In April 2025 CityLink submitted an application to amend Licence 07068, which covers services operating between Galway and Letterfrack on Route 923.
The amendment involves the removal of two Monday to Sunday services which operated at:
- 19:00 departure from Galway to Clifden.
- 21:00 departure from Clifden to Galway.
The Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan aims to improve public transport services in rural areas across Ireland. As part of this plan, the Galway to Letterfrack corridor, which includes Routes 923, 419 and 423 has been identified as a key area for improvement. Connecting Ireland aims to achieve a frequency of a bus every hour between Galway and Clifden.
The aim of this determination is to provide an overview of the impact of the withdrawal of these two 923 services along this Route, and associated impacts.
In circumstances where a commercial operator ceases or curtails services, the NTA will examine whether, in the absence of any commercial services, a public service obligation (PSO) exists to provide socially necessary but commercially unviable public transport services. Such examination will include an assessment of the demand for public transport services and options to either re-configure existing PSO services, including Local Link services, or to competitively tender for the provision of services. In either event, the NTA’s ability to provide such services is subject to the availability of funding.
The impacts of this amendment are the following:
- The withdrawal of the 19:00 service from Galway and the 21:00 service from Clifden, the main impact is a reduction of connectivity between Galway and Clifden
