In association with GalwayTransport.info - Galway's public transport information site

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Galway city bus services, Christmas 2015 / New Year 2016

The information below is for 2015/16 only.


See Christmas bus announcements for this year's information.






A summary of Galway City bus and train services for the 2015 Christmas and New Year period.

See Regional and National Bus Services for Galway, Christmas and New Year 2015 for bus services outside the Galway City area.


Regional and national buses in Galway, Christmas 2015 / New Year 2016

The information below is for 2015/16 only.


See Christmas bus announcements for this year's information.






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Picture of Father Christmas riding a red-nosed reindeerRegional bus services in the Galway metropolitan area over the 2015 / 2016 Christmas and New Year period.

See City Bus and Train Services for Galway, Christmas and New Year 2015/16 for inner-city bus and rail service information.

This information is for the Galway area only. 

Service-changes in other areas are not included.

Note:   the Galway City park-and-ride service operates from 28 December 2015 - 3 January 2016, as well as before Christmas.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Christmas / New Year Park and Ride, 2015/16 in Galway

The information below is correct for Christmas 2015 / New Year 2016 only. 

 See Galway Park-and-ride information for more recent information.







A park-and-ride service will be in place for the  Christmas 2015 and New Year 2016 shopping period.

It will operate between:
  • Saturday 5 to Thursday 24 December, and
  • Monday 28 December to Sunday 3 January
inclusive.

See Galway City Christmas holiday bus services for information about regular city bus services during this period.


New bus-stop location in Enfield



CityLink have advised that from Tuesday 1st December 2015, the east-bound bus stop in Enfield, for buses to Lucan, Liffey Valley, Dublin city and airport is moving to outside the SuperValu supermarket in the centre of the village - almost directly across the road from the current west-bound bus-stop.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Bus and train fare increases from 1 December 2015

bus service fare increase arrow symbol Ireland
Details of December 2015 public-transport fare increases for Galway have been released by the National Transport Authority.

These fares apply from 1 December 2015, for the 2016 calendar year.  
Monthly and annual ticket prices will be applied during November for tickets that will be used from December.

The Galway City Bus Fares page will be updated with this information shortly.



Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Irish Rail / Iarnród Éireann Taxsaver annual parking discount

carpark at Galway Railway Station
Annual Taxsaver ticket holders can buy of 12 onths parking in any Iarnród Éireann station car parks with parkbytext™ for €210 - provided they purchase by Friday 13 November.

To take up this offer, you must have a  parkbytext™ account with Irish Rail - and this year TaxSaver customers will get all the benefits available to other parkbytext™ account holders, eg ability to swap vehicle registration and change locations.

See Iarnród Éireann's announcement for more details

Friday, October 23, 2015

Bus and train services for the October 2015 Bank Holiday weekend

Galway Comedy Festival tent on Eyre Square, October holiday weekend 2015 - with official cars parked on the Square beside it
Galway Comedy Festival, October 2015



Monday 26 October 2015 
is a bank / public holiday in  Ireland.




Alterations to city and county bus and train services are:



Timetable changes for GoBus services - November 2015

GoBus have a new Winter timetable operating from 2 November 2015, and available for booking now.

Changes include:
  • The 10:45am service from Dublin Airport will travel via Dublin City, and have a journey time of 3 hours.   Effectively this adds a new 11:15am service from Dublin City to Galway.
  • The 3:45pm bus from Dublin Airport will also travel via Dublin City with a journey time of 3 hours.   There will not be a separate 4:15pm coach from Dublin City.
See Regional Buses for links to all companies running bus services to, from or through Galway.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Changes to CityLink's Killarney services - August 2015

CityLink have announced that the express coach service between Galway City and Killarney, Co Kerry is suspended from Monday 31 August 2015, and that the express service between Killarney and Dublin via Limerick is cancelled from the same date.

They have not yet decided when the Galway - Killarney service will resume.

See regional buses for information about other services that travel between Galway and Kerry - usually with a change in Limerick.

Also note that from 28 August, Dublin Coach will be running a service from Dublin through Limerick to Adare, Tralee and Killarney.


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Buses and trains to the Galway Races July / August 2015





The following information is for services to the Galway Races in 2015. 


 See Galway Races Bus Services for this year's details.






how to avoid Galway races traffic
The Galway Races Summer Meeting is from Monday 27 July - Sunday 2 August 2015.

