A new bus service connecting Longford and Roscommon has taken to the road today.
The service is part of a major national public transport initiative developed and funded by the NTA as part of the Transport for Ireland Network.
Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon chartered buses will serve areas such as Killashee, Lanesborough, Ballyleague and Emoe Cross on the way to Roscommon Town.
Route 426 will operate seven return trips from Longford Train Station Monday to Thursday, eight return trips on Friday and Saturday and four return trips on Sunday.
The route will also provide improved connectivity to regional bus service and the wider TFI Network with connections at Longford Irish Rail station and Roscommon to facilitate onward travel to Dublin, Sligo and Galway.
Manager of Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon, Damien O'Neill, says the new service will open the region for many who previously lacked rural public transport:
'We would see it as giving people their own independence, they can travel at a time that can suit them.
Rather than waiting or trying to organise a lift there, they can say, there's my time table.
They can get on the bus, they can go to their appointment, they can come back and have a coffee, they can stop off in local shops or have a look around a different town.
It just opens things up, and it's also a brand new bus so you're in state of the art comfort.'
