FERMANAGH is now more connected with its neighbours to the west than ever, with Bus Éireann announcing it has “significantly enhanced” its services from Enniskillen to Ballina, via Sligo.
The the Route 458 service had already been running several times a day between the Fermanagh and the Mayo town, taking in a number of stops in Cavan, Leitrim and Sligo along the way.
Now, as part of a plan to improve connectivity in rural Ireland, it will see the buses departing and arriving more often each day.
The new timetable – which came into affect on Sunday, December 17th – will see eight round trips every day from Monday to Saturday, with expanded hours of operation, including earlier and later departure times.
Bus Éireann has noted the improved service could be of particular benefit to students, as it provides increased connectivity with Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Sligo, with seven return trips each Sunday.
“Bus Éireann is delighted to introduce these significant enhancements to Route 458, Ballina to Enniskillen, increasing the daily service to eight round trips Monday to Saturday and eight round trips on a Sunday,” said Brian Connolly, senior operations manager (west) with Bus Éireann.
Mr Connolly noted the enhancements had been made possible through support from the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, which is a major national public transport initiative developed and funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of the Transport for Ireland (TFI) Network.
“Thanks to the National Transport Authority, through the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, we have added almost 1.8 million kilometres to our network this month, creating over 58 new jobs,” he said.
“Demand for our services in the West is higher now than pre-pandemic, passenger numbers nationally are 20-30 percent higher than they were in 2019, this enhanced service will enable us to connect our growing number of customers with who and what matters to them.”
Updated details on the new Route 458 timetable, and a list of all its stops, is available on www.buseireann.ie
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