Budget 2025: Funding allocated for Mullingar town bus service and expansion of ED at hospital

Funding has been secured in Budget 2025 for the provision of a new town bus service for Mullingar.

The routes for the new service are currently being finalised and it is expected that it will be operational some time next year. It is one of a number of public transport services set to be rolled out across the county in the next 12 months.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner recently, the chief executive of Westmeath County Council says that the new bus service will be a major boost to the town and should reduce people's reliance on their cars.

“It's on the particular routes where the greatest demand is and because of that, then, people use it. It's cheap as well. The visibility is really important, that the buses are running there all the time. The stops are there. The timetable is there. People know they can rely on it and it'll bring them conveniently and easily from A to B every day of the week: to school, to work, to shopping, whatever it is that you want to do, to come for a pint in the evening, there it is for you. So, you know, it's that visibility and that service that's important.”

At the September meeting of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, Andrew Archer from the transport consultancy firm Systra, which has drawn up the new Mullingar Transport Plan, told members that 80 per cent of the town's future population will live within 400 metres of a bus stop.

Expansion of ED at Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar

Funding has also been allocated for a new Rapid Expansion Unit for children and adults at the ED. The new unit is set to open in 2025. (More details to follow)