The proposed introduction of further bus and rail cutbacks will have a devastating effect on public transport services across the country.

Reports today indicate that the 11% (25 million) reduction in total in passengers using Irish Rail, Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus services in 2009 will cause further cutbacks to be introduced this year.

Rail and DART users have already experienced significant changes to services and journey times since the introduction of the new national timetable in November 2009. Up to 270 buses are set to be removed from the national bus fleets and hundreds of routes and services have been affected. The Fianna Fail/Green government slashed the Department of Transport’s current expenditure budget by €60 million in Budget 2010 which it is believed includes a €27 million reduction in funding for the CIE companies this year.

Given the scale of bus and rail cutbacks that Minister Dempsey and his colleagues have already overseen, it is astonishing that commuters now face a further decimation of routes and services during 2010. Further public transport cutbacks will have a devastating social and economic impact particularly on low income communities and on senior citizens who may be entirely dependent on the local bus service. It also makes no long term economic sense to continually downgrade key public transport infrastructure and networks.

Labour has long advocated low and simple public transport fares and enhanced commuter innovations including real time information systems and fully integrated ticketing to encourage the modal shift to public transport. Yet Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has concentrated on slashing funding for bus and rail services. I intend to raise the new cutbacks’ proposals with the Minister and at the Dail Transport Committee as soon as both resume later in the month.