This is a summary of the public transport and traffic-management plans.  Full details in the following sections.
  • Bus Éireann special races shuttle buses will run from Eyre Square.  Details below under "Special shuttle bus"
  • BusLink are running shuttle services from Athenry and  Oranmore during the day.  They will also run a Night-link service from Galway City to Athenry each night during the week.
  • Hotels are co-ordinating shuttle services from Loughrea and Claregalway. 
  • Both the route 409 - Parkmore  and route 403 - Ballybrit city buses go to the racecourse (Avenue entrance).  But there are some restrictions during peak racing traffic hours Mon - Fri - details below under "City Bus Services)
  • There are some alternations to regular regional buses during race week and the week after.   Details below under "Regional Buses"
  • There is a traffic management plan for both private cars and public transport.   Details below under "Traffic Management Plan.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Route X51 serving Shannon Airport during the summer

Bus Eireann have announced a summer timetable for their route x51 express bus service between Galway and Limerick, effective from 28 June 2015.

This will now stop at GMIT and Shannon Airport (terminal B) only.

There will be 12 departures in each direction each day, the earliest bus will be at 5am from Galway, and 6:45am from Limerick, and the latest bus will leave from Galway at 7pm from Galway, and 9:45pm from Limerick.

This timetable will operate until 24 October 2015.

See Galway regional buses - south for other services in this area.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Buses to Galway Garden Festival 2015

Galway Garden Festival is being held at Claregalway Castle on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July, 2015 from 11am-6pm each day.

The castle is on the N17 at Claregalway, and there are likely to be traffic restrictions and delays.  Limited free parking is available.

A free bus service sponsored by Bus Éireann, will run from Galway Railway station to the festival-site, every hour from 10:30am.  Return buses will leave approximately on the hour..

Admission to the castle grounds is €8 for adults and free for children.   Proceeds support The Christian Blind Mission and Galway Simon Community.

Related links

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Fare increases on Burkes buses

Burkes Buses have advised (via on board signs) that there are some fare increases from Monday 1 June 2015.

See their fares page for detail of current prices.

Friday, May 29, 2015

June bank holiday bus and train details

Monday 1 June 2015 is a  Public / Bank Holiday in Ireland.

Because of this a number of public transport services have timetable alterations.


City Buses

Bus Éireann and City Direct will run their their standard Sunday and public holiday city services in Galway on Monday 1st June.

Regional Buses

Most regional and national public transport services will run their standard Sunday-timetable service on both Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd on June.

However:
  • Bus Éireann will run regular regional / national services on Sunday 1st, except that one Dundalk / Galway / return service is cancelled.  Details.
  • On Monday 3rd, Bus Éireann will operate to a Sunday timetable, but with  a number of service alternations (phrased as cancellations and alternative services.   See their announcement for details.
  • Bus Feda   on Sunday and Monday, the  normal Sunday service will operate, with some changes  - details.
  • BusLink will operate their Bank Holiday timetable, including NightLink buses on the evening of Sunday 31st.

Trains

Irish Rail will operate:
  • A Sunday service on Sunday 31 May - with two cancellations that affect Galway
  • A Monday service on 1 June, with a number of cancellations that affect Galway

See their published timetable for details.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Changes to Citylink's Killarney express services

From Monday 25 May 2015, Irish Citylink's Galway - Killarny express service will stop at both Limerick and Adare.

Also, there is a slight change to the timetable from Killarney, so that passengers can connect with the CityLink express service from Limerick to Dublin airport.

Note:  this service was introduced in May 2014, and provides a rapid direct bus service between Killarney town and Galway City.   See the Regional Buses - South page for other options.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Bus services to Foo Fighters at Slane Castle - 30 May 2015

Foo Fighters with special guests  Kaiser Chiefs, Hozier, are in concert at Slane Castle, Co Meath, on Saturday 30 May 2015.

The following companies are providing return bus or coach services from Galway:
  • Reaneys of Galway
    Tickets available from Zhivago/ Ticket Master on Shop Street, or their website.  €29.00 euro return.  Bus leaving at 8:30am
  • Kelly Travel - bus from Ennis, via Gort and Loughea, via Athlone

Check with the company for timetable, booking and departure / pickup points.  Likely departure points include:

For concerts, return services generally leave 30-60 minutes after the concert ends, from the same place where the bus drops you off.


