Two things happened to our motoring columnist this week when he tried to use public transport across the Provence of Ulster on both sides of the border.
Firstly, he really enjoyed one of the most relaxing journeys along the north coast of Ireland by train but secondly, he may have booked the full book of bus tickets on the Letterkenny to Derry Bus Eireann, that’s if he ever managed to crack their online booking system.
“Where to mate?#8221;
“Return to Derry.”
“Aye, but where to?#8221;
“Ah sorry, Belfast.”
This was my conversation with the conductor on the platform on Saturday morning as I departed from Derry bound for Belfast.
Earlier that morning, I sat just 20 miles away in Letterkenny having a coffee across the border where I was able to go online check the timetable for the Translink trains for a possible trip from Derry to Belfast.
I could have even paid for it there and then but I was still in Letterkenny. How was I going to get from Letterkenny to Derry to get the train?
The phantom bus 64
When I went online to check out the price and book the fair for a Bus Eireann ticket from Letterkenny to Derry I gave up after about six attempts going through the online booking as I was going to miss my train.
I couldn’t find or book a seat on Bus Eireann Galway Express that goes through Letterkenny an onwards to its final destination, Derry, Ulsterbus Station.
I ended up driving to Derry and passed the bus on the road that I was looking for online! There it was the no.64 bus heading to Derry with very few on board. Surprise. Surprise.
There are nearly 500 bus routes on the bus Eireann, website, there’s even an ‘electric picnic special’ or even the 486 special to Lough Derg!
A view of the Donegal and the National bus routes , some of which can not be booked online.
But try and book your journey from Letterkenny to Derry by public transport online and you will be going nowhere fast, only driving yourself around the bend.
Galway to Derry Express bus goes through Letterkenny eight times a day (outbound and inbound) but it out of bounds when you go online.
If the transport system is progressing in Northern Ireland costing only twelve quid return for a Derry to Belfast train ticket. Public transport south of the border is going in reverse.
I could not find the price of the fair from Letterkenny to Derry for our national bus service, all its online service was offering me was the price of a Galway to Derry ticket.
The online bus Eireann booking system would better be described as offline when it comes to securing a ticket from Donegal’s biggest town Letterkenny to the North of Ireland’s second largest City, Derry.
Local knowledge will tell you that there are easier ways to get to and from Donegal with private bus services from Donegal made to suit the needs of a county that is out on a limb and will be even worse when the possible borders of Brexit come into play.
And Bus Eireann bus at the Station Roundabout in Letterkenny this week. could it be the Letterkenny to Derry Bus. Photo Brian McDaid
Wouldn’t you think of all places in Ireland, Donegal, which will end up even more isolated than it already is, should be the place that a national bus provider should be focusing on.
Thousands leave Donegal every weekend to go to universities and students come here to study at the LYIT in Letterkenny. It’s not enough to put a bus stop on both sides of the road at the front of the LYIT if you don’t make your service easier to use.
Train journey
My train journey was one of the most relaxing ways to spend a Saturday off. ( I even had time to have another few goes trying to find the price of a bus ticket from Letterkenny to Derry) Hugging the coastline along the Foyle from the Waterside in Derry/ Londonderry, I watched the hills of Inishowen pass by on the other side of the water. Seeing Moville in the distance before cutting through the hills before Castlerock.
A view of the River Foyle in Derry from the window of the train as we pulled out form the station on Saturday morning. Photo Brian McDaid
The journey took two hours but it never felt as long. Towns like Coleraine, Ballymoney, Ballymena, Cullybackey, Antrim, beautiful old stations with quarter- stretch red brick built station houses, keeping something old and working it well into the newly refurbished train route.
The Derry to Belfast Train arriving in Derry on Saturday morning.
I got off the train at Central Station in Belfast ( now renamed Lanyon Place) a short walk away we were in St. George’s Market, which was packed to capacity.
Everything from a breakfast filled soda to art, jewellery, live music, all within an old Victorian Market Hall. At the back of the market, traditional stalls were selling fresh meat, fruit and vegetables and at the very back of the hall, the fishmongers’ stalls were laden down with fresh fish, including fresh Donegal oysters.
A sign for Donegal Oysters in St George’s Market in Belfast at the weekend. Photo Brian McDaid
There was a time that these fish stalls, and stalls as far away as London, were supplied with fresh fish from Burtonport – shipped by train and possibly came the same journey as we on Saturday morning going through the same towns a century ago to supply demand in the big cities.
Mind the step
And here’s the thing, someday the Letterkenny to Derry Express will be looked at by one of the companies bean counters at head office and decide that the service is not viable. Just like the Omagh to Derry Express, which will be terminated.
Letterkenny has always had strong transport links with Derry for hundreds of years because of the Lough Swilly Train, an hour on the Bus Eireann website by their IT team could sort this glitch and bums on seats that are online looking at getting from A to B.
A ticket can be bought as you get on the bus or in the station office for the Letterkenny to Derry Bus Eireann Express.
Happy Motoring Folks
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