Drivers say not enough manpower for new bus services

Stressed out drivers have been bearing the brunt of commuters' frustrations as dozens of services were cancelled on routes across Meath following the introduction of new timetables and rosters over a week ago

Drivers have said that new “running boards” or working schedules are not physically realistic in many cases and one driver said the” crux of problem” is that Bus Eireann doesn't have enough drivers for the increased services “though they would never admit it”.
It has also been claimed that there is inadequate route training for drivers on new routes.
“The job is very stressful. Drivers are being sent out on new routes without adequate training. About half leave in the first few months,” said one driver, who blamed management.
They knew about these problems for a long time. They are just putting out fires left right and centre.”
The driver said they have as little information as they commuters when they pull up at a stop and don't know why a previous service didn't run. “We are just turning up for out duties, we are given as little information as they are.”
Another driver said: “We can understand people's frustration. They are annoyed and frustrated and I cant blame them.” However, he said it is stressful facing people  giving out and said it is not the fault of the driver that does appear, that the previous two services didn't run.
He blamed lack of drivers and the new optimised rosters for the problems. “Bus Eireann haven’t got the manpower to provide the services and that is where the problem is.
Willie Noone of SIPTU said Bus Eireann appears to be blaming drivers for all of the disruption which he said it “totally unfair”. He said absenteeism had been at a certain level for some time and “the exceptional level of cancellations cannot be laid totally on the door of the drivers.”
He said drivers had indicated before the implementation of the running boards that they were not “physically realistic” and they are leading to delays.

Meanwhile Bus Eireann cited service changes, new rosters and absenteeism as the reasons for the problems on routes in Meath that led to the cancellation of multiple services.

Spokesperson Nicola Cooke said there had been a major overhaul of the busy N2/M3 corridor including the new NX Navan Express which provides 98 services daily between Dublin and Navan and the new services coincided with new optimised rosters for drivers, which have been put in place to make the company more efficient, and were agreed on and accepted by drivers unions
“There were some teething issues and difficulties experienced last week given the major changes to drivers' duties and boards, and there was more demand on services as passenger growth continues at up to seven per cent year on year.”
Ms Cooke said the major service enhancement required all  resources at their disposal but last week almost 12 per cent of the driver workforce called in ill with the illness rate double what it was this time last year.
“We have a spare driver panel to cover five per cent of absence drivers so we harnessed this and also called in sub-contractors to help cover the services. Despite our best efforts we could not cover all services and were forced to cancel some of these with no resources available to drive them. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused, and have worked hard to improve the situation.”
According to Bus Eireann 99.2 per cent of almost 1000 daily services on the Eastern Corridor were running on Tuesday. They disputed that there are not enough drivers to cover the additional services and Ms Cooke said they have the number of drivers required if they were all available for work.