44 Bus cut from Ballyogan and surrounding areas

The 44 bus was recently extended to the Northside of Dublin to the benefit of most people on the route. However, it is the bus users from Ballyogan who have paid the price as the service has been cut from the area.

On learning that the route was to be cut from Ballyogan my colleague's and I collected more than 500 signatures on a petition to keep the service.  I have since sent this petition to Dublin Bus with a request for a meeting.

Unfortunately I have now received a reply to my letter stating that Dublin Bus does not intend reviewing it's decision in the short term.  There was no acknowledgement of my invite for a meeting.

The reality is that it only took little over five minutes for the bus to make the short journey in and out of Ballyogan.

And while the addition of the Luas Green Line to the area has been a huge advantage for the area, it does not service Sandyford Village, Stepaside Village or Enniskerry.  Nor is it connected to the Northside as the new 44 route now is.

While I understand that the use of the service has reduced since the introduction of the Luas, it is still a vital service to those people who do use it.  It should not be cut for the sake saving six or seven minutes on the new route.

Despite claims from Dublin Bus that public consultation took place throughout 2010 and 2011 the vast majority of people in Ballyogan had no idea that the service was to be cut and were fiercely opposed to the cut.

The least Dublin Bus could do is to accept my invite to meet with the residents in the area to explain its actions and I would call on them to do so.