Over the twelve years or so that I’ve lived here in Cork, I’ve written a lot about the buses on Leeside. And if you’ve been following my blog for even part of that time, you’ll know that a lot of the time, this wasn’t very complimentary. Bus services in the city leave a lot to be desired, to put it mildly, from understaffed operators to bus drivers who don’t give a toss about their jobs and city councillors that go out of their way to sabotage even the most basic improvements to the bus network. For the last six years of so, this network has been mostly the domain of 123 city buses operated by Bus Éireann, Irelands national bus operator. The mainstay of this fleet are Eclipse Urban single-decker and Eclipse Gemini double-decker buses by Northern Irish manufacturer Wrightbus, although a small fleet of 15 Mercedes Benz Citaro single decker buses have somehow also managed to make their way to Leeside.
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| These Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini 3 are the mainstay of my local bus route, the 220. They’re also frequently inadequate, as seen by the overcrowding here. |
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| Single-door versions of the Gemini 3 are also in use, such as this one at Kent Station. |
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| These older model Gemini 2 are still frustratingly common on the network. |
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| Still a relative rarity on the Cork bus network are these Mercedes Citaro buses, which is a shame really. I find them far superior to their Wrightbus counterparts. |
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| Speaking of which, from my personal experience, the single decker Wright Eclipse Urban are the weakest link in the city bus fleet in Cork, as well as the most uncomfortable buses currently in use. |
The last new buses to arrive in Cork were a number of Eclipse Gemini 3 with double doors, most of which entered service just before the pandemic, at least going by my experience as a regular passenger on the 220 bus route. And to be honest, I’d pretty much resigned myself that this would be the state of buses in Cork until the new completely electric vehicles that are supposed to form part of BusConnects are introduced sometime in the latter half of the 2020s. That’s provided Cork City Council don’t cut that scheme back even more! Don’t get me wrong, the buses are serviceable and, especially in the case of the Eclipse Gemini 3 and Citaro, actually pretty good. All of the buses are low floor, many have USB charging ports at the seats, all have WiFi, for those that still need that, and they’re generally reliable. But especially the older Gemini 2 and Eclipse Urban buses by Wrightbus are beginning to show their age. The Eclipse Urban were pretty grotty even when I moved here in 2012, with certain seats prone to have water drip down on them from poorly fitted ventilation hatches in the roof. But with Dublin getting first dibs on anything new and the likes of Limerick having far more aggressive representation in the Irish parliament, Cork was seemingly set to keep its fleet of hand-me-downs.
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| These new Enviro 400ER sure stand out, and not just because of their shape. The paint scheme is new as well and will eventually be rolled out to all buses operating under contract to the NTA. |
Until earlier this year, that is. It appears that at least someone in the National Transport Authority remembered that Cork actually exists and has reallocated a number of the latest generation of city bus to the city. I first noticed these back in April, in fact, you’d be hard pressed not to, given that these new vehicles sport the distinctive green and yellow livery of Transport for Ireland, rather than the traditional red and white of Bus Éireann. As it turns out, these new buses are Enviro 400ER, hybrid buses by Alexander Dennis Ltd., a Scotland-based manufacturer. They look suitably modern, that’s for sure. Granted, in keeping with the tradition of Ireland’s second city, these are still hand-me-downs from Limerick, but for once, this makes sense, as that city is transitioning to fully electric city buses. But what makes these new buses so special? Well, as I just mentioned, they’re hybrid buses, meaning that in addition to the usual diesel motor, these also sport electric motors linked to a 32 KwH battery pack. As impressive as that sounds, the range on batteries alone is pretty low, at only around three kilometres, but it’ll still allow these buses to accelerate away from bus stops or traffic lights without choking out the entire area in exhaust fumes. Beyond that, the buses sport wider aisles to make the bus easier to navigate for wheelchair users, charging ports for mobile devices, as well as the usual real-time passenger information displays and onboard WiFI.
