Improvements and changes to 103 & 105 bus services on the N2/M2 corridor

Improvements and changes to 103 & 105 bus services on the N2/M2 corridor

More frequency throughout the week and on Saturday & Sundays

Residents of Ratoath and Ashbourne – along with other towns along the key N2 and N3 corridors – are set to benefit from a range of improvements and changes to the 103 and 105 bus routes from next Sunday, April 10th.

Bus Éireann in conjunction with the National Transport Authority (NTA) carried out a review of bus services on the N2/M2 corridor over recent months, which took account of changing travel patterns, customer feedback, and the different demographics and needs of bus passengers.

Its aim was to make significant improvements to the network of services that would attract more passengers to public transport. The particular focus was on the key towns of Ratoath and Ashbourne for the delivery of an enhanced and consolidated public transport network.

Enhanced frequency throughout the week and on Saturday & Sundays will now provide more services on the 103 & 105 routes including:

32 additional daily weekday trips from Ratoath to Dublin

  • 10 additional daily weekday trips from Ratoath to Blanchardstown
  • 5 additional daily weekday trips from Ashbourne to Dublin
  • 19 additional daily weekday trips from Ashbourne to Blanchardstown
  • Enhanced connections to locations including Blanchardstown Shopping Centre & Connolly Hospital
  • Improved access to Drogheda, Duleek, Kentstown, Dunboyne & Tayto Park

Other benefits include improved connections between the twin towns of Ratoath & Ashbourne, and improved links to St Stephens Green and the city centre (south) along with third level colleges including UCD and the new D.I.T Campus at Grangegorman. There will now be direct limited stop weekday services to/from the south city centre & UCD in the am and pm peak periods

In relation to the Route 103, all services will now start in Ratoath and a bus will run every 20 minutes from Ratoath to Dublin City via Ashbourne, the N2 or M2 and Finglas.

Route 105 will no longer operate to the city centre in its current format and will be replaced by an enhanced service that will operate between Drogheda and Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. This will provide a greater range of local links connecting customers to employment, retail, education and health facilities, in the Blanchardstown area as well as North Meath and Drogheda - and will facilitate interchange onto Route 103 in Ashbourne.

These changes have been approved by the NTA and the revised timetables take effect from Sunday, April 10 next.

Customer timetables have been delivered to homes across Ashbourne & Ratoath, in addition to local radio and newspaper information notices regarding the changes.

More detailed information can be found at http://www.buseireann.ie/news.php?id=1989&month=Apr

Thursday, 7th April, 2016