Cold weather disrupts Athlone's electric bus service

Bus Éireann has acknowledged that its Athlone town service, which has used fully electric vehicles for the last year, was disrupted when the recent spell of cold weather affected "the batteries and range" of the buses.

Its understood that some bus services in Athlone were ending at 8pm during the recent spell of sub-zero temperatures, rather than their scheduled time of 9pm.

The matter was raised by Independent Galway-Roscommon TD Michael Fitzmaurice, and was reported upon in the Irish Independent this week.

A Bus Éireann spokesperson admitted that the cold weather had impacted the service provided to the public in Athlone.

"We are currently in a period of colder weather conditions which have an impact on electric vehicles, similar to passenger cars, particularly on the batteries and range," the company said.

"Some of the recent curtailments were unavoidable, however we are currently assessing those impacts and how the management and performance of the buses and schedules can be optimised to minimise those impacts."

It's just over a year since the electric bus fleet in Athlone, which was the first all-electric town bus service in Ireland, was launched by Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.

Bus Eireann said the Athlone buses were being charged after 11pm each night in order to avail of lower costs and lessen the impact on the town's electric grid.

"Charging is scheduled to take place after 11pm on the lower night time electricity tariff, to ensure minimal impact on the local grid in Athlone for the public and wider community, during peak periods of use, and to maximise cost effectiveness of the operation," said the company spokesperson.

"This does not have any impact on the vehicles' power or result in them operating on ‘low power’."

Deputy Fitzmaurice said he began looking into the issue after being contacted by people in Athlone who had been affected by town bus service finishing an hour earlier than scheduled at night.

"The service was cut by an hour during the colder weather, which basically discommoded some people," he said.

He added that he wasn't surprised by the response from Bus Éireann which "admitted that there is a problem" with the operation of the buses during cold weather spells.

The TD said he had concerns about the durability of the batteries on electric buses in the coming years.

"I've been watching (electric) buses in other countries and, if you have a bus a year or two years, the battery won't last as long when you charge it. That's going to become a problem not alone in Athlone but all over the country," he predicted.

Deputy Fitzmaurice felt the concerns raised about the service in Athlone should lead to a rethink about the rolling out of electric bus services elsewhere.

"We need vehicles, whether in Athlone or in any part of the country, that work efficiently and are value for taxpayers' money. And in my opinion these aren't value for taxpayers' money," he said.

"They are ploughing on now (with electric buses) in Limerick, which in my opinion is reckless.

"They already have the money spent in Athlone, but do you roll out something (further) when there are problems with it? If it's working 100%, then roll it out everywhere.

"But if you have teething problems, or any problems, then you need to get everything sorted before you start using taxpayers' money (to buy more). That's where I'm coming from," he told the Westmeath Independent.