Services from other towns and cities

  • Kelly Travel aka Concert-Travel.com - services from
    Limerick, via Nenagh, and Roscrea
    Tipperary, via Portlaoise and Cashel
    Cork City, via Mitchesltown, Cahir
    Birr, via Tullamore and Kilbeggan
    Waterford
  • Irish Concert Travel - services from
    Sligo via Carrick-on-Shannon, Longford, Mullingar;
    Donegal, via Ballyshannon and Cavan
    Castlebar, via Claremorris, Castlerea, Roscommon and Athlone
    • Matthews Coach Hire - from Dundalk, via Monasterboice, Drogheda, and Gormanston (City North Hotel)
    • Translink are running bus / coach services from/via Belfast (Foyle Street), via Strabane, Omagh
    • Buses to Concerts are providing several services from Belfast, Lisburn, Banbridge & Newry
    • Coaches to Concerts - from Belfast (Days Hotel), Lisburn and Banbridge   (nb, This a different operator from to Buses to Concerts)
    • CoolDiscs are running services from Belfast via Derry, Eglington, Strabane,Omagh,
      • Marathon Travel are running a range of services from Dublin City (Georges Quay).
      • Dublin Bus are running a shuttle service from Parnell Square West in Dublin city, between 12-noon and 5pm.   Buy tickets in advance from their office in Upper O'Connell St, from Sound Cellar in Nassau St, or from Ticketmaster.
      • Executive Express are running a service from Bewley's Leopardstown, Newlands Cross and Dublin Airport.

      Contact editor@GalwayTransport.info if you know of other services which should be added to this list.

      Sunday, April 26, 2015

      May bank holiday bus and train services in Galway

      Monday 4 May 2015
      is a 

      public holiday and bank holiday 
      (Saoire Bainc na Bealtaine)
      in Ireland.


      Thursday, April 23, 2015

      Ferry from Galway to Kinvara and Ballyvaughan

      MacMara Marine Limited are now running daily ferry services across Galway bay between Galway city and the Burren, Co Clare.

      There is one service each day from Galway port, travelling to:
      • Kinvara on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
      • Ballyvaughan on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

      Galway city boarding point is at the Galway docks beside the Galway Harbour Company Office (number 14 on the Harbour Enterprise Park layout map).


      Timetable

      Morning departures from Galway are at 10:30am, and evening return journeys are at 5pm.   Crossing time is approximately 30 minutes.


      Fares

      • Adult fare is €36 return€20 one way
      • Child fares have not been advertised - contact the company for details. 
      • Free-travel pass is not accepted.

      These are primarily tourist services, which may be taken in conjunction with organised tours.  But regular passengers and locals are welcome although here is no advertised pricing for regular journeys.

      Booking is essential, and services may not run in inclement weather.

      See ferry services in Co Galway for information about other destinations served by ferry from Galway.

      Saturday, April 4, 2015

      Temporary changes to bus routes 403, 409 and 410, due to Lough Attalia railway bridge road lowering

      2015 install Bus Éireann bus stop pole, tarmacadem installation into the footpath
      From Tuesday 7 April 2015, some roads in the College Rd / Lough Atalia area will be one-way only - for approximately 8 weeks.

      Because of this:
      • Traffic going west, ie out from the city centre to Wellpark / Ballybane /Parkmore / Dublin, will use both lanes of College Rd.
      • Traffic going east, ie from Wellpark / Ballybane / Parkmore / Dublin into the city centre will use both lanes of Lough Atalia Rd, and then at the Radission / Railway Station intersection,  turn left and either go into the bus-station or continue down Forster St and through Eyre Square.


      These changes apply to all traffic (including buses, taxis and bicycles) and also to pedestrians: the roadway underneath Lough Atalia bridge will not be open to anyone.


      Buses and bus stops

      Buses leaving the city-centre will pick up passengers from the stops on College Rd as normal.

      For buses going in to the city centre, one bus-stop (picture above) has been installed at the eastern end of Lough Attalia Rd, for people who would normally get off at the bus stops at this end of College Rd and at the greyhound-track and sportsground.

      People who would usually use the inbound bus stop at the western end of College Rd (opposite City Hall) will need to walk from Eyre Square / the Railway station.

