Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
SEVERAL HUNDRED LOCALS locals in the Dublin village of Chapelizod took to the streets over the weekend to protest plans for a dramatic reduction in their bus services.
At present, the frequency of services through the village at peak times is between five to ten minutes, but dramatic changes proposed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) would see this reduced to every half an hour.
A number of buses that currently serve the west of the city, including the 25, 26, 66 and 67, all pass through Chapelizod on their way to the city centre.
But the NTA’s Bus Connects plan would see these buses instead use the Chapelizod Bypass under a new service called the C. This route would be made up of a number of services that would then join together as the C just before the turn off the N4 for Lucan village.
As a replacement for its lost buses, Chapelizod would be served by a single route, the 14, that would run every 30 minutes.
Locals have expressed their shock and dismay at the plans, pointing out that commuters in the village have actually been campaigning for additional services due to packed buses in the morning.
Gráinne Walsh, who's lived in the village for 20 years, organised Saturday's protest march and says everyone has been taken aback by the news.
It would be a disaster, it's already struggling at the moment. You see people waiting for two and three buses in the morning as they pass full. So every half-hour, it's just not going to work at all.
"We're shocked, it's just unbelievable because we've actually been arguing for the opposite, so it actually seems so ridiculous. I don't think they understand."
There's loads of new businesses opening here, that industrial estate was derelict for years, now it's full to capacity. There's a new restaurant opening on the bridge, there's a new pub there. The village is just picking up.
The 2016 Census put Chapelizod's population at just over 3,000 people, about 2,000 of whom were between the ages of 20 to 60.
Walsh argues that the village is not served by any other form of public transport so commuters into town could be forced to use their cars, impacting the south quays in Dublin city.
People will start driving again, it'll be chock-a-block. The quays is down to one lane of traffic since last year, so it'll just be chock-a-block. We're trying to encourage people to use cars less and then you knock the bus service. We have no Luas, we've no trains, it's only the bus.
A protester from Saturday's march.Source: TheJournal.ieThe proposals are currently part of a public consultation phase and the Bus Connects website has a survey section for people to give their feedback on the plans.
A number of local information sessions are also being held and Sinn Féin Councillor Dáithi Doolin says Chapelizod residents are planning to make their feelings known at the 19 September meeting in nearby Ballyfermot.
"We are encouraging people to come along to the Ballyfermot Civic Centre to meet with the National Transport Authority to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that our buses are not for turning, or reducing," Doolin told TheJournal.ie.
"We need to keep our bus service, improve our bus service and make sure Chapelizod remains well-connected with the rest of Dublin."
This is going to be hugely detrimental to people using schools, going to work, going to college. It also connects this community to Ballyfermot, going out to Tallaght, those buses will be removed or reduced.
A number of buses pass through the village during march.Source: TheJournal.ieThe councillor says that a reduction in the service would hurt different members of the community with elderly people living in senior citizen complexes also affected by the changes.
Aside from the concerns about Chapelizod, Doolin also says that the wider Bus Connects plan could see people in other parts of the city using the Luas in greater numbers.
Part of the aim is to encourage people onto the Luas. I use the Luas every day, I'm not a car owner, I don't drive a car. Myself and my kids use the Luas, there's no point in moving hundreds of thousands of more people onto a Luas that's already packed in the mornings and packed in the evenings.
"It's ill-thought out, it's short-sighted we need to be building communities that are linked to each other."
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Great pilot to land plane a hero. Great job
@Thomas Linehan: She’s an ex F18 fighter pilot – one of the first female F18 pilots. Heard some of the radio communications of the flight. She sounded completely cool and in control. After the flight she spoke personally to every passenger before they left the aircraft. A wonderful pilot.
@Deborah Blacoe: Well said! Hopefully it will shut up some of those ‘ Woman can’t fly a plane/drive a car’ idiots.
@Michael Evans: They still exist?!
@Deborah Blacoe: fantastic , but again as I commented yesterday there was a time where if there was a catastrophic engine failure of this kind that they would immediately ground the planes with these engines as its too much risk allowing passengers to fly when they dont know the cause and level of risk but it looks like they are putting the dollars before the safety !!!! They were so lucky the whole plane didn’t go down killing all on board – the business model for Southwest ( and Ryanair followed ) is that they use the same type plane for fleet and same engines – this means that the business effect of having to ground the whole airline is simply too big and costly and they are taking risks keeping these up in the air until they identify with some certainty they are safe. Remember they tested these engines a week before the crash and they passed the tests yet exploded mid air killing one and lucky to avoid a whole castrophe – pretty shameful to take such risks until its resolved – id be pretty piiiiised if I lost a family relative because the airline is taking these risks with faulty engines .
