TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon launches new bus service linking Mullingar and Athlone

TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon is launching a new bus route to improve connectivity between Mullingar and Athlone, from Monday 28 August.

This new route is part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, a major national public transport initiative developed and funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as part of the Transport for Ireland (TFI) Network.

Route 819 will operate five return trips seven days a week.

It is the second of two new rural regular routes the NTA and TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon launched this summer.

The route will connect villages and areas such as Castletown Geoghegan, Loughnavalley, Ballymore, Drumraney, Mount Temple and Baylin.

The new route will offer a peak-time service for commuters as well as late evening services.

It will also provide improved connectivity to regional bus services and the wider TFI network with connections at Mullingar and Athlone Irish Rail station to facilitate onward travel to Dublin, Sligo and Galway.

It will also serve the FÁS Centre in Garrycastle and the Fardrum stop will connect passengers to the Athlone campus of the Technological University of the Shannon.

The route will also serve as a link between Mullingar and Belvedere House Gardens and Park, with three services a day.

TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon general manager, Damien O’Neill, said: “We are delighted to launch this important link between the towns of Mullingar and Athlone.

"This route is a priority for our area, and it will play an important part in developing reliable connections for our passengers.

"We all know the importance of using sustainable modes of public transport from an environmental point of view.

"It is also vital that passengers have a frequent bus service which they can rely on to travel to work, college, training, sightseeing, or meeting family and friends.

“In partnership with the NTA we are working to deliver affordable, accessible, appropriate public transport for our area.

"The NTA is committed to the growth and development of local bus services, which in this case, is a brand-new high frequency service linking two key rural towns that will provide opportunities for people to get where they need to go.”