Bus extension sought for outlying estates in Laois town
Bus route running through Graiguecullen needs to be extended to outlying estates
THE bus route running through Graiguecullen needs to be extended to outlying estates, the latest meeting of Graiguecullen/Portarlington municipal district has heard.
The lack of a fully extended service to the outlying estates in Graiguecullen is having an acute effect on elderly people, who are being forced to purchase taxi services for their commute in some cases, and children, who have no access to public transport to get them to and from school.
The motion was brought to the 16 September meeting by councillor Ben Brennan, who received the following response from Transport for Ireland through a council official: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. To ensure that this issue is addressed appropriately, we are escalating your case to the relevant team for further review. The team will contact you once they have reviewed your case or if further details are required. We appreciate your patience while this is ongoing. Thank you.” Additionally, an area office representative clarified that a TFI staff member had said that they should receive a response within three working days. However, at the time of the council meeting, over a week had passed and there was still no official response from TFI in relation to a proposed extension.
Making the case for his motion, Cllr Brennan highlighted the many people living in the outer estates of Graiguecullen who had asked about an extension â elderly people looking to buy groceries without having to book a taxi and parents looking to have the bus service extended to their area so that they didn’t have to take out time off from work to drop their children off at school.
He was disappointed by the fact that TFI had not yet responded and hoped that it wouldn't be a case where they would have to chase them up on the issue.
Cllr Aisling Moran, who seconded the motion, highlighted that Graigueculen was the third largest town in Laois and that, given its size, it was past time that the bus service was expanded.
