Cautious welcome as long-awaited Wicklow bus routes to be rolled out in autumn

The service has been subject to a series of missed deadlines, after plans for new bus corridors and additional services were first announced for Wicklow in 2018, and were promised as part of the Bus Connects project to become operational by mid-2023.

The last update, issued by the NTA in February, was summer 2024. While this has been pushed out to the third quarter, the news was mostly welcomed by politicians locally, given the pressing need for improved transport in the area.

In March, the NTA published a revised plan for the L1, L2 and L3 Bus Connects routes for Greystones and Bray, which will serve the two towns and include the long-awaited loop service.

Aaron McAllorum, Social Democrats Local Election candidate, who received an update from the NTA in advance of a briefing day with Oireachtas members in Dublin, earlier this month, welcomed the news but cautioned that we have been here before.

“Of course, I welcome the update in relation to the L14, however, I hope this is not just another false promise from the NTA. I met with the Bray Residents Alliance in early April and this, among other items, were high on the agenda for all concerned.

“The whole landscape of Bray has changed dramatically in the context of the demand on public transport, large scale developments are book-ending the town now, the Main Street is congested every day. We have to look at ways of moving people away from short-hop private car journeys where reasonably practical and onto public transport, the L14 I hope can help achieve this. I will be pushing the NTA for the delivery of this service all the way.”

Bryan Kenna, Labour Party candidate for Bray West, pointed positive impact the new service would have on the beleaguered residents of Enniskerry.

“The new round-Bray loop bus will be a great asset having a public transport route covering the whole Southern Cross Road and going out to Palermo,” he said. “In addition to this route, the Enniskerry bus will no longer have to divert to Palermo which is excellent news for all living in Enniskerry.

“At the same time there are serious concerns with delays and cancelled buses in the Bray/Enniskerry/Kilmacanogue area too and an inflexibility with the last bus stop in Kilmacanogue. These are really important issues and I pledge as a councillor to bring in the National Transport Authority to Wicklow County Council to hold them accountable,” he added.

Meanwhile, focusing on the incontrovertible signs that things are indeed moving in the right direction, Green TD for Wicklow, Steven Matthews, highlighted the installation of the new bus stops in Bray.

“With the construction of the new bus stops on Putland, Sidmonton and Southern Cross Road, the new Bray town bus which will provide a local bus service every 30 minutes through Bray is getting ready for service commencement,” he said.

“The L14 route will run from the railway station to the Southern Cross serving Strand Road, Putland Road and Vevay Road then return along this route to serve Meath Road, Florence Road, Main Street, Castle Street to St Peter’s Road, and run that route every 30 minutes. It will use existing stops and some new stops are being constructed.

“I have been asked for so many years to have a regular circulating bus in the town and I invited Dublin Bus to our Bray council meeting in 2016 to propose the idea. It really took the Greens going into government to priorities investment and delivery of better public transport and I think we have done so for many parts of Wicklow.

“Greystones will also commence its two improved local services L1 and L2 soon with 30-minute frequency to Newcastle, Kilcoole, Newtownmountkennedy to Greystones and onto Bray Railway Station. L1 and L2 combined will provide a service to Bray every 15 minutes,” he continued. “While the L3 local loop service serving Chapel Road, to Lidl back along R761 to Victoria Road, Trafalgar Road, Main Street, Mill Road to Kilcoole Road at Eden Gate will run every 30 minutes.

“The new 131 and 133 bus from Wicklow to Bray and city centre are working very well, so much so that we need to introduce greater capacity in that service. The DART extension to Wicklow Town is still my big project for Wicklow and that is proceeding very well despite some naysayers who are unhelpfully trying to gain political points from continuously saying it is not going to happen.

“I am also progressing the delivery of a Wicklow town local town bus and a new service from Roundwood to Bray Railway Station. If we really want people to drive less, to cut emissions and improve road safety we need to provide better public transport and that is one of my priorities and I am committed to delivering more for Wicklow,” concluded Deputy Matthews.