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| The new white destination signs are much easier to read in my opinion, though that doesn’t necessarily make them easier to photograph… |
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| The omission of fold-down seats in the wheelchair area should make life at least somewhat easier for wheelchair users. |
So, what’s the passenger experience like on these newfangled yokes? Well, it’s different. It’s a low floor bus like all of the others operating on the Cork city routes, although I have to question how much sense that makes, given that most bus drivers seem to ignore the raised section of the bus stop like they owe it child support payments. You immediately notice the wider corridor between the front wheel well and the stairs to the upper deck, though the jury is still out as to whether that makes it into any less of a choke point. There are plenty of handrails all over the bus though, which is a godsend given the quality of most of the drivers on the roads these days. One surprising change is that the fold-out seats in the wheelchair area are gone. At the very least, that should make it easier for wheelchair users to find a space quickly. Moreover, both the wheelchair spot and the dedicated pram/stroller space on the other side of the aisle are now clearly delineated, which makes those areas easily recognisable. That is a general change on these new buses, because the seats of passengers with reduced mobility are also clearly marked with a different seat colour.
As for the regular seats, I found the seat pitch to be pretty cramped. Then again, I’m somewhat larger than average, and these buses are primarily meant for city and suburban services, so I guess that’s to be expected. Once again, all seats have USB charge points for mobile devices, however these are still USB-A, rather than USB-C, which seems like a missed opportunity to me. Beyond that, most of it is par for the course. Like the older models, the Enviro 400 also sport RTPI Displays that show the next couple of stops that the bus will call at, although I’m not a fan of the new location for these displays, at least on the lower deck. These displays have been integrated into the wall around the stairwell to the top deck, protected by a highly reflective surface which can make them hard to read. Also, while the location may be new, these displays are apparently linked into the same backend system present on the older buses in Cork, which means that they are equally susceptible to malfunctions and “hallucinations”. On one of my rides on the new buses, the display showed the next three steps as Carrigaline, which is the southern terminus of the 220 bus, and I was seeing that display on a northbound service out of Grand Parade!
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If the passenger information display on the right seems a bit repetitive to you, then you’re right. Carrigaline is on there four times, despite the fact that the bus is at Grand Parade in the city and heading the other way. Plus ça change…
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One thing that is clearly different is the ride quality. These buses are far smoother than anything else in Bus Éireann’s Cork-based fleet. I’m not sure whether the engine is more modern, or they simply installed better sound dampening, but even when the engine is running, the Enviro 400ER is nowhere near as loud as even the newer Wrightbus models. Plus, there’s the electrical component. By default, the engine shuts off when the bus pulls into a stop, which threw me off the first time I experienced it. It is only when the bus silently accelerates out of the stop that it becomes clear what’s going on. The engine automatically comes on above a certain speed, but this still allows the bus to get over the initial acceleration without spewing exhaust gases everywhere.
I also couldn’t help but notice that there were still a few teething troubles with the new model, at least as far as operations in Cork are concerned. I suppose this makes sense, given that the buses are still relatively new in Ireland, and essentially brand new here on Leeside, where I’ve so far only counted three of these hybrid vehicles. For starters, the doors seem to have a bit of a mind of their own, opening or closing seemingly at random at times, although thankfully only when the bus is stopped. Similarly, the wheelchair ramp, which is apparently supposed to be automatic, was acting up on one of my recent journeys. To be completely fair though, this could just as well have been due to the unfamiliarity of the driver with the new vehicles. Once again, there are, as far as I can tell, only three Enviro 400ER operating in Cork at the moment, so it is to be expected that only a small number of drivers will have any significant experience with them. Having said that, this will hopefully change as more buses are rotated down from Limerick over the coming months, as more electric buses take over there.
At the end of all of this, I can’t help but feel disappointed. Sure, it’s great to see new equipment rolled out in Cork, and the Enviro 400ER are an interesting concept to be sure, but they definitely feel like a giant step sideways to me. I mean, we’re in the 3rd decade of the 21st century. Cork should be barrelling along at full speed with a much needed, and long overdue, investment in light rail. Instead, the city is still dicking around with buses, and not even fully electric ones at that. What’s worse, any attempt to invest in the underlying infrastructure for these buses is actively undermined at every step by elected councillors, the council executive and the “great” people of Cork who seem to be taking obstructionism, obstinacy and good old-fashioned NIMBYism to be a competitive sport. This city is going to need some much more drastic action, and soon, if it wants to remain an attractive location or even stay relevant.
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