11,000 private buses and coaches idle

More than 11,000 private buses and coaches remain idle right across the country, according to the representative body for private bus and coach operators, the Coach Tourism and Transport Council (CTTC).

A survey of bus and coach activity was brought about as a result of recent report finding that 95per cent of bus activity had come to a shuddering halt.

The alarming numbers of vehicles off the road demonstrates in numbers the profound impact the pandemic is having not only on the sector but transport connectivity across the country.

The organisation says that while it put forward a number of proposals to government to help the sector get back on its feet and avoid the significant depletion of private operators and skilled workers, little to no advancements have been made.

The CTTC is Ireland’s largest representative body for coach touring companies, and private bus operators. Its members are leading providers of private scheduled services, international tours, school transport and private hire.

In total there are 1,721 coach operators in Ireland, carrying over 75 million passengers per year, supporting 11,457 jobs and contributing €400 million to the economy.

Chairman of the CTTC, John Halpenny said “ We conducted an extensive survey across the sector which yielded alarming statistics relating to the number of buses and coaches that are sitting idle in the yards of operators.

"It is regrettable that many of our colleagues had invested heavily in extra bus stock expecting to build on the 2019 summer coach season only for the sector to be decimated by the pandemic.

"Unfortunately, nobody foresaw what was ahead of us and they are now faced with huge repayments on vehicles that will not be moving anywhere for some time unless measures are implemented in the July Stimulus plan that will get our buses back on the road”.

“We desperately need to be specifically provided for in the package of measures due to be announced next week. Coach operators dependent on tourism cannot recalibrate their operations or diversify.

"We need targeted measures and have proposed a €32million fund to government to help preserve the sector for the 2021 season and beyond.”