A passenger of Bus Éireann has aired his frustration at being "let down" by the bus company while en route to Dublin Airport from Enniskillen which resulted in him having to pay a substantial amount of money for a taxi to complete his journey.

On September 23, Kevin and Jessica Chaffey from the Silverhill area of Enniskillen, took the 2pm bus from Enniskillen Bus Depot to Dublin Airport.

Unfortunately, on the outskirts of Enniskillen before Derrylin, the bus broke down. "Eventually another bus arrived and took us to Cavan which we were told was a replacement and would take us to Dublin Airport," said Kevin.

However, in Cavan, just minutes before the replacement bus was due to leave, a fellow passenger learned that the bus was to travel directly to the Busáras central bus station in Dublin, without stopping at the airport first.

"When I approached the driver, he told me the bus was going to Busáras, meaning there was no chance of us catching our flight which was due to leave at 7.20pm so with another couple we hired a taxi at a total cost of €150, €75 each," explained Kevin, noting that he feels let down, frustrated and annoyed by the situation.

"Had a passenger not told us, we would have missed our flight and wasted the money paid both for our flight and tickets for an event, which was the reason we were going away," he said, adding: "While acknowledging these things happen, it is not acceptable to be assured every effort would be made to take us to our destination only to find out there was never an intention to do so."

The Impartial Reporter asked Bus Éireann why the replacement bus would not travel to Dublin Airport, following the same route as the broken-down bus that it was replacing and if the company will be compensating the passengers that were impacted?

A Bus Éireann spokesperson said: "Bus Éireann regrets the impact caused to our customers on Friday, September 23 as a result of a mechanical failure on our Donegal to Dublin X30 service. Another scheduled service facilitated passengers on their onward journeys to Dublin (Busáras) but was unable to travel directly to Dublin Airport in this instance.

Passengers were advised they could make a transfer in Busáras to complete their journey to Dublin Airport. "Bus Éireann is focussed on the delivery of a punctual and reliable service as part of our overall service provision and we recognise the inconvenience this situation may have caused our customers. To date, 99 per cent of our 30/X30 services have operated in September.

"Refunds may be requested by contacting Bus Éireann Customer Care department who can be contacted by email: customercare@expressway.ie."

This newspaper also learned that a couple of weeks ago, a Bus Éireann customer travelling to Dublin Airport from Enniskillen arrived two hours after the scheduled time, causing them to almost miss their flight which resulted in much distress. Another customer, who is a regular user of the bus service, travelling to Donegal from Enniskillen most Friday evenings, explained that they are often waiting up to an hour or 90 minutes for the bus to arrive.

When asked what is causing buses to be late and if Bus Éireann is doing anything to tackle this issue, the spokesperson for the company responded:

"The punctuality of services can be impacted by a number of factors including road works and traffic congestion at peak periods. Bus Éireann at all times seeks to provide a reliable and punctual service for all of our customers and where this does not occur, we apologise for the inconvenience. 

"Bus Éireann is currently reviewing the timetables on these services. We encourage our customers to check the Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) section of the Expressway website expressway.ie/rtpi for the most up-to-date information.

"They can also call 0818 836 611 and our agents are available to help customers with any queries they might have between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday and between 8am and 6pm on weekends and public holidays."