Dublin Bus route 38 bus

amtc · 13-10-2007 1:47am #1

I use a series of bizarre methods to get from my home in Waterville Blanchardstown to work in the city centre - drive halfway and park, train, or bus all the way. Today I got the bus and the bus home. Only for the fact that I couldn't see a camera on the way home it was entertainment.

Journey went as follows:

19.15 arrive at bus stop outside Easons

19.45 two buses arrive

20.10 bus driver announces he is lost and does not know whether to go up the cabra road or the north circular

20.12 dublin woman (of the trolley variety) leaps to feet and proceeds to act as bus conductor all the way to blanchardstown.

20.35 alight blanchardstown with driver asking woman will she accompany him back to phibsborough as he is lost.

Back to the car Monday!

patrickc · 13-10-2007 1:50am

amtc wrote: »

I use a series of bizarre methods to get from my home in Waterville Blanchardstown to work in the city centre - drive halfway and park, train, or bus all the way. Today I got the bus and the bus home. Only for the fact that I couldn't see a camera on the way home it was entertainment.

Journey went as follows:

19.15 arrive at bus stop outside Easons

19.45 two buses arrive

20.10 bus driver announces he is lost and does not know whether to go up the cabra road or the north circular

20.12 dublin woman (of the trolley variety) leaps to feet and proceeds to act as bus conductor all the way to blanchardstown.

20.35 alight blanchardstown with driver asking woman will she accompany him back to phibsborough as he is lost.

Back to the car Monday!

hilarious

had a smiliar experience with a driver from dublin to carlow once, he let me on for free 3 sunday nights in a row to show him how to get to carlow, he learned after that, he was just a school bus driver normally on OT

Victor · 13-10-2007 8:42pm

I've been on a few errant buses.

* Dublin-Athy bus that forgot to exit the N7 at Maudlins for Naas and had to take the Newbridge exit and return through the Limerick Road in Naas, turnabout and then take the Waterford Road.

* Dublin Bus 42N - took the turn before Feltrim Road. It turns out to be a tiny, dark country lane. Not too bad as nobody needed Feltrim Road and we knew we couldn't get too far lost.

* Dublin Bus 142 - took a wrong turn at a roundabout in Swords and got to add a furth half dozen roundabouts before making his way back.

Stark · 13-10-2007 11:07pm

Similar thing happened to me on the 40N going home one night. Obviously a newbie bus driver who got stuck with the night shift. Drunk people sound so annoying when they try to be helpful...

cor · 13-10-2007 11:22pm

A 39 bus once stopped to ask me directions from Hartstown Clonsilla to Ongar.

thebman · 14-10-2007 12:10am

Happens a good bit on the 38/38A bus route from what I remember. I got it a couple of years ago when working in IBM from Castleknock to work. I've had to give directions about 3 or 4 times and they got lost more often than that.

January · 14-10-2007 9:55am

I used to always have to give directions on the 38/A bus, it's not like it's one of the hardest routes in the world either tbh.

gazzer · 14-10-2007 10:54am

I think that Dublin Bus must put new drivers on the 38 route every week. The drivers are always going different ways to the way they should be going.

In the last month I have been on the 38/A where:

The driver didnt go down the slip road to the N3 at waterville and instead went straight through the roundabout, over the bridge and into Blanch Village (2 times on the 38A).

Coming from town the driver didnt take a left turn onto Auburn Avenue and instead went straight up the N3 (2 times on the 38)

January · 14-10-2007 10:57am

Drivers just seem to pick and choose which way they want to go. Whether it's the 38 or the 38A

Lizzykins · 15-10-2007 9:40pm

Happened to me once on the 49. The driver thought he was driving a 15 and went straight at Terenure crossroads! Had to do a bit of creative thinking to get back on course. No one minded a bit!

Victor · 15-10-2007 10:04pm

Lizzykins wrote: »

Happened to me once on the 49. The driver thought he was driving a 15 and went straight at Terenure crossroads! Had to do a bit of creative thinking to get back on course. No one minded a bit!

I once saw a number 18 go straight through Kenilworth cross roads. The number 18 does indeed go straight through Kenilworth cross roads. But its a 5-road cross and he took the wrong one.

