Mid-February 2023 Transport News Round-Up: UK Government Extends £2 Bus Fare Till June, New DLR Trains Unveiled, TfL Fare Rises From March, All-Electric Bus Towns for Athlone, Ireland & Inverness, Scotland, Ensignbus Sells to First Group and More

Since I haven’t posted an article for a month. I’ve decided to post a round-up of various transport news stories that happened during this month and last month (January).

Firstly, here’s the news recently published by the Department for Transport extending their £2 bus fare scheme in England till the end of June 2023.

From Department for Transport

Ireland’s NTA reveals tender process for 800 pure double-deck electric buses and proposal on DLR extension to Thamesmead approved

News update for Ireland once again.

It has been revealed that Ireland’s governing body National Transport Authority have commenced a tender process to purchase 800 double-deck electric buses for services in the Republic of Ireland.

From National Transport Authority

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has today commenced the procurement process for up to 800 double-deck battery electric buses as part of a shift towards greater sustainability in the public transport fleet.

The process is part of a continued effort to transition to low and zero emission buses as provided for in Project Ireland 2040 and the Climate Action Plan. The NTA intends to purchase up to 800 buses under this Framework Agreement over a period of five years, with the first buses expected to arrive in the second half of 2022.

Ireland’s National Transport Authority unveils eye-catching ADL’s Enviro400ER City buses as they order 180 more

More news from Ireland this month; the Republic of Ireland’s governing body National Transport Authority has unveiled the Enviro400ER City vehicles manufacturered by Alexander Dennis and announced an order of 180 more buses.

This follows on from last week when the Northern Irish Department for Infrastructure announced a £66 million order for 100 zero and 45 low emission buses manufactured by Wrightbus - you can read more in my previous article here.

Double-Deck Hydrogens and “New Routemaster spin-off” plug-in hybrid buses for Ireland!

Good news for Wrightbus as they are a few months in to the new ownership from Jo Bamford; the Northern Irish transport authority Translink is set to roll out double deck hydrogen buses for Belfast.

Bus services in Limerick Town Centre, Ireland

In a previous article I said that I was preparing for a short holiday and promised that upon my return I would be writing a ‘first hand’ report on the bus services in Limerick, Ireland. I aplologise for the delay as I have been rather busy since then but finally, here is that report.

Limerick has a small number of bus routes linking to the Town Centre and their bus services are still regulated and operated by Bus Éireann which is owned by Transport for Ireland. It’s interesting to note how most of the bus services in Ireland are still owned and run by the government compared to Britain where the bus services have been privatised and deregulated.

Strikes for Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann in Ireland on May 2015

Over in the Republic of Ireland, Unions SIPTU are holding a strike on Friday 1st May, Saturday 2nd May, Friday 15th May and Saturday 16th May whilst NBRU are striking on 15^th & 16^th May and 19^th, 30^th and 31^st of May. The reason why they’re striking is because 10% of the routes are going to be contracted out to private operating companies.

Press release from NBRU

NBRU to Undertake 48 hour Bus on the 1st & 2nd May and announces plans for further action.