Christmas and New Year bus and train services in Galway 2017 / 18

The information below was for Christmas 2017. 

Click here for this years Christmas public transport information.

A summary of 

bus and train services 

in Galway city and county 

for the 2017 Christmas and 2018 New Year period.


This is based on information published by the bus operators, and is subject to change.
  Always check the services you want to use with the bus company.

Extra buses on CityLink multi-stop Galway / Dublin service (route 763)

CityLink have announced the addition of two buses to the timetable for their multi-stop / commuter Galway to Dublin service, route 763, effective from Monday 4 December 2017.

• A 5am coach from Galway city, stopping at all existing CityLink stops and arriving in Dublin city at 8:40am and Dublin airport at 9am

• A 9:30pm coach from Dublin airport, picking up in Dublin city at 10pm, stopping at all existing CityLink stops and arriving in Galway city at 1:25am.

The new timetable for this service is available here.

The multi-stop service for commuters compliments the CityLink express service, which travels between Dublin airport and Galway Coach Station in 2:45 and the AirEagle Direct service which takes two and a half hours.   These services are not affected by this change.

Galway Christmas Park and Ride service, 2017

The information below is for Christmas 2017. 

 Click here for Park-and-ride information for other years.

A park-and-ride service will be in place for the Christmas 2017 shopping period.

It will run on selected days between Saturday 2 December until Sunday 24 December, and is being operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of Galway City Council.

CityDirect bus fares increasing

CityDirect have announced that their adult cash fare is increasing from €2.30 to €2.40  (a 4% increase), effective from 1 December 2017.

There is no change to their fares for students or children, or to the price of weekly or monthly tickets, or for people who use Leap cards.

This is happening at the same time that Bus Éireann fares are increasing.

The Galway City Bus Fares page has been updated with this information.

Galway bus and train fare changes from December 2017

Details of December 2017 public-transport fare increases for Galway have been announced by the National Transport Authority.

Full details are in the determination document, which is available here.

These fares apply from 1 December 2017, for the 2018 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 has been  updated with this information.

Bus and train services for the October 2017 Bank Holiday weekend

Monday 30 October 2017 is a bank / public holiday in Ireland.

It is also the weekend when most Halloween events happen, and the end of Irish daylight savings time.

Alterations to city and county bus and train services for this weekend:

Trial of route 410 Knocknacarra via Salthill bus on Sundays

CityDirect have announced that they are trialling route 410 - Knocknacarra via Salthill on Sunday afternoons for the month of October 2017.

There will be buses:

• From Cappagh Rd at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm
• From Eyre Square at 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm and 5:30pm

Regular 410 route and fares apply.

See Galway City Buses for information about other services in the area.

Changes to Burkes Bus timetables (Tuam and Dunmore)

Burkes Bus have announced changes to the route 427 timetable, effective from Monday 9 October 2017:

• A new bus at 6:10pm from Tuam to Galway, Monday to Friday
• A new bus at 7:10pm from Galway to Tuam, Monday to Friday

• The Saturday morning bus from Dunmore to Galway will leave earlier at 7:30am (instead of 7:50am as before)
• The early Saturday service from Tuam to Galway will leave earlier at 7:50am (instead of 8:10am as before)

• It was proposed to change the Monday to Saturday 9:10pm bus from Galway to Tuam to 9pm, but after customer feedback, this is not going ahead..

See North Galway regional bus services for more information about buses in this area.

Extra evening buses on route 411

City Direct have announced changes to the route 411 timetable, effective from Monday 2 October 2017:

• Four extra evening services in each direction: 
  Cappagh Rd to Eyre Square:   7:15pm, 8:15pm, 9:15pm and 10:15pm.
  Eyre Square to Cappagh Rd:   7:45pm, 8:45pm, 9:45pm and 10:45pm.

• Monday to Friday only.

These services mean that the company now runs a bus on route 411 every 30 minutes between 7am and 11pm, from Monday to Frday.

See City Bus Details for route map and timetable links.

Healy bus Loughrea / Oranmore / Galway fare increase

Healy Buses have announced that there are some fare increases on their Loughrea to Galway via Oranmore service from Monday 4 September 2017.

The new adult full-journey fares are:

• Single €7
• Day Return €10
• Weekly €42

See Regional Buses - East for other options on these routes.

GoCar car-sharing / short-term-rental in Galway City

GoCar, a car-sharing company offering for short-term (1+ hour) vehicle hire / rental, now has one vehicle based in Galway city.

It is based in the carpark beside Ceannt-Galway Railway Station.

The company is in discussions with the Galway City Council about adding other locations around the city.

See vehicle-rentals in Galway city for other car and bicycle hire options.

Bus and train services for the August bank holiday, 2017

Monday 7 August 2017 is a bank / public holiday in Ireland, so there are some changes to public transport:

City Bus Services

Bus Éireann and City Direct will run their their standard Sunday city services in Galway on Sunday 6 and Monday 7 August.

