CONCERNS have been raised that elderly passengers in Newmarket-on-Fergus are having to take two buses to reach Limerick, with councillors calling for an existing Expressway service to be rerouted through the village.
Cllr David Griffin (FF) raised the issue at the September meeting of the Shannon Municipal District, calling on the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Expressway to consider routing the number 51 through Newmarket-on-Fergus.
He said the change would provide residents with a direct public transport link to Limerick, while also connecting the village with Galway and Cork.
Cllr Griffin said the previous 372 bus service between Shannon and Limerick had been “incredibly unreliable” and needed to be replaced.
He said the newer 330 service was “much more reliable”, but residents had lost a direct connection between Newmarket-on-Fergus and Limerick.
“You can get from Newmarket to Shannon very, very easily and cheaply and Ennis very cheaply and reasonably, but in order now to get to Limerick, you have to change at Ballycasey,” he said.
Cllr Griffin said this was particularly difficult for elderly residents travelling to Limerick for medical appointments.
“Elderly people who are trying to get from Newmarket to Limerick for medical appointments are now having to get two buses,” he said.
He suggested that some services on the number 251 route, which operates between Galway and Cork, could instead travel through Newmarket-on-Fergus.
Cllr Griffin said the service already travels through Limerick, Shannon, Clarecastle and Ennis, but currently bypasses Newmarket-on-Fergus.
“It’s a two-second drive and the roads are plenty wide,” he said.
He said the proposal was about using existing services to improve public transport connections in the area.
“It’s just trying to logically use the existing services to better connect us with public transport,” he said.
The motion was seconded by Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG).
In a written response, Senior Executive Officer with Shannon Municipal District Suzie Clifford said: “The Shannon MD Office will forward this request to the NTA and Expressway.”
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