Barrow bus project will let you travel for free this summer
Photo of the Barrow Bus
A RESEARCH project operating in south Carlow is enabling people to travel along the Barrow river for free this summer.
The Barrow Bus takes people from Bagenalstown Train Station, through Paulstown and Goresbridge, to Graignamanagh and St Mullins. It will complete four loops daily, six days a week.
“What we’re trying to do is highlight the issues of rural transport deficit,” said CEO of the Kilkenny LEADER Partnership Declan Rice. “We haven’t got a great rural transport system; it’s not a joined up one; it’s not complete, it’s very thin.”
“Rural transport, or the lack of it, is an essential part of why we have rural isolation. People are isolated from services â people in cities and towns are isolated from rural parts, they can’t get out there for tourism reasons and people are isolated from social opportunities,” said Declan.
The project is gathering data on who travels and when they travel. It follows on from one the group ran last year, the Linguan Loop in south Co Kilkenny. In total, three such projects will be analysed together for a complete report into the need for and benefit of rural bus services.
Graignamanagh is the centre of the project and is already “seeing the benefits”, while elsewhere the bus is “building in popularity,” said Declan.
County boundaries are unimportant when it comes to providing such a service, he continued. Instead, “services should listen to people” and follow patterns of where people want and need to go.
They have integrated the bus with Bagenalstown Train Station and Paulstown, just off the motorway, where JJ Kavanagh operates. Declan sees implementing more buses in rural Ireland along existing “excellent” road infrastructure as the fastest and cheapest way to transform public transport.
As it is a research project, the free service will only operate until October, but Declan is hoping to influence national policy through it: “They need to think differently about rural transport is our view.”
He said the organisation would be “very enthusiastic” if a public transport body decided to turn the bus into a permanent service.
To book a journey, go to www.barrowbus.palisis.com. Booking is not required but is recommended to ensure a seat. Passengers will be asked to participate in a survey that will be linked by a QR code on their free ticket.
