Coach Station Woes
People Before Profit Galway representative Adrian Curran has criticised the ongoing situation at the Coach Station on Fairgreen Road, where there’s a row between the private company running the station and the bus companies that were supposed to operate out of it.
As a result, the bus companies are using the public paths outside. This is causing accessibility problems for people using public transport at the station, as well as for nearby services, he said.
“While Galway Coach Station was built on public land with public money – indeed, the City Council won a design award for it – it is run by a private operator who is entangled in a row with private bus operators refusing to pay the station’s fees,” Mr Curran stated.
“This has led to the farcical situation where members of the public must queue on the street outside the station to board coaches, while the station itself mostly lies idle. This situation is likely to get worse with the increase in tourist numbers over the summer.” He described the situation as “serious and dangerous”. Mr Curran added that it was particularly challenging for people “with disabilities and mobility issues using public transport”.
And he claimed it was “also a serious hindrance to the often vulnerable people accessing the Galway Intreo Centre, which shares the Seán Duggan Centre with Galway Coach.
Published in the Connacht Tribune on 22/05/2022