Bus Éireann announce extra services for the visit of Pope Francis

Special pre-book Expressway services and increase in scheduled services 

Dublin

Bus Éireann are pleased to announce a significantly enhanced service on Sunday, 26 August, to facilitate visitors to Dublin for the visit of Pope Francis. 

Over 500,000 people are expected to visit Dublin City on Sunday, 26 August where a Mass will be celebrated by Pope Francis. An Garda Síochána have urged motorists and the public to use public transport to travel there. In order to cater for anticipated demand, Bus Éireann will operate a greatly enhanced schedule which will see overall capacity increasing by over 100% on 26 August. Over 800 trips on both commuter and Expressway services will provide for over 30,000 passenger journeys to and from Dublin on the day. 

Sunday, August 26 

Commuter services to Dublin

An enhanced Sunday timetable will operate in both the morning and evening peak to cater for anticipated demand. 

Route 101     Drogheada – Balbriggan – Dublin
Route 103     Ratoath – Ashbourne - Dublin
Route 109     Cavan - Virginia - Kells – Navan – Dunshaughlin - Dublin
Route NX      Navan – Dublin City
Route 111     Cavan – Granard – Athboy – Trim - Dublin
Route 115     Mullingar - Enfield - Kilcock - Dublin
Route 120     Tullamore - Edenderry – Clane - Dublin
Route 126     Kildare - Newbridge - Naas – Kill - Dublin
Route 133     Wicklow – Ashford - Dublin City

Tickets for these services can be purchased in advance at www.buseireann.ie

Expressway intercity services to Dublin

To facilitate additional demand, a number of special intercity services will operate to and from Dublin City. Customers booking these services are guaranteed a seat with a shortened journey time due to limited stops. Details on these special services are as follows:

Route 2        Wexford (0700), Enniscorthy (0720), Gorey (0745) & Arklow (0800)
Route 4        New Ross (0630), Waterford (0700) & Carlow (0800)
Route X8      Cork (0600), Fermoy (0630), Mitchelstown (0650), Cahir (0715) & Cashel (0730)
Route 12       Limerick (0630), Nenagh (0710), Roscrea (0740) Portlaoise (0810)
Route X20    Galway (0530), Loughrea (0600), Ballinasloe (0630) & Athlone (0700)
Route 22       Ballina (0630), Swinford (0730), Charlestown (0738) & Longford (0910)
Route 23       Sligo (0630), Boyle (0650) & Carrick-on-Shannon (0715)
Route 30       Donegal (0530), Ballyshannon (0550), Enniskillen (0630), Cavan (0720) & Virginia (0805)
Route 32       Letterkenny (0530), Strabane (0600), Omagh (0630) Monaghan (0715), Castleblayney (0750) & Carickmacross (0805)
Route 100X   Dundalk (0730) & Drogheda (0800)

Tickets for these services must be purchased in advance on www.expressway.ie
All other Bus Éireann Expressway intercity services will run as normal and family return tickets represent real value.

All other services will run to a normal Sunday timetable

 Diversions in Dublin City Centre

Due to the scale of events taking place in Dublin city centre, a number of our routes will be diverted and may operate from alternative stops.
For specific route information and timetables see www.buseireann.ie/popeinireland nearer the time.

Knock

Pope Francis will visit Knock Shrine on the morning of August  26.
In order to cater for anticipated demand Bus Éireann will operate additional services on the following routes:

Route 440     (Westport to Knock, Athlone to Knock)
Route 421     (Ballina to Knock)
Route 64       (Galway – Knock – Sligo)

In addition to these extra services Bus Éireann will operate a bus shuttle between Claremorris train station and Knock.
For those who have a ticket for the event, the bus shuttle service will be free.

Please visit www.buseireann.ie/popeinireland for further information on all these services

Tuesday, 31st July, 2018