      The affected city bus routes are 403, 409 and 410.  Bus Éireann have announced that these buses will use the Lough Attalia Rd inbound.  [Note:  their initial announcement says that route 402 is affected - this is almost certainly an error, route 402 - Merlin Park currently travels along Bohermore, and is not affected.]

      Galway regional buses that use the Coach Station are affected - they will use the one-way system as described above.   Their bus-stops are not impacted - although services may be late if there is heavy traffice.


      More information and map

      For more information see the city council's announcement

      This traffic-management plan map has also been released:


      Sunday, March 29, 2015

      Bus and train services, Easter 2015

      Easter Bunny with basket of eggs photo-bombing a picture of a Healy bus in the sunshine
      Easter 2015 is from Friday 3 -  Monday 6th April.

      Good Friday (the 18th) is a bank holiday but not a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland:  most public-transport run normal services, with a few exceptions.  However all pubs, hotel bars and off-licenses are closed, all banks and many publc services (eg post-office) are closed, and some other companies treat the day as a "bank holiday".

      Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday are not public holidays:  usual Sat / Sun timetables generally apply.

      Easter Monday is a public holiday, and in most cases Sunday services will be run.

      Information from specific bus and train companies is summarised below.  Always confirm details with the company.


      Wednesday, March 18, 2015

      New Dublin City bus stop for GoBus services

      From Monday 23 March 2015, Gobus' pickup point for services from Dublin City to Galway will be in Burgh Quay:

      • just outside Jaffa Deli
      • near the intersection with Hawkins Street and the Rosie Hackett (Luas) Bridge.


      The old stop outside Ulsterbank on Georges Quay (opposite the Custom House) will no longer be used.

      See Dublin City bus stops used by Galway services for locations of other capital-city bus stops.

      Friday, March 13, 2015

      Bus and Train services - St Patrick's Day 2015

      Tuesday 17th March

      St Patrick's Day - Lá Féile Pádraic

      is a

      public holiday in Ireland.



      St Pattie's Day parade in Galway Ireland



      Most public transport services will run a Sunday timetable.

      Most towns and cities will have a parade around lunchtime or in the early afternoon: morning public transport services are likely to be busy due to this.


      Galway City Bus services

      Bus Éireann will run according to the

      Tuesday, March 10, 2015

      Expansion of the Bus4U / N63 Ballygar bus service to Roscommon

      Bus4U (formerly known as the N63 bus) have announced an expansion of their Galway bus service, from Monday 6 April 2015:
      • There will be an extra two buses per day to/from Galway (making six in total) on Mon-Fri
      • There will be an extra bus per day to/from Galway (making three in total) on Saturdays
      • All buses will travel to/from Roscommon, with stops in Athleague, Mount Talbot and Claregalway as well as the current stops in Ballygar, Newbridge, Mountbellew, Moylough, Abbeyknockmoy, Turloughmore and Lackagh.
      • The bus stop in Roscommon is on Mart Rd, opposite Dunnes Stores - the same bus stop that Bus Éireann use.



      This bus does not provide a Galway - Claregalway service:   the stop in Claregalway is drop-off only towards Galway, and pick-up only towards Roscommon.

      Fares

      There will be a new fare structure for this expanded service- details still to be announced.

      Galway - Killarney express bus service for summer 2015

      CityLink have announced that the express coach service between Galway City and Killarney, Co Kerry will start again from Monday 2 March 2015.

      Timetable and route

      Services will run between the Galway Coach Station and East Avenue in Killarney, with pickup / drop-off stops at:
      • GMIT in Dublin Rd, Galway
      • The main bus stop in Farranfore, Co Kerry.

      There will be two services each day in each direction, at 8:30am and 5:30pm.

      Expected journey time is 2 hours 45 minutes.



      Other options

      Currently no other company runs a direct service on this route.   See the Galway - South regional buses page for information about other connections via Limerick.

      Saturday, January 17, 2015

      CityLink fares increase by 6%

      CityLink have announced that fares will increase on all their servies from Monday 19 January 2015,

      On average, the increase is 6%, but there may be variations for individual routes and fare types.   Specific prices have not been announced yet, and are not yet showing on the website (as at 17 January).

      See CityLink's fares information page for details of other fare options,  and Galway regional buses - east for details of other companies operating on this route.