Dublin Bus strike: Heavy traffic on routes from city centre

Heavy traffic is being reported in parts of Dublin on Thursday evening as the effects of the Dublin Bus strike are keenly felt.

Onset of rain at about 5.30pm is adding to commuters woes.

Traffic is heavy outbound from the North Quays through to Collins Avenue on the Swords Road, AA Roadwatch is reporting.

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The Navan Road N3 route towards Dublin City as Dublin Bus workers commence the first of their 48 Hour stoppages. Photograph: Alan Betson

Traffic is also reportedly slow inbound on Clanbrassil Street from before the Long Lane junction to Christchurch.

Delays continue onto High Street and Lower Bridge Street on to the Quays. It's also slow-moving outbound from the North King Street junction on Church Street to Harts Corner on the Phibsborough Road.

The North Circular Road is busy westbound is busy from Dorset Street through to Doyle's Corner at Phibsborough.

It's very slow on both the Old and New Cabra Roads approaching Cabra Cross, with outbound delays continuing through to the Baggot Rd junction on the Navan Road.

Along the Grand Canal, it's heavy heading west from before Baggot Street through to Ranelagh, AA Roadwatch reports.

Traffic is also heavy outbound from Harold’s Cross Park to the Rathgar Avenue junction on Harold’s Cross Road.

“It’s busy northbound on Macken Street from Grand Canal Street junction onto Samuel Beckett Bridge. Pearse Street itself is busy from before Macken Street junction onto the South Quays,” AA Roadwatch stated.

There are long delays on Sean Moore Road from the Beach Road junction onto Tom Clarke Bridge.

Outbound on the Stillorgan Road, it’s slow from Donnybrook to Kilmacud Road Lower.

It's also slow outbound on the Merrion Road from before St Vincent's Hospital to the Merrion Gates. Then further out, it's busy from the Frascati Shopping Centre to Temple Hill.

Traffic is also busy on Nutley Lane from the Merrion Road junction to the Stillorgan Road.

Meanwhile, the option of escalating the current Dublin Bus strike is to be considered by trade unions as part of a number of options at a meeting next week.

About 400,000 people have had their travel plans disrupted today as a result of the first in a series of planned stoppages by bus workers in a dispute over pay.

At present unions have scheduled six days of strike action in September -- including Thursday and Friday this week as well as Thursday and Friday next week -- however if the dispute continues they will review their strategy. There is currently no indication of any further attempts being made to resolve the row.

The general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) Dermot O’Leary said the group of unions at Dublin Bus would meet next Thursday to assess their plans.

“Obviously part of that consideration will be to ask whether at that point --after two days of strikes and into a third day -- do we need to escalate.”

"But people have to get to work and schools and colleges and certainly the NBRU would be bringing a view to the table that escalation should be the last resort. However if Shane Ross, the Government and the company continue to ignore us, the pressure will come on us from our members to escalate."

Trade union Siptu called on the Department of Transport "to provide a proper long-term funding plan for Dublin Bus".

Siptu divisional organiser Owen Reidy said: "Dublin Bus returned to profitability in 2014. This is despite the reduction of the State subvention to the company by 24 per cent in the last six years."

"There was also the crazy situation last year where the National Transport Authority took €2 million from the company's profits as it deemed them to have been too high. Meanwhile, workers at the company have not had a pay rise in eight years."

He said the department must stop starving the capital city’s public bus service of funds.

"Ireland is well out of line with best practice in Europe when it comes to funding public bus transport."

The industrial action, which will last until midnight on Friday, will see all Dublin Bus, Airlink, Nitelink and Ghostbus Tour services cancelled.

Motorists are not permitted to use bus lanes in the capital during the Dublin Bus strikes.

Additional travel disruption occurred today after an incident on the DART line at the south Dublin station of Salthill caused delays of 20 minutes.