Bus Éireann hopes to double passenger numbers as it experiences “massive growth”. 

Newly published data has revealed the bus company carried 107 million passengers last year - breaking the 100 million mark for the first time ever.

The number of journeys grew by 19.5% in a single year and CEO Stephen Kent hailed it as proof of a “major transformation”.

“It’s not an overnight success but it has been something that has been developed over the last number of years,” he told The Pat Kenny Show.

“If we go back five years, we were probably delivering about 80 million passengers.

“So, when you see 107 million in 2023, you can accept that is massive growth.”

Mr Kent said he and his colleagues are “ambitious” for the future of the company and predicted growth would continue to be strong in the years ahead.

“We actually see ourselves, potentially longer-term, doubling passenger growth,” he said.

“We might not get there in five years but the long-term vision is to double [the number of] passengers from their current 107 million.

“I believe that’s absolutely possible, there’s a momentum in place.”

Mr Kent credited a number of Government policies for the increase in people travelling by bus.

“We have a lot of commuter town and city services and they have been massively growing,” he said.

“In particular, supported by the National Transport Authority, there’s a lot of increased frequency happening, a lot of investment in a new fleet, lower fares as part of a Government initiative to help people with the cost of living.

“So, all of those have brought huge value.”

According to the EPA, emissions in the transport sector rose in 2023 by 0.3%.

Under its Climate Action Plan, the Government hopes to halve carbon emissions by the year 2030 and Mr Kent said Bus Éireann is gradually decarbonising its fleet.

“We were the first company that introduced a fully electric bus service in Athlone,” he said.

“And we followed it this year with Limerick, so we’ve learnt [about] the range and fortunately in the proximity of the range we’re offering, we have depots that have been supported by substations and we’re charging overnight.”

Overall, 21.4% of Irish emissions last year came from the transport sector.

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Main image: A Bus Éireann coach to Galway. Picture by: Alamy.com