POP???????? What is that?

Could you please remember that not everyone knows what these acryonms/abbreviations stand for? At least please use the full expression at least once so that we can try to understand you.

Regarding ticket checks, Al, are you living in dreamworld here? The amount of Revenue Protection Unit (RPU) inspection has been very low in recent years, a fact you are obviously unaware of given you're not in Ireland, but when they go out they have been mainly in teams of two and three.

You are obviously also unaware that the situation changed some years ago when the onus was put on the passenger to have the correct ticket rather than on the driver/conductor to issue it.

I see absolutely nothing wrong in having periodic checks of tickets - if it weeds out fare evasion then it is quite justified. It also acts as a wake-up call to those that do fare evade that they will be caught.

As for hiring vast swathes of inspectors, to the degree of having more inspectors than they ever had conductors, I think that you've once again made one of your sweeping statements which as usual have no basis in fact. What utter nonsense. There are no extra inspectors - they just go out in teams of two/three now instead of individually. But if you perhaps bothered to ask that question politely first rather than making a fool of yourself by making outlandish and unfounded claims you wouldn't have made that mistake.

What is your obsession with going back to the way things were in the 1970s/80s? Things change and do not always have to be the way they were in good old Ireland of years ago. Bus routes change and can be cancelled / re-routed - just as all businesses need change. But you seem to be convinced that things should always remain just as they were before you left Ireland. Well I have news for you....we've moved on from those days and I think that you need to accept that! There can be perfectly valid reasons for cancelling a route at a particular point in time and some years later re-instating it.