Matthews Coach Hire to introduce fair increase on May 12 th 2008

Some people have said that we here at Matthews Coach Hire “broke the mould” in the provision of public transport in the North East. We provide a high frequent, reliable and efficient commuter service to and from Dublin City Centre. We have helped change the way people think about bus travel, by running a fleet of 25 luxury, tour specification coaches, the oldest of which are barely two years old. The coaches are always spotless and the friendliness and helpful manner of the drivers is constantly being brought to our attention by way of phone calls, e-mails and local press.

At Matthews Coach Hire we are constantly listening to our customers, and trying to improve on the service. At the moment we are planning to operate a service to Dublin Airport , The Irish Financial Services Centre and we are currently doing a feasibility study on providing WIFI services on our coaches.

We pride ourselves on being a private family run business with absolutely no subsidy from any government source. We have tried to keep the fares as low as possible and to be honest; the last six months have not been easy. We have tried our utmost to be as fair as possible with our loyal customers, by having in place our innovative 10 Trip and Return Tickets, these tickets have no expiry date or direction clause imposed on them, thus making them more adaptable to commuter's habits. Some customers even in the past have used our 10 Trip Tickets as family tickets, giving excellent value for money.

However, due to circumstances beyond our control we have no choice but to introduce a fair increase on May 12 th 2008 . The Single Ticket will remain the same at €7 with the Return Ticket rising to €12 and the Ten Trip Ticket increasing to €50 with pro-rata increases on the tax-saver tickets. While it is with great regret that we have to announce these increases, it is worth noting that these fares are still cheaper than in 2004 when Matthews Coach Hire introduced competition into the Dublin Commuter Market. It is also worth noting that all tickets purchased prior to May 12 th will be honoured indefinitely and we hope our loyal customers will continue to support us. Without credible competition on these routes the level of service would very quickly deteriorate to the old days of when only one service provider had the ball in their court.

We all need competition to keep us on our toes!