Athlone bus blow as Aircoach to axe Dublin to Galway route
Bus services from Athlone to Dublin city and airport will be cut further from next month, after Aircoach confirmed it will be ending its 706 and 706X services between Galway and the capital.
For almost three years now, Aircoach has been running ten daily buses between Dublin and Galway, with each of these stopping at TUS and Arcadia Retail Park in Athlone. Four of the daily services in each direction also included stops in Ballinasloe.
However the company confirmed to the Westmeath Independent this morning (Tuesday) that these services would be ending as of April 8.
It means that, in less than four weeks' time, Citylink will be the only company running buses from Athlone to Dublin city and airport. Bus Éireann controversially announced the removal of its Galway to Dublin buses, which served Athlone, in 2021.
Aircoach said this week that it had extended its route network with the launch of the 706/X services in July 2021.
"However the route as it exists today has not proven to be commercially viable," the company said in a statement.
"Aircoach is deeply committed to providing an All-Ireland transport connection and therefore fully expects to return to the West of Ireland."
It said the termination of the Dublin to Galway services would take effect from midnight on Monday, April 8.
Kim Swan, Managing Director for Aircoach, said: "It is with regret that we intend to exit the Dublin to Galway route in its current form.
"We are committed to providing a passenger transport service into the West of Ireland and are exploring customer focused and commercially viable opportunities to facilitate this.
"In the meantime, we wish to express our gratitude to all our valued customers, dedicated employees and relevant stakeholders who enable the daily functioning of this route."
The company said customers with bookings to travel on April 8, or thereafter, would be contacted directly.