Christmas and New Year schedule announced for Athlone town bus service

With the Christmas period fast approaching, Bus Éireann is advising customers to note changes to its normal service schedules in Athlone and elsewhere.

Athlone's town bus service will operate as normal up to and including this Friday, December 23.

On Christmas Eve, the town service will finish earlier, with last departures at approximately 9pm.

No services will operate on Christmas Day.

On St Stephen's Day - Monday, December 26 - the town service will follow a Bank Holiday/Sunday service timetable, beginning from approximately 9am.

From Bank Holiday Tuesday, December 27, onwards, normal schedules will resume – with weekday schedules running from 27-30 December, and weekend schedules as normal on New Year’s Eve (Saturday), New Year’s Day (Sunday) and Bank Holiday Monday, January 2.

A full schedule will then resume from Tuesday, January 3.

Allen Parker, Bus Éireann Chief Customer Officer said: "We are delighted that demand for our services is very strong, with overall passenger numbers already 15% ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

"Christmas is expected to be one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, as people from across Ireland and beyond travel home for the festive period, in some cases for the first Christmas since 2019.

"We strongly advise passengers intending to travel intercity on Expressway to pre-book a ticket at expressway.ie to be guaranteed a seat," he added.