THERE have been calls for an increase of bus services to one County Limerick town, with locals saying that despite only being 19 kilometers from Limerick City, a roundtrip to the Treaty City can take up to six hours.
The Croom Community Development Association (CCDA) made the calls in light of the town’s growth.
The CCDA says that even with the increased investment in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and Coláiste Chiaraín, as well as a 17 per cent population increase, transport services haven’t kept pace.
Patricia Ryan from CCDA said that “despite the growth in population, and increased services at Croom Hospital, Croom has little in the way of public transport services to and from the town”.
The community group undertook a transport survey to understand the needs of locals in the community, finding that bus services from Croom to Limerick needed to be made more frequent and that more services to the Orthopaedic Hospital were needed.
David Hurley of CCDA said that the first issue with the current 320 bus is the distance to the hospital from the stop.
“The distance currently is just under a kilometre, a considerable walk if you are an older person. Secondly, there needs to be a greater number of services so that the bus is an effective way to get to and from Croom Hospital,” Mr Hurley outlined.
“For an appointment at 10 o’clock breast check appointment could mean leaving Limerick at 7:45am and returning at 13.48pm for a 30-minute appointment. That is six hours,” he said.