Regional Bus Services    

A standard Sunday timetable applies for most regional and national public transport services on both Sunday and Monday.

However:

• On Sunday 6th August, Bus Éireann will operate a Sunday timetable, except that the 3:30pm Dundalk to Galway and 6pm Galway to Dundalk services are cancelled.

• On Monday 7th August, Bus Éireann will operate a Sunday timetable with a number of changes (both cancellations and additions) that affect Galway services.    See their announcement for full detail.

• Bus Feda (Galway - Donegal) will run a limited service on Sunday, and an extended service on the Monday.   See their announcement for details.

Train services

On Sunday Irish Rail will run a normal Sunday service, except that these services are cancelled:

• 5pm Galway to Dublin
• 8:30pm Dublin to Galway, 

Also, the 7:25pm Galway to Athlone is replaced with a Galway to Dublin train.

On Monday, Irish Rail will run a timetable based on the normal Monday service, but with these services cancelled:

• 5:30am Galway to Dublin
• 5:55am Limerick to Galway
• 6:20am Galway to Limerick
• 8:40am Galway to Athenry 
• 9:05an Athenry to Galway
• 6:30pm Dublin to Galway
• 10:15pm Galway to Athlone.

See their published bank holiday weekend announcement for details.

Clifden Citylink timetable changes, July 2017

Citylink have announced that from Monday 31 July 2017,  their Route 923 Galway / Cliften - Cleggan bus-service has some timetable changes.

• Newcastle Post Office is an official timetabled stop in both directions.

• The 9am Galway to Clifden bus is cancelled.
• There are new Galway to Clifden buses at 8:30am (through to Letterfrack) and 10am (to  Clifden only)

• The 7:15am Clifden to Galway service will depart at the earlier time of 7am.
• There is a new 1:15pm service from Clifden to Galway.

See Regional Buses - West for other buses in this area, and the Clifden Neighbourhood Map for Clifden bus-stop locations.

Bus and train services for the Galway Races, July / August 2017

The information below is for 2017.

Click here to find information about public transport for this year's Galway Races.

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The Galway Races Summer Meeting is from Monday 31 July - Sunday 6 August 2017.

This is a summary of the public transport and traffic-management plans.

• Bus Éireann special races shuttle buses will run from Eyre Square.  

• Hotels are coordinating shuttle services from several towns. 

• The route 409 - Parkmore  and route 403 - Ballybrit city buses go to the racecourse (Avenue entrance).  But there are restrictions during peak racing traffic hours Mon - Fri.

• There are some changes to regular regional buses during race week and the next week.

Connemara Shuttle Bus

The Connemara Bus is now providing a daily service between Clifden and Leenane, with stops at Connemara National Park (Letterfrack), Kylemore Abbey, Killary Fjord and Cleggan Pier.

This is a hop-on, hop-off service - and though it is marketed to tourists, locals / residents are welcome to use it as well.  

As the only regularly scheduled public transport service which stops at Kylemore, it provides a way to visit the Abbey without taking a full-day tour - even for visitors from Galway City (via the 9am CityLink bus to Clifden).

There are four departures from Clifden Tourist Office each day, and three from Leenane.

Tickets are valid for 2 days, and cost:

• Adult €20
• Concession (Student/OAP) €12.50
• Children €7.50

Bookings can be made via the Irish Day Tours website.

June bank holiday buses and trains - 2017

Monday 5 June 2017 is a Public / Bank Holiday in Ireland.

A number of public transport services have timetable changes because of this.

The changes in the Galway region are:

Summer timetable for route 350 (Galway / Doolin, Cligfs of Mohr) buses starting on 7 May

Bus Éireann have announced enhancements to route 350 (Galway - Kinvara - Ballyvaughan - Lisdoonvarna - Doolin - Cliffs of Moher - Ennistymon- Ennis)

Buses and trains during the May bank holiday, 2017

Monday 1 May 2017 is a public holiday and bank holiday  (Saoire Bainc na Bealtaine) in Ireland.

This is a summary of the public transport services in the Galway metropolitan area during this weekend.

Bus and train services in Galway, Easter 2017

Easter 2017 is from Friday 14 -  Monday 17 April.

Good Friday (the 14th) 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.

City Direct 411 no longer serves Claddagh / Henry St / The West

CityDirect have announced a change to the route of bus 411, effective from 2 January 2017.

Bus before 6pm will no longer travel from the city via Eyre Square South, Spanish Arch / Jury’s Inn and Henry Street.

Instead, all route 411 buses (day and night) will travel via Eyre Square North, Francis St, University Rd / UHG/NUIG,    Route 411 still serves Rahoon Road and the terminus is still Cappagh Road.

This means that CityDirect now have a bus from Cappagh Road via Westside to Eyre Square every 15 minutes, and that the route 411 follows the same route to and from the city.