Now, taxi drivers and people up from the country who think they know a short cut ....

Jackus · 04-01-2008 11:14pm

Anybody knows whats wrong with route 38, specially 38A?? sometimes I wait for them 60 mins, sometimes 1,5h!! Ridiculous.
Did they change timetable? No! You can check on dublinbus.ie and any bus stop. Everything was allright until noveber. Since that moment they just havin fun and do what they want!

MiniD · 04-01-2008 11:36pm

Jackus wrote: »

Anybody knows whats wrong with route 38, specially 38A?? sometimes I wait for them 60 mins, sometimes 1,5h!! Ridiculous.
Did they change timetable? No! You can check on dublinbus.ie and any bus stop. Everything was allright until noveber. Since that moment they just havin fun and do what they want!

Have you tried ringing the phone number on the timetable. Contact the relevant depot listed and talk to the controller to see if there is a problem. If they get enough calls they might be able to do something to help...

Jackus · 04-01-2008 11:39pm

You are right. I just send email, which is not enough of course, but next time I will ring them.

_Kaiser_ · 04-01-2008 11:43pm

Probably down to "traffic" / the controller told them to cut out half the route / "the driver didnt show up for work today so those buses didn't run" (yes I was told this one once by Harristown - bit more annoying as it was a 239 which only ran every half hour at the time and it was the last one of the evening!) / was on his break or mid-route shift change /<insert random excuse here>. You'll also be unable to get to speak the mysterious "controller" either as he'll invariably be "out on the road" and unreachable.

No doubt several of the drivers will be along shortly to tell us that it's really all for the travelling public's benefit really :rolleyes: (as per the other recent thread on "random" mid route changes).

Dublin Bus serving the entire community indeed - serving the staff and unions more like it.

dub_commuter · 05-01-2008 1:00am

The 38/38A I used for a year and it was the most stressful year of my life, I used to live 30 mins bus ride away from work but every day my commute was stressful as I just did not know what was going to happen from one day to the next I could be waiting 5 minutes or 40 minutes for a bus and the drivers were often rude and got lost.

I have since moved jobs to another area of a city and get a bus then the dart. It takes me three times as long to get to work than it was then. But you know what? My commute is much happier as I now know that my bus will turn up, right on time, EVERY day and I don't have to put up with the joke service that the 38 is. Traffic is not an argument as the services that I describe were between 6-7am from Hawkins street and I was waiting in Cabra. There is no traffic.

Asok · 05-01-2008 1:16am

Where abouts and when are you waiting to get the 38a Jackus? The 38a goes up through ballycoolin on its way back into town in the evenings so if you are waiting in corduff for it then it wont show for ages or a 38 will eventually turn up.

steyr fan · 05-01-2008 1:42am

Going to the Airport on the 747 from Busarus recently, I asked the driver will he use the Port Tunnel - "I don't know" he awnsered, I asked the inspector, "it's at the drivers discretion" he awnsered.

Coming from the airport, on the 748, the very same thing happened.

Will I / won't i??????

Surely they're having a laugh. Or are the serious?

dub_commuter · 05-01-2008 2:05pm

Asok wrote: »

Where abouts and when are you waiting to get the 38a Jackus? The 38a goes up through ballycoolin on its way back into town in the evenings so if you are waiting in corduff for it then it wont show for ages or a 38 will eventually turn up.

that of course assumes the driver of the 38a actually goes through Ballycoolin in the first place, going back a year it wss commonplace for some of the 38a's to actually forget to go through Ballycoolin from 16;30 - 17:10 or to even show "Not in Service" before immedatley going in service after starting the journey down snug road.

Jackus · 05-01-2008 2:39pm

My bus stop is in warrenstown which means is before it turns to ballycoolin. But anyway it goes to balycoolin from 16.30 to 18.10. I use the route 38/38A since 2 years. The problem with with 38/A started on autumn.

wayne2107 · 05-01-2008 2:42pm

Routes 747/748 do not have a set route to/from airport. They can go anyway depending on traffic. On these two routes only what route the bus will go is really at the drivers discretion.

KC61 · 05-01-2008 4:02pm

steyr fan wrote: »

Going to the Airport on the 747 from Busarus recently, I asked the driver will he use the Port Tunnel - "I don't know" he awnsered, I asked the inspector, "it's at the drivers discretion" he awnsered.

