Council 'not funded for bus shelters'

Kildare County Council is not grant-aided to provide bus shelters, and any application for one should be lodged with Bus Eireann, councillors of Naas MD have been told, writes Brian Byrne. The discussion was in relation to requests that a shelter be provided in Kilcullen.

At their meeting this afternoon, a report from the District Engineer noted that grant aid is provided by the National Transport Authority to Bus Eireann for the installation of new or replacement shelters, on a limited basis annually. Local authorities are not funded for shelters under current arrangements, the councillors heard.

The report also noted that private bus operators are only grant-aided for shelters on Public Service Obligation routes, and in such instances these are provided through Bus Eireann. Also, private operators must have a prior agreement with Bus Eireann for the shared use of such shelters, as well as the provision of timetable and other information within them.

The District Engineer concluded that this would, therefore, suggest that all requests for bus shelters should be lodged with Bus Eireann rather than with Kildare County Council or directly with the National Transport Authority (NTA).