A shortage of drivers is causing major problems for Bus Éireann's services in Waterford, according to a local driver.
At the weekend, it was reported that hundreds of people were left stranded because a number of services had to be cancelled.
A meeting of local members of the National Bus and Rail Union took place last night and it's understood they are now writing to express their frustration to Bus Éireann's management.
Driver, Mark Fitzgerald, told Déise Today that at least 15 extra drivers are needed:
"It comes down to the pressure the company was under over the last 18 months - we were down to 25% capacity, money wasn't coming in. The National Transport Agency stepped in to subsidise the expressway routes, but unlike Dublin Bus and even our neighbours in Cork, historically, our expressway services are not subsidised.
"They have to wash their own faces. That hasn't happened in the last 18 months and questions have to be asked about how much funding the NTA is giving Bus Éireann to run expressway services, if those services can't run and people are being left on the side of the road."
Mark says a lot of frustration was expressed by members at last night's meeting, including over the way passengers are now responding to them.
He says the response of disgruntled passengers is completely understandable because they are the ones being put out and it's just not good enough:
"If you're a passenger waiting on your bus to go to Dublin and it doesn't turn up, the company can say what they like about statistics and '90% of our services are running', but 100% of your service didn't run because you're there waiting for your bus.
"So we understand the frustration of passengers out there because our drivers are out there on a daily basis meeting people whose services were cancelled and again, this comes down to funding.
"If we had the requisite amount of drivers to cover the service, the services would be covered."
However, the lack of drivers isn't the only issue facing Bus Éireann and other bus providers at the moment.
As Mark outlines, they're also plagued with capacity issues because of the pandemic:
"Part of this too is that we are still at half capacity. We are still under the government guidelines for only half capacity.
"Your heart is in your mouth when you're coming to bus stops because you know that you only have x amount of seats and you now know that there's going to be more people at the bus stops wanting to travel.
"So, members of the public have to understand that while there's a funding issue... I would say that people have to [ask themselves] do they absolutely, essentially have to make the journey."
Meanwhile, in a statement to WLR this afternoon, Bus Éireann says it is fully engaged with employees and their representative organisations in Waterford and has no other comments to make at this time.