Coming from the airport, on the 748, the very same thing happened.

Will I / won't i??????

Surely they're having a laugh. Or are the serious?

The 747 and 748 routing to the Airport is as follows:

747:
Busarus, Matt Talbot Memorial Bridge, Georges Quay, Burgh Quay, O'Connell Street, Parnell Square, Dorset Street, Drumcondra, N1, M50 from Tunnel Exit and then the M1 to the Airport.

748:
Heuston Station, North Quays, O'Connell Street and then as per 747 to the Airport.

Neither route operates outbound via the Port Tunnel. They do have significant stretches of bus lane en route.

On inbound journeys drivers have discretion over whether to use the Port Tunnel or not depending on traffic conditions. There are certain times of the day when it is just as fast to operate via Drumcondra as it is via the Port Tunnel and Sheriff Street.

MiniD · 05-01-2008 6:05pm

I have been on many Airlink buses, both 747 and 748s, which travelled outbound to the Airport via The Port Tunnel. I recently had a frustrating journey back from the Airport on a 748 which decided to travel down the Old Airport Road rather than the M1, then turn up the back of the Airport to Ballymun, following the 13 route via Glasnevin and Whitworth Road to Dorset Street, then travelling down past Mountjoy Square to Busaras, where it didn't stop and took the right hand lane around past the Custom House where it dropped off passengers at Georges Quay. This bus is supposed to stop at Busaras/Connolly Station.

This bus was far from being an express and for a Sunday afternoon, took a very long time to reach the City Centre.

Routes 747/748 do not have a set route to/from airport. They can go anyway depending on traffic. On these two routes only what route the bus will go is really at the drivers discretion.

Why is this the case? Surely if one express bus has the freedom to take whatever route is chooses, it should apply to all express routes. It's ironic that for a route which is able to use the Port Tunnell, the Airlink chooses not to, yet buses like the 41X have been refused permission to travel through the very same place.

KC61 · 05-01-2008 7:16pm

MiniD wrote: »

I have been on many Airlink buses, both 747 and 748s, which travelled outbound to the Airport via The Port Tunnel. I recently had a frustrating journey back from the Airport on a 748 which decided to travel down the Old Airport Road rather than the M1, then turn up the back of the Airport to Ballymun, following the 13 route via Glasnevin and Whitworth Road to Dorset Street, then travelling down past Mountjoy Square to Busaras, where it didn't stop and took the right hand lane around past the Custom House where it dropped off passengers at Georges Quay. This bus is supposed to stop at Busaras/Connolly Station.

This bus was far from being an express and for a Sunday afternoon, took a very long time to reach the City Centre.

Why is this the case? Surely if one express bus has the freedom to take whatever route is chooses, it should apply to all express routes. It's ironic that for a route which is able to use the Port Tunnell, the Airlink chooses not to, yet buses like the 41X have been refused permission to travel through the very same place.

The Airlink is licensed to operate via either route. The 41X isn't. Daft I know but that is current Government policy until changed.

KC61 · 05-01-2008 7:22pm

MiniD wrote: »

I have been on many Airlink buses, both 747 and 748s, which travelled outbound to the Airport via The Port Tunnel. I recently had a frustrating journey back from the Airport on a 748 which decided to travel down the Old Airport Road rather than the M1, then turn up the back of the Airport to Ballymun, following the 13 route via Glasnevin and Whitworth Road to Dorset Street, then travelling down past Mountjoy Square to Busaras, where it didn't stop and took the right hand lane around past the Custom House where it dropped off passengers at Georges Quay. This bus is supposed to stop at Busaras/Connolly Station.

This bus was far from being an express and for a Sunday afternoon, took a very long time to reach the City Centre.

That's a new one on me - I get it reasonably frequently and it has never deviated outbound from the classic route (i.e. via Drumcondra). When has this generally taken place?

As to the bus operating via Ballymun, all I can think of is that there was a big match on in Croke Park or some other traffic problem affecting the M1/M50, and hence the bus re-routed? Either way he should have stopped at the bottom of Gardiner Street to service Connolly and Busarus.

Dublin Bus route 38 bus

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