New bus service won't arrive until 2024 at the earliest

Mullingar's new bus service won't be arriving until 2024 at the earliest.

Responding to a parliamentary question by Deputy Robert Troy requesting an update on “the current status of an application for funding for a town bus service for Mullingar”, the chief executive of the National Transport Authority (NTA) Anne Graham revealed that a decision on when the project will go tender has not been finalised.

“The authority continues its work with Westmeath County Council to design and specify an urban style bus network in Mullingar, including the required set of some 60 proposed stopping places. It is likely that the service will be tendered during 2023 for implementation in 2024, subject to funding being made available by Government, and dates to be confirmed closer to that time. “

Last October, the members of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District were informed that the new bus service was not likely to run until 2023.

Following a public consultation last spring, two bus routes were identified – one running from Clonmore Heights to Lakepoint Shopping Centre and the other from Ballinderry Road to Lough Sheever Corporate Park. The routes would take in key locations such as the train station, the primary medical centre and the regional hospital, and the possibility of including St Loman’s hospital is being examined.

The council received 93 submissions during the public consultation phase with most contributors voicing their objections to buses going through housing estates for safety reasons.

An online petition from the Gleann Petit Residents Association, which opposes the council's proposal to run one of the routes through their estate and the neighbouring Lakepoint development received over 150 signatures.

A number of people who signed the petition said that a bus route between Gleann Petit and Lakepoint would pose a threat to children living in those areas. “Putting a huge risk to children playing in these estates. This plan would have a negative impact on the appearance of these estates too,” one signatory said.

“Keep Gleann Petit safe for our children. No buses through our estate,” another said.