New five-a-day Athlone to Mullingar bus service to begin this month

A new Athlone to Mullingar bus service, which will involve five return journeys each day between Westmeath's two biggest towns, will start later this month.

Monday, August 28, will be the first day of the service which was announced today (Friday) by TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon.

'Route 819' between the towns will include stops in Baylin, Mount Temple, Drumraney, Ballymore, Loughnavalley and Castletown Geoghegan.

It will also serve the Athlone Training Centre in Garrycastle, while a stop at Fardrum will connect passengers to the Athlone campus of the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

The timetable for the service is due to be published shortly, with the TFI Local Link organisation saying it would offer "a peak-time service for commuters," as well as "late evening" services.

"It will also provide improved connectivity to regional bus services and the wider TFI Network, with connections at the Mullingar and Athlone Irish Rail stations to facilitate onward travel to Dublin, Sligo and Galway," it said.

Damien O'Neill, general manager of TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon, commented: "We are delighted to launch this important link between the towns of Mullingar and Athlone.

"This route is a priority for our area and it will play an important part in developing reliable connections for our passengers.

"We all know the importance of using sustainable modes of public transport from an environmental point of view. It is also vital that passengers have a frequent bus service which they can rely on to travel to work, college, training, sightseeing, or meeting family and friends.

"The National Transport Authority is committed to the growth and development of local bus services, which in this case, is a brand-new high frequency service linking two key rural towns that will provide opportunities for people to get where they need to go."

The new service was also welcomed by Athlone councillor Frankie Keena, who said it was one he had been seeking for some time.

"This is just marvellous news for people living in both Athlone and Mullingar, and indeed all the identified village stops and environs along the route," he said.

"I have been campaigning for this service for a long time and I am just thrilled that it is now delivered.

"The benefits of this to people living along the route is enormous. For instance, the public will now have a five return trips a day, seven days a week, public transport link between the two major towns in the county.

"This will be so helpful to those people who want to attend Mullingar General Hospital, as the bus stops there. It will also be so beneficial to the many students who attend both TUS and Athlone Training Centre as these stops are also included along the route.

"Apart from this, it will be so beneficial to those who may want to visit Belevedere or Athlone Castle or indeed travel to visit a friend or do some shopping.

"The beauty of this is that this local link bus service will also serve rural communities living in and surrounding villages such as Baylin, Mount Temple, Ballymore, Loughnavalley and Castletown Geoghegan, thereby cutting down their dependency on using a car.

"It also helps in cutting down on rural isolation for some people who have no transport by providing them with easy access to various services in either Athlone or Mullingar," Cllr Keena added.

The Fianna Fáil representative expressed his gratitude to Mr O'Neill, the general manager of TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon, and his staff, and said he hoped the new service would be used regularly.

Cllr Vinny McCormack, who is one of the directors of TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon, said the new service was "a really good news story" for South Westmeath.

"A few previously isolated villages have been added onto the route, and it's great news in particular for students attending TUS and other further education facilities," said Cllr McCormack.

"A huge amount of work has been going on in the background (to set this up) and a route such as this is one that myself and some of the other directors have been pushing for, rather than a straight line route.

"This is a service that takes in a number of villages that are off the main routes, if you like, and brings them all together. I think it will be well-supported and widely welcomed across the villages and towns that it will serve."

This new route is part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan which is a major national public transport initiative developed and funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of the Transport for Ireland (TFI) Network.