A DUBLIN TD and Senator have welcomed the deferral of planned changes that would have impacted upon the Number 11 Dublin Bus route.
However, the deferral has also impacted the roll-out of a 24-hours service that would have operated in areas including Bray, city centre, Ballymun and Santry, which has been described as “unacceptable” by some.
The Number 11 Bus runs from Wadelai Park in north Dublin towards Sandyford Business District in south Dublin.
Bus Connects had planned to bring in changes on 8 December that would have replaced the No 11 bus with a new No 19 bus route, but this has now been deferred until January.
Bus Connects added that “the exact revised launch date has yet to be confirmed”.
This new route would run from Dublin Airport, through Ballymun, on to Wadelai, through Drumcondra and on to the centre of Dublin, but would terminate at Parnell Square.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) said users of the route 11 service in the Wadelai area “will have a similar experience to the one they are accustomed to” but residents started petitions to “protect the Number 11 Bus route”.
The deferral has also postponed the rollout of a 24-hour service before Christmas, that would have served areas including Bray, city centre, Ballymun and Santry.
Last month, Gary Gannon also started a petition to “Save the Number 11 Bus” which has garnered over 2,100 signatures.
In the petition, Gannon said that “eliminating this service would effectively isolate significant parts of our community”.
IrishCycle.com claimed that the deferral follows “weeks of misinformation and political pressure”, while Dublin Commuters Coalition said the deferral was “unacceptable”.
Dublin Commuters Coalition said the “new 19 route effectively serves the exact same journey as the 11 as far as Parnell Square, where commuters can connect to the Green Line Luas”.
It claimed that the Social Democrats have been “incredibly short sighted on transport projects over the last few months” and that “we can’t accept delaying of the 24-hour route over the Christmas period”.
However, Gannon told The Journal: “IrishCycle.com and the Dublin Commuter Coalition, it’s all very well and good to have these Twitter pages, but we have to stare into the whites of the eyes of the people that are going to be impacted by these decisions.
“So as to what somebody who’s hiding behind a pseudonym on Twitter says, let me be very clear; I was the first person to hear the level of fear in Drumcondra and in Wadelai Park also in relation to this.”
Gannon said that while some have “tried to make out that they’re scared of getting off at Parnell Street, that wasn’t the issue”.
“When you actually speak to a person in a wheelchair, who is telling you they cannot get off at Parnell Street to get on to another bus to go across to Grafton Street, it’s a very different situation than hiding behind the fake Twitter account and being reverential.”
He added: “I want to maintain a bus route that has people on it, who would otherwise either not go into the city or would drive into the city, just to put their arrogance down a little.”
When asked about the impact on the proposed 24-hour bus service, Gannon said: “I’m not worried about the 24-hour bus service for South Dublin, I’m worried about a reliable bus service from people going north and south.”
He added: “There’s a community in Drumcondra and Wadelai, which has a higher than average proportion of older residents and people with disabilities, who wouldn’t have been able to use any services here.
“This was one of the questions we put to the NTA in terms of the accessibility proofing of the route.
“The NTA has a public sector duty and responsibility to accessibility and that any changes are accessibility proofed.
“That’s something that they failed in, so they should absolutely go back to the drawing board.”
Gannon remarked that his opposition to the changes “isn’t just an election stunt” and that it’s “something that is deeply personal, having met some of the people who are impacted by this”.
“So unlike others, I’m not just making an election stand here, this is something I’ll be taking straight back on in January, if need be,” said Gannon.
The deferral appeared to have been announced yesterday on social media by Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick, who said the “NTA must now listen to residents and permanently retain the cross city 11 bus service”.
In a statement today, she said the NTA “must be more accountable to the public, and engage further with the concerns of residents”.
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