Cork Transport Info: 2021

Christmas 2021 / New Year 2022 bus and train services in Cork

A summary of bus and train services in Cork city and county

for the

2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year period.

This is based on information published by the bus companies, and may change.
Always check the services you want to use with the bus company.

West Cork Connect have announced a new bus service between Bantry and Cork City, starting from Monday 13 September 2021. It will be known as route 229.

This service has been planned for some time, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 restrictions. It will be starting on a limited basis now, and is likely to be extended from January 2022.

Buses will run seven days a week, initially with two buses in each direction, each day. The exact times differ between weekdays and weekends.

Bus stops are in Bantry (Hotel and Industrial estate), Durras Cross, Coolmane, Aughaville, Drimoleague, Dunmanway (Bantry Rd, opposite Aldi, and Chapel St), Ballineen, Enniskeane, Murragh, Bandon, Innishannon, Wilton / CUH, Western Rd, Grande Parade and St Patricks' Quay in Cork city.

Route map for 229 - Bantry

Expressway X8 replaced by Bus Eireann 245X (Cork / Dublin)

The National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann have has announced that from Sunday 5 September 2021:

Route X8 (Cork to Dublin City-centre) is cancelled
Route, 245X will run 4 times a day (Mon-Sun) between Cork and Dublin, with stops in Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Cahir, Cashel and Newlands Cross. It will have the same timetable and stops as the previous route x8, but Bus Éireann will receive a subsidy for running the service.

Important differences between the X8 and 245X services:

Buses will have TFI/Bus Éireann colours / logos, instead of the Expressway logos.
Some fares between Dublin and Cork will increase by €1
Leap cards can be used to buy tickets, and a 30% discount will be applied when they are.
Tickets can be purchased on Bus Éireann's website, but seats cannot be reserved.

This is a follow-up to the change in January 2021, when the X8 service stopped travelling to Dublin airport.

The current route 245 (Cork to Clonmel) bus is not affected by this change.

See Cork regional buses for information about other services in these areas.

GoBus changes in Dublin / Cork timetable

Gobus have announced changes to their route 707 - Cork / Dublin city / Dublin airport service, effective from Monday 24 May 2021.

The following buses are changed from seven-days per week to Friday-and-Sunday-only:

9:30am from Cork to Dublin City then Airport
5pm from Dublin Airport to the city and then to Cork .

Despite these cancellations, Gobus are still offering eight departures a day between Cork and Dublin, with times spread throughout the day, including times which allow for for early-morning check-ins.

See Cork regional buses for information about other services on this route.

Bus Éireann Expressway changes - May 2021

Bus Éireann have announced cancellations to a number of Expressway services, from Saturday 15 May 2021.

Cork services that are affected are on Route 51 (Galway / Shannon / Limerick / Cork):

The 6:05pm, 7:05pm and 8:05pm buses from Galway are cancelled
The 5:05pm bus from Galway only travels to Limerick
The 6:25pm bus from Cork is cancelled
The 3:25 and 5:25 buses from Cork only travel to Limerick

See Cork regional buses for information about other services in this area.

See the Expressway services map for a summary of all expressway routes.

Bus 226 / 226x - Airport / Kinsale

This map shows the route for the 226 - Apirport / Kinsale bus service in Cork city and county.

Buses on this route travel from Kent Cork Railway Station then along Railway Street, Penrose Quay, Brian Boru bridge, Clontarf Street, Cork Bus Station / Parnell Place, Angelsea St ((or inbound via Anderson Quay Michael Collins Bridge, Parliament Street, Lapps Quay, George's Quay, White St, Douglas St), Summerhill South, Evergreen Rd, South Link Rd, Kinsale Rd - R600, Pier Rd Kinsale.

One bus each day travels via Washington St, Western Rd, UCC, Victoria Cross, Model Farm Rd to Munster Technological University / Cork Institute of Technology.

Bus 202a - Hollyhill

This map shows the route for the 202A - Hollyhill bus service in Cork City

Buses on this route travel through from Route 202A - Mahon Point to Merchant's Quay and then via St Patrick's Bridge (inbound via Christy Ring Bridge and Lavitt Quay), Camden Quay, Mulgrave Rd, John Redmond St, Upper John St, Roman St, Cathedral Street, Cathedral Rd, (outbound: Gurranabraher Rd, Knockfree Ave, Churchfield Hill, Cronin's Field) Baker's Rd, Harbour View Rd, Kilmore Heights (Apple)

Bus Éireann have announced changes to ticketing for Expressway coach services, from Tuesday, 23 February 2021. They say that when you buy a ticket for a journey on a route that is served by both Expressway and PSO (ie government subsidised) Bus Éireann bus services:

You must choose the type of bus (ie Expressway or non-Expressway) when you buy the ticket, and
You can only use the ticket on the type of bus that it is for.

