Bus passengers left out in the cold

A local council member has criticised the authorities for leaving bus passengers facing another winter out in the cold due to the lack of bus shelters.

Cllr Bill Collentine had a motion on the agenda of the most recent meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad seeking an update on the provision of shelters.

He was not satisfied at the response provided, which stated that the design for stops at Dublin Road and Castlepollard Road are being discussed with the National Transport Authority (NTA).

"I have brought this up lots of times over the years and now we’re into another winter and people are going back to work and they’re standing out in the open, in the wet and cold, and getting on buses wet," Cllr Collentine said.

He told colleagues that promises on the provision of bus shelters had been made four years ago, then two years ago: "And here we are into another winter again and it’s still not done."

Cllr Hazel Smyth supported Cllr Collentine: "We are talking about creating a lot more rural bus links around Westmeath and around Ireland, but to make it user friendly, the idea or expectation that people would stand at a bus stop in the pouring rain and be absolutely drenched is absurd," she said.

Cllr Smyth was also critical of the lack of technology to let people know when their bus would be arriving.

There was criticism too from Cllr Denis Leonard, who said he could not understand why shelters have not been provided.

"And then we wonder why don’t people don’t take buses!"

Council official Pat Keating said he shared councillors’ frustration with the speed with which the NTA is addressing the shelters issue. "Their timeline is something that we wouldn’t be happy with," he said.

"We’d like to see it progress more quickly if we can. And I think they’d like that as well as themselves. But we have been in touch with them again recently to see can we just bring these two particular ones forward more quickly."

He undertook to keep members updated.