@Dave Hammond: checking engines can be done on a stepped basis. They airline is given a set amount of flying hours within which to check engines. If the check hasn’t been completed by then, the aircraft is grounded.
@Deborah Blacoe: the point Deborah is that this engine had been checked days beforehand and passed as safe ????? They don’t know what caused the engine to disintegrate midair ?? You are also missing the other key point – with the evolvement of low cost airline business models – the airline uses ONE TYPE of engine / plane in the fleet to reduce business complexity for parts / maintenance etc – but when there is a catastrophe like this they are unable to ground the effected planes because it means the whole fleet cannot fly – (previously they always grounded a particular plane /engine type when there was an accident / deaths …..but not now. You are falling for the spin / nonsense that they can ‘ check them on a stepped basis ??? Now Think about that for a second ?? The test that was done on this engine days before PASSED !
@Dave Hammond: I am not missing any ‘point’. I am stating a fact. I have never commented on the rights or wrongs of it.
I think OMG’s reference is to the last picture in the article where three people are shown with the oxygen mask over their mouths, not noses and mouths as demonstrated in the safety briefings..
@Kevin O’Doherty: it depends on the size of the mask.
@Michael Lang: and what’s the excuse for having the elastic strap just dangling down rather than around their head?
@Colm O’Leary: putting it on quickly? Passenger partially panicking and just placing the mask against their mouth as getting the air was their highest priority?
You know what, who knows, and I doubt the various aviation safety ‘experts’ commenting on here know either.
I just about to say – None of them have the mask over their noses!
Spot the passengers who were reading the newspaper/chatting to their friends while the safety briefing was been conducted.
Never fails to amaze me how thick some people are.
@OMG!: I’ve been on a lot of planes in my time and I’m pretty sure there has never been any instruction on what to do if you get partially sucked out of a broken window. The lady in question was wearing her seat belt so I’m struggling to see the merit of your comment.
@OMG!: seriously that must be one of the dumbest comments ever on this site. Show some respect
@OMG!: frequent flyers don’t need to listen to such briefings.
@Bingobango: I could be wrong, but I think he’s talking about the fact the people in the photo don’t have their oxygen masks on correctly…
@Bingobango: be interesting to see if seatbelt was been worn at the time and if it would have changed the outcome if it was.
@Davy MacIomhair: The plane was most likely at a safe level of flight where oxygen masks are not required. The pilot descended as soon as cabin pressure was lost, that is the procedure. There doesn’t seem to be mass hysteria or panic here so I stand by my comment and feel the original posters comment was without merit in the context of this tragedy.
If you read more carefully it says that seatbelt was worn by the woman sitting next to the window.
@Ted Logan
@Bingobango: yet the oxygen masks still dropped from the ceiling…. So what do you expect people to do… Sit there and say.
“Hmmm.. I reckon we’re at a safe level of flight, I don’t need these masks…”
Good man.
@Davy MacIomhair: Of course they dropped, the cabin had a explosive decompression. There is only enough oxygen for 15 minutes so I’m pretty sure they were at a safe level of flight when this photo was taken. People harping on about not listening to the safety instructions and complaining that their oxygen masks aren’t fitted correctly are just being ridiculous. Good man.
@Bingobango: but their masks *arent* fitted correctly, and you’re assuming that photo was taken at a safe level of flight. Stop assuming stuff.
@Davy MacIomhair: Can we say a prayer for all those on the flight that lost their lives due to incorrectly fitted oxygen masks.
@OMG!: maybee they are frequent flyers .it amazes me how many people have to be told something before it sinks in .are you one of them.I know the drill off by heart.it never changes.
@Bingobango: I was reading it blew at 38000ft. I’d imagine that loosing a window at that altitude would result in pretty explosive decompression.
@Nauris Serna: Exactly. Hence why the poor woman got sucked out.
@Nauris Serna: It blew out at FL320 or 32000 feet, In the event of such an incident/accident you decent to FL100/10000 feet were the body can breath easily without using supplemental oxygen.
They do have a relatively young fleet but they would be concerned that the business model they use was a direct copy of Southwest – standardise the number of planes/engine types in the fleet etc – and they should be concerned that this engine passed the safety test days before this happened ?? I would suggest they would know that the business risk is huge on two levels – one is that the public react and question / doubt or lose confidence that low cost operators model isn’t compromising the safety of passengers with how far they can use these engines etc before a tragedy like this ? And secondly that they find something what caused the accident here is some fundamental flaw to the engines that may need global mandatory grounding because their exposure would be fairly significant.
What about our airline that flies B737s…Do they have this type of engine.
@tom McCormack If you mean Ryanair yes they also use the CFM engines.
@tom McCormack: that aircraft was nearly 20 years old afaik..ryanair has a relatively young fleet
have your say