This means that tickets for Expressway services can only be used on Expressway services, and tickets for Bus Éireann Public Service Obligation (PSO) services (ie everything else), can only be used on non-Expressway routes.

This is different from the past, when Expressway coaches accepted regular Bus Éireann tickets and vice versa.

Consequences for longer journeys

If you want to travel with Bus Éireann from a place that is not served by Expressway services, to somewhere far-away that is , eg from Kinsale to Dublin, then you will need to buy two separate tickets. One will be for the non-Expressway part of the journey eg Kinsale to Cork, and one for the Cork to Dublin (ie Expressway) part of the trip.

This change will be phased in over four weeks from 23-February 2021.

However it is already (20-Feb-2021) impossible book through-journeys in one transaction on the Bus Éireann website; Instead, you get the message "There are no direct journeys for your search." And it is very likely that you will not be able to buy tickets for through journeys on-board buses from 23-February.

If the Bus Éireann website or driver tells you that "there are no direct journeys for your trip" then you need to buy separate tickets (single or return) for each part of the trip. And because the website doesn't have a shopping-cart, you need to do a separate transaction for each part of the trip: there is no way to group tickets together and buy them all in one transaction.

Questions can be emailed to CustomerCare@expressway.ie
All e-tickets will be issued from tickets@expressway.ie

A high-level map of Expressway services is available here.

Note: There are times when an Expressway coach is used to provide a non-Expressway service. Presumably in these cases, the non-Expressway rules will apply because it is a non-Expressway route.

Other changes to Expressway ticketing

A number of other changes are being make to the Expressway ticketing system, from Tuesday 23-February-2021:

Advance Seat reservations will be available on all all Expressway routes, including an option for Free Travel Scheme passengers.
There will be priority boarding for pre-booked customers: walk-up passengers will only be accepted if there is a seat available for them.
On-coach payments can be made using Contactless, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and TFI Leap Card.

Note that these features will not be available for non-Expressway services.

Bus Eireann Expressway services summary map

This is an overview map of Expressway coach services run by Bus Éireann (as at September 2021) presented inside Google maps.

Bus 202a - Mahon Point

This map shows the route for the 202A - Mahon Point bus service in Cork City

Buses on this route travel through from Route 202A - Hollyhill (Apple) to Merchant's Quay and then via Anderson's Quay, N27, Eamon de Valera Bridge, Marina Tce, Victoria Rd, Blackrock Rd, Beaumont Drive, Upper Beaumont Drive, Church Rd, Skehard Rd, Ringmahon Rd, St Michael's Drive,

Bridges in Cork city centre and surrounds

This map shows the location and name of all bridges in Cork city centre and surrounds which cross over the River Lee. This includes both vehicle and pedestrian only / footbridges.

The map does not include overpasses, level crossings, railway bridges, bridges which are above railway tracks and similar.

Bus 207A - Glenthorn

This map shows the route for the 207A - Glenthorn bus service in Cork City.

Services on this bus travel from Merchant's Quay then via St Patrick's Bridge, McCurtain Street (inbound via Brian Boru Street / Bridge, Oliver Plunkett St, Parnell Place, Cork Bus station), Summerhill North, Ballyhooly Rd, Glen Ave North Ring Rd, N20, Watercourse Rd, Thomas Davis St, Dublin St, Dublin Hill Lower, Dublin Hill Middle, Glenthorn Rd, Glenthorn Avenue, Glenthorn Drive.

Bus Éireann have advised that from Saturday 30 January 2021, Expressway route X8 (Cork / Dublin) will no longer travel to or from Dublin Airport: instead the service will end at Búsarus (Dublin Bus Station).

See Cork Regional Buses for information about other services to Dublin Airport.

Cork ferry services

Information about ferry services in Cork city and county.

Bus 214 - Glanmire / Knockraha

This map shows the route for the 214 - Glanmire bus service in Cork City / County.

Services on this bus travel through from route 214 - Hospital to St Patrick Street, and then via St Patrick's Bridge, McCurtain Street, Railway Street, Aldred Street (or inbound Penrose Quay, Brian Boru St/Bridge, Cork Bus Station, Merchant's Quay), Horgan's Quay, Water Street, Lower Glanmire Rd, N8, R639, Hazelwood, Brooklodge Grove, E Cliff Rd, Glyntown Heights / Road, Marwood Ave.

