Nenagh councillors have called for upgrades to the bus and rail services to better serve students who are commuting.
Due to the severe shortage of student accommodation this year, many students in Tipperary are commuting daily to college in Limerick.
Councillor Ger Darcy raised the issue at the recent Nenagh Municipal District meeting and asked that they write to the bus service providers to come with a better plan to facilitate students.
Cathaoirleach Michael O’Meara also called for the rail line to be upgraded.
Councillor Darcy told Tipp FM that services can’t cope with the current demand.
“Accommodation in the city is hard to come by, so more and more of them are commuting and more and more of them are requiring a bus service.
“The difficulty is that we need more capacity, really and truly, from Nenagh and further afield into the city.
“Maybe we need a system where more of the bus companies would drive around by UL and the other third level institutions, because some of the services go to the city centre and then you’ve to find your way from there.”
Councillor Darcy added that there are serious capacity issues, as sometimes buses have been too full to bring students to college.
The issue was met with agreement from fellow councillors and Cathaoirleach Michael O’Meara added that the rail service is also lacking.
“A major upgrade of the Nenagh rail line and the bus commuting route as well, in the Nenagh Municipal Area is needed.
“I raised the issue regarding the upgrading of the Nenagh rail network, especially for commuters travelling in and out of Limerick.
“There’s a huge amount of people now that would use the rail line, students especially who can’t get accommodation and require some way of getting to Limerick.”
Councillor O’Meara said that funding to upgrade the rail line could be sought from European Regional Development funds or under the new climate action process.
