently experiencing a high number of cancellations due to driver availability issues. Dublin Bus are currently undertaking a recruitment campaign in South Africa, with a view to engaging about one hundred drivers. This is a very welcome initiative which will assist in addressing the current driver shortages, and will ultimately improve performance to the benefit of the travelling public.

Performance on routes operated by Go Ahead Ireland had recently declined due to a combination of factors, including driver availability and mechanical issues caused by delays in parts delivery, a shortage of mechanics, and coolant-related problems, as well as increased traffic congestion. To address these challenges, GAI implemented a remediation plan aimed at tackling mechanical-related issues, including recruiting 10 new mechanics who are due to start imminently.

I confirm that where a bus service doesn’t operate due to circumstances within the Operator’s control, a deduction is made from the amount due to the Operator, equivalent to the cost of operating the cancelled services. The Operator contracts also provide for deductions to be made when punctuality and reliability targets are not met.

When a service is cancelled, the Operator is required to cancel the service on the system that monitors bus locations and which feeds the Real Time Passenger Information system. While that generally does happen, there have been some occurrences where the relevant Operator’s personnel did not input the cancellation in a timely manner. That meant that the information was not available on the TFI Live app or on the on-street Real Time Passenger Information signs. The NTA continues to monitor this item and continues to stress to Operators the need for timely inputs of cancellations where they occur.

There is generally a high level of accuracy with the Real Time Passenger Information but there have been some recent problems arising from system changes, which were subsequently remedied.

In recent months, the NTA have developed a tool which utilises the available ticketing and Leap card data to identify and prioritise bus routes which are operating above normal capacity. Using that tool, we have been able to develop a prioritised listing of bus routes with over-capacity issues, which we are seeking to address, in so far as is possible, within the driver, vehicle and funding constraints that we operate. The three routes with the greatest capacity issues were identified on the tool as Route 39A, Route 15 and Route E1. We added capacity to Route 39A earlier in October and subsequently additional capacity to Routes 15 and the E1 on 3rd November. The Authority are carrying out a further review of this data to determine the routes in greatest need of additional trips in future rounds of service enhancements, currently planned for early 2026.

I trust that the above is of assistance.

NTA Public Affairs Manager