A Dublin Bus driver who was assaulted last month has said she can still see her attackers face when she closes her eyes at night.

Deborah, a bus driver in Tallaght, was speaking as some routes to the area have been curtailed because of anti-social behaviour.

The change affects the 27, 65B and 77A services.

A letter was sent to Dublin Bus on behalf of drivers from the National Bus and Railway Union (NBRU) and SIPTU on Wednesday.

Deborah told The Hard Shoulder she was attacked while working just before Christmas.

"I was physically assaulted during the evening on a Sunday by a large mob," she said.

"There were about 40 or 50 people that got on the bus and attacked me.

"They were trying to take me out of the cab; another one put their hands inside the cab and slapped me.

"One of them put his hand inside the cab through a little gap, and he had a snowball in his hand.

"I know this sounds funny, because there was a snowball on my face, but it wasn't funny".

Deborah said they were "a large group of teenagers."

"A few of them, the most violent ones, I'd say they were in their 20s."

'I pressed the alarm'

Deborah said she contacted central control, but there wasn't much they could do.

"We have an alarm and a radio to contact central control, so I pressed the alarm straight away and they were there with me the whole time - on the radio," she said.

"They contacted the Guards, but there was nothing really they could do".

A view inside a Dublin Bus. Picture by: Keith Poynton / Alamy Stock Photo

She said this was not an isolated incident.

"I hear things happening all the time - honestly there is diversions everyday at any time of the day," she said.

"[When] you have five different diversions... that tells you something: that buses shouldn't be going in there.

"At the moment I'm not going to do this route for a while; honestly I don't know if I ever want to do this route again.

"I'm still in shock and I'm still waking up at night thinking about what happened.

"I can still close my eyes at night and see his face, the most violent one," she added.

It has renewed calls for a dedicated Garda unit to police the transport sector.

Main image: A Dublin Bus in Dublin city centre. Picture by: Martin Philpott / Alamy Stock Photo