One bus each hour continues along Brooklodge Grove, New Line, unnamed roads.

Until December 2020, this bus route was numbered 221, and ran between St Patrick Street and Glanmire.

Bus 219 - CIT to Ringmahon / Mahon Point

This map shows the route for the 219 - Cork Institute of Technology / Ringmahon AKA southern-orbital bus service in Cork City

Buses on this route travel from City Gate (Mahon Point Rd), via St Michael's Drive, Ringmahon Rd, Skehard Rd, Well Rd, Douglas Rd, Church St, Douglas West, South Douglas Rd, Curragh Rd, Pearse Rd, Togher Rd, Spur Hill, Sardfield Rd, Sarsfield Roundabout, Bishopstown Rd, Curraheen Rd, Melbourne Rd

Cork City boundary map

This is a line showing the boundaries of Cork City from June 2019, superimposed on Google Maps.

It was prepared using information from Cork City Council.
Like their map, it is made available under a Creative Commons attribution 4.0 international license (although more restrictions may apply to the Google map underpinning this, depending on the licences your organisation holds).

It it is NOT correct to the nearest metre, but is a good representation of the map that Cork City Council shared.

Bus 220x - Crosshaven express

This map shows the route for the 220x - Crosshaven express bus service in Cork City

Most services of this bus travel from route 220x - Ovens to Grand Parade (city library) and then along South Mall, Parnell Place, Old Station Rd, (inwards via Eglinton St, Albert Quay, Angelsea St) Southern Link Rd, South Ring Rd, N28, Cork Rd, Main St Carrigaline Middle, R612, Lower Rd, Crosshaven village.

Bus 220 - Carrigaline - Crosshaven - Camden

This map shows the route for the 220 - Crosshaven bus service in Cork City

Most services of this bus travel from route 220 - Ovens to Grand Parade (city library) and then along South Mall, Angelsea St, Southern Rd, Douglas Rd, Douglas East, Fingerpost Roundabout, Maryborough Hill, N28, Cork Rd, R613, Ballea Rd, Kilmoney Rd, Fernea Rd, Crosshaven Rd, Carragaline Rd, R612, Lower Rd, Camden Rd.

Bus 220x - Ovens express

This map shows the route for the 220x - Ovens express bus service in Cork City

Most services of this bus travel from route 220x - Crosshaven express to Grand Parade (city library) and then along Washington St, Western Rd (inbound via Dyke Pde, Sheares St, Courthouse St), Carrigrohane Rd (N22), Main Street (Ballincollig), R608, unnamed road, Grange Terrace.

However there are few buses, at different times of the day, which are labelled 220x but which go different ways for part of the route, eg to Wilton / CUH, or from Carraigaline or through it a different way. These are not shown on this map. You can see them on the timetable, which is linked from the main City Buses page.

Route Summary Map: Bus Services in Cork City

This is an overview map for all city-route bus services in Cork city, presented inside Google maps.

Bus 220 - Ovens, via UCC and Ballincollig

This map shows the route for the 220 - Ovens (EMC) bus service in Cork City

The bus travels from route 220 - Carrigaline to Grand Parade (city library) and then along Washington St, Western Rd (inbound via Dyke Pde, Sheares St, Courthouse St), Victoria Cross, Model Farm Rd, Carrigrohane Rd, Main Street (Ballincollig), R608, unnamed road, Grange Terrace.

Bus 215a - Mahon Pt via Boreenmanna Rd

This map shows the route for the 215A - South Mall to Jacob's Island via Boreenmanna Rd bus service.

The bus travels from South Mall, Parnell Bridge, Angelsea St, Old Station Rd, South Link Rd, Boreenmanna Rd, Churchyard Lane, Skehard Rd, Link Rd, Mahon Pt Rd, Sanctuary Rd,

Bus 215 - Mahon Point

This map shows the route for the 215 - Jacob's Island bus service.

The bus travels through from route 215 - Cloghroe to St Patrick, Street, Grand Pde, South Mall, George's Quay, South Terrace, Infirmary Rd, Southern Road, Douglas Rd, Bellair Estate, Ballinlough Rd, Churchyard Lane, Skehard Rd, Link Rd, Mahon Pt Rd, Sanctuary Rd,

Bus 207 - Glenheights

This map shows the route for the 207 - Glenheights bus service.

The bus travels through from route 207 - Donnybrook to St St Patrick's St, McCurtain St, Summerhill North, Ballyhooly Rd, Lower Dublin Hill, Upper Dublin Hill, Glenthorn Drive.