Anyone who has stood at a stop in Bearna watching a full 424 sail past will welcome this one. Since Sunday 1 November, eight extra weekday services are running on Route 424, which links Galway city with Bearna, An Spidéal and An Cheathrú Rua.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann say the changes are a response to rising demand and capacity pressures, mainly at peak times. They come on top of two extra services added at the end of September.
The new 424 times
According to the NTA, these are the additional weekday departures from 1 November:
Morning
- 07:00 Galway Ceannt Station to Bearna
- 07:45 Bearna to Galway Ceannt Station
- 08:30 Galway Ceannt Station to Bearna
- 09:00 Bearna to Galway Ceannt Station
Evening
- 16:15 Galway Ceannt Station to Bearna
- 16:45 Bearna to Galway Ceannt Station
- 17:45 Galway Ceannt Station to An Cheathrú Rua, via Bearna
- 19:10 An Cheathrú Rua to Galway Ceannt Station
These sit alongside the two services added on 27 September: an 08:10 from An Spidéal to Galway in the morning and a 17:15 from Galway to An Spidéal in the evening.
John Nott, head of public transport services planning at the NTA, acknowledged the strain on the route, saying the authority was “aware of the capacity pressures” passengers had been experiencing. He said the improvements should ease at least some of those pressures.
What it means for you
Most of the new trips are short-workings between the city and Bearna, which is where the squeeze has been worst at rush hour. That should free up space on the longer runs for people travelling from further west. For Cheathrú Rua, the key additions are the 17:45 evening departure from the city and the 19:10 return. Full timetables are on the Transport for Ireland and Bus Éireann websites, and it is worth checking the TFI Live app as winter roadworks and weather can cause delays.
Route 424 is a lifeline for the Gaeltacht communities along the south Conamara coast, carrying students to the University of Galway and ATU, workers into the city and older passengers to hospital appointments. With no rail line west of the city, the bus is the only public transport option for much of the corridor, which is why crowding at peak times has been such a sore point.
Other transport changes this month
The 424 is not the only change that came in with November:
- Meath: Bus Éireann’s Route 105X now serves Ratoath and the M3 Parkway Park and Ride from 1 November, improving links into Dublin.
- Cork: The NTA says 67 new bus stops across Cork city and county were due to go live from 1 November, putting thousands more people within a five-minute walk of a stop.
- Waterford: Contactless card and digital wallet payments are now accepted on TFI Local Link services in Waterford.
- Bus Éireann timetables: The company has flagged a batch of timetable updates taking effect from 1 November. Check your route before you travel.
- Dublin rail: Iarnród Éireann began the first major enabling works for DART+ West, lowering track at two bridges between Hansfield and M3 Parkway. Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien told the Irish Examiner the project, which is designed to double Maynooth line services from six to 12 trains an hour each way, was now irreversible.
Have your say
The NTA has also opened public consultations on taxi reforms covering dispatch operators, vehicle signage and lower-emission vehicles, and on new town bus networks for Naas and Newbridge, which closes on 12 November.
What happens next
The NTA says it will keep demand on Route 424 under review. With the 424 now busier than ever, local representatives in Conamara have long argued for more frequency further west, and the new evening service to An Cheathrú Rua will be closely watched. If you use the route, the TFI and Bus Éireann customer feedback channels are the place to report overcrowding.
Sources
- Transport for Ireland / NTA: NTA and Bus Éireann announce further improvements to Route 424 services (23 October 2026)
- Bus Éireann: News – Route 424, Route 105X and timetable updates effective 1 November 2026 (21 October and 9 October 2026)
- National Transport Authority: Latest news (Cork bus stops, 105X, Waterford contactless, DART+ West, consultations) (23-30 October 2026)
- Irish Examiner: ‘This is happening’: Work on Dart+ West scheme to begin this weekend (28 October 2026)
Featured image: Spiddal Pier by User:O’Dea, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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