Demand intensifies for better bus route for Laois town in ‘no man’s land’

There is a growing demand for a better bus route through one of Laois’ biggest towns.

The local link bus service serving Carlow Town and Graiguecullen is not reaching enough areas in Graiguecullen.

Currently, the bus only goes out as far as Dunne’s Stores on the Sleaty Road and then returns to Carlow Town.

Laois County Council have sought an extension of the bus route in Graiguecullen with Transport for Ireland following the requests from Cllr Ben Brennan.

TFI said the case has been escalated for further review.

Speaking at the September meeting of the Graiguecullen / Portarlington MD, Cllr Brennan said that Carlow has a great bus route in the town but “Graiguecullen is in no man’s land.”

“The problem is we have a lot of older people there that have no way of travelling. Taxis are costing an absolute fortune and they can’t afford it,” the Independent Councillor argued.

“There are children there that can’t get a bus ticket because they are too close to the school. Parents are working and they have to take time off to collect their children. We haven’t got the proper facilities in place for that.”

Cllr Brennan urged that extending the bus routes in Graiguecullen would benefit the entire area.

“There’s everything in Graiguecullen and we need to keep people local.”

Cllr Aisling Moran supported the motion and highlighted that this issue has been previously raised and meetings were held with the Carlow MD last year. However, they never received a response from TFI.

With serious traffic congestion between Graiguecullen and Carlow Town, Cllr Moran said a proper bus service would significantly improve the flow of traffic.

The issue was also raised by the Laois TD Brian Stanley earlier this month. He said that the current route serves the least populated part of the town and around 3,500 people are left without any service.

Deputy Stanley said he would make representations to both heads of the NTA and to the Minister for Transport Dara O’Brien to have the issue resolved.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme