BUS ÉIREANN RECEIVED over 2,000 more complaints from customers in 2018 than in 2017, new figures show.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that 12,201 complaints were issued to Bus Éireann in 2018. 10,134 complaints were sent to the company in 2017.

More than 5,500 complaints were sent in the first half of 2019. This compares to 5,889 sent in the same period in 2018 and 3,329 in the same period in 2017.

The National Transport Authority records complaints for Bus Éireann in four week periods instead of every month.

The period with the most complaints last year was from around October until the end of the year, with over 5,600 sent during that time.

The lowest period for complaints in 2017 was around April where 163 complaints were issued during a four week period.

Related Read Donegal wheelchair user left without accessible bus to Dublin despite booking five days in advance

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said that 42 million people travelled on the buses in 2018, an increase of 11% from the year prior.

“The percentage of complaints per 100,000 passenger journeys remained the same in both 2017 and 2018 at 0.04%,” the spokesperson said. “A notable factor in customer complaints is reliability, which is a result of increased traffic congestion.”

The spokesperson added that the company will continue to focus on customer experience in the future. They said timetable changes implemented in the past year have shown an improvement in punctuality in Waterford, Limerick and Galway services.

Bus Éireann made a profit of €1.6 million last year after making a loss of €6.8 million in 2017.

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In August, it was reported that a complaint was issued to Bus Éireann after a wheelchair user in Donegal was left without an accessible bus to Dublin despite booking the journey five days in advance.

Bus Éireann apologised for the incident and offered a full refund to the customer involved.