Bus Éireann passengers will have to make other travel plans today as an all-out strike is underway.
Buses stopped at midnight after drivers refused to work under the threat of pay cuts.
Bosses at the transport firm are warning they need to plug a multi-million euro hole in their finances.
But their claim that there is ‘no basis’ for talks led to unions escalating their action.
Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link says commuters have been abandoned without warning.
“Well I think the short-notice hints at a very dirty strike which I think is going to affect people in a very bad way.
“Particularly people in rural areas, vulnerable areas, particularly people who have appointments, have medical appointments in Dublin and around the country – they depend on Bus Éireann.”
Meanwhile, train services will face significant disruption because of the Bus Éireann strike.
There will be limited services on intercity trains between Dublin and several counties including Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Waterford.
There will be no services on Cork commuter trains or on lines between Waterford and Limerick Junction, and Limerick to Galway.
A list of cancelled services is on IrishRail.ie.
SIPTU organiser Michael Kavanagh has worked in Bus Éireann for 44 years.
An empty Bus Aras this morning as the #buseireann strike continues. I'll have the latest on @IrelandAMTV3 at 8 pic.twitter.com/TxcJbZDkdx
— Ruairi Carroll (@RCarrollTV3) March 24, 2017
He told our reporter on the picket lines at Broadstone Depot in Dublin they are not willing to accept any pay cut.
“You’re now driving us back to wage levels we had in 1992 in the year 2017, and I’m not prepared to work for that.
“That’s the reason my colleagues are here as well, we’re not prepared to do it and as I said we regret it very much but there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it.”
Rush hour will be worse than usual around the country, with workers complaining they didn’t get enough warning about today’s strike.
A snap survey by recruitment website IrishJobs.ie says 40% of the workers they contacted are unprepared for the action.
Marketing director Safann McCarthy says it is also surprising how many people say they can’t work from home and have no alternative but to find transport elsewhere.
“69% of the people we spoke to said that they have no option but to get into work. They have no option to work from home and I completely understand that it’s dependent on what kind of job you’re doing and what facilities you need.
“But, in an age where we are so socially contactable it’s really surprising to hear that 69% of the people that we spoke to can’t work from home.”
Bus Éireann lost €9.4m last year, and SIPTU’s Willie Noone says industrial action will stay in place as long as needed.
“Until the company actually decides to bring the unions in an engage, our members will be on the picket lines,” he said.
