Dublin Bus drivers are “feuding” with Dublin Bus controllers over “bullying” phone calls, various bus drivers have said.

Bus drivers across Dublin have been urged to turn off their radios by the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) after reports of “rude” interactions with Dublin Bus controllers.

Controllers contacting Dublin bus drivers through their radios have been putting drivers in dangerous situations, one bus driver said.

On The Moncrieff Show earlier today, Dublin bus driver Kathleen said drivers try hard to keep their schedule, but there are a variety of reasons buses might be early or late.

“You're not going to get the same volume of traffic at 11 o'clock in the morning or at that six o'clock in the evening,” she said.

“You’ve got rush hour, you've got passenger levels, you've got weather - it could be anything that could affect this.

“99% of drivers will keep their time.”

Kathleen said that drivers don’t run ahead of time on purpose as generally they become familiar with passengers on their routes and don’t want them missing their bus.

Inaccurate and frustrating

A ‘Press It’ box is an “on-time” device installed in Dublin buses to let drivers know if they are on schedule.

The boxes also allow Dublin Bus controllers to track drivers, often leading to phone calls over the radio in buses.

Kathleen said these boxes are often inaccurate and frustrating – especially when it comes to being ahead of schedule.

“On some of the routes there aren't reasonable places that you can pull in,” she said.

“If you have the indented bus stop fair enough, you can pull in there for a minute or two - but if you're going along a straight road or through a village or whatever, you can't pull in.”

Buses in Dublin city, 20-1-21. Image: NurPhoto SRL / Alamy

Kathleen recalled a route she was on where five buses were pulled in at a “timing point”, making it impossible for her to also pull in.

“It's frustrating, you know, and it's going to hold up traffic,” she said.

“You have to controller then on you, saying ‘I asked you to pull in’, but where am I going to do that?”

'Give us a break'

Kathleen said she’s not claiming the controllers are “bullying” drivers but she’s asking them to “give us a break here”.

“I got called three times in about five minutes, and I'm like, ‘Jesus, will you give me a break here? Where do you want to pull over - into the bushes?’,” she said.

“At one point I [waited] seven minutes, I was two minutes behind when I left Hueston station, I got around to the first bus stop around on Sarsfield key, and it was two and a half minutes ahead.

“How is that possible? I've only dropped in driving for like, 50 seconds.”

'Enough to be doing'

SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) have advised bus drivers to turn off their radios when they are driving for safety reasons.

“I'm not answering if I'm driving 70 kilometers down a road with a bus full of passengers,” Kathleen said.

“I've got enough to be doing and concentrating on.”

Listen here:

Main image: A Dublin Bus on College Green, 28-12-15. Image: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie