Bus Eireann will no longer operate a number of major inter-city Expressway routes due to Covid-19 challenges.
The company today announced that the Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Galway and Dublin and Limerick Expressway services would all cease.
The Dublin to Belfast service is also to be suspended indefinitely.
The decision was taken at a Bus Éireann Board meeting today following analysis and review over the past number of months.
No cessation dates have been determined as yet but changes are likely early next year when the current Commercial Bus Operator emergency supports to the Cork, Limerick and Galway routes expire.
The X51 service from Galway to Limerick and the X1 service Dublin to Belfast have not been in receipt of emergency funding and services will formally cease on these routes over the next few months.
Stephen Kent, Chief Executive Officer of the National Transport Authority said: "We have an opportunity through the July stimulus measures for public transport to increase our Bus Éireann city services in Cork, Galway and Limerick, as well other services as in Louth and Meath under contract to the NTA.
“This expansion will require more than 100 drivers which we can fully deliver by consolidating our Expressway network and taking a decision to withdraw from a small number of Expressway routes which would otherwise incur unsustainable losses and thereby avoid job losses in a very difficult trading environment.”
