Do Dublin Bus still have any single decker busses in their fleet?

There are no low bridges on routes 44b, 59 and 63.

The only route that has to be single deck operated is the 44b due to the nature of the roads south of Lamb Doyles.

Aard wrote: »

I know that Dublin is relatively unusual in Europe in that it relies heavily on its bus network,

how is that unusual?
London is mostly bus; 6m vs 3m tube. I would say the same of most UK cities though cannot find stats off hand for europe

Genuinely interested in whether more routes could be single-deckers. I find them more comfortable, and less susceptible to anti-social behaviour. Easier to get out of too.

without question I would say, especially outside of rush hour and late at night when they run mostly empty anyway.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

how is that unusual?
London is mostly bus; 6m vs 3m tube. I would say the same of most UK cities though cannot find stats off hand for europe

Hmm I was probably being a bit flippant there. I guess I meant that we don't have railway networks as developed as German, Dutch, French, or Spanish cities... Pretend I didn't say it!

Aard wrote: »

I got a single-decker 75 last year. A once-off occurance though. And I seem to remember getting a single-decker 17 fairly frequently about 10 years ago.

The remaining single deck buses do sometimes stray onto other routes.

Aard wrote: »

I wonder if these orbital routes (somebody mentioned the 17a above) would only warrant a single-decker?

The 17a is a busy route and requires a double decker. Most orbital routes have busy periods throughout the day, particularly those serving shopping centres and schools. For example, the 75 would have near full loads at weekends to Drundrum in both directions.

Aard wrote: »

surely running double-deckers on almost all routes is overkill? Or maybe it's cheaper all round to have a single type of bus, I dunno.

The increase in double deck vehicles occurred in the late nineties. At the time, many frequent routes were operated by mini buses and single deckers. Passenger numbers increased and there were serious capacity problems. In some cases, larger minibuses were purchased and some routes like the 122 and 155 were upgraded to larger single deckers with these vehicles taken from other routes like the 39 which was also suffering with over capacity. Most City Swift routes were converted to double deck operation.

Further problems arose in the noughties when Dublin Bus were prevented from expanding their fleet and only allowed replace buses. With capacity still a problem, they replaced all single deck buses as double deckers and in some cases by tri-axel deckers. This was at a time when the city was expanding at a rapid rate. With passengers being left behind at stops it would have been wrong to purchase more single deck vehicles.

This led us to the situation we have today. In the last two years the fleet has reduced and there are now around 950 double deck buses in service. There are a few routes which could operate just fine with a single decker, and perhaps we may see a return to a mixture of bus sizes in the future. For the moment, the fleet is what it is because of the demand in the past.

Two good reasons why the 63 bus is single decker are
1) There is quite a lot of antisocial behaviour in the Ballyogan area, eliminating the top deck of the bus allows the driver to keep a close eye on the passengers.
2) Anytime I've got the bus there were very few passengers so it may be more economical to do so.

Traditional single-deck routes up until the mid 80s were as follows


17*
17A*
27*
36*
36A*
36B**
44B*
46
47 (old 47, not the current day one)
47B
52*$
53A*
59*
63
70*
76*
80*
85*
88*



Those with an asterix * were one-man operated (it was all men until the end of the 70s) and could never use double-decks unless in exceptional circumstances.

Route 36B marked ** was highly unusual, mixed one-man single-deck and two-man double-deck (particularly on Saturdays)

Route 52 (City to Sandymount) had a low-bridge, so could never ever be double-deck worked.

Note that in those days the 53 and 53A were entirely seperate routes, not interworked - 53 was double-deck, and 53A one-man singledeck.

The 46, 47, 47B and 63 at Donnybrook were two-man single-deck, and would often see double-decks as peak extras. (note, in those days 47/47B were interworked single-deck, 47A to Churchtown was a distinct service, double-deck worked).

The 84 had been single-deck, but became double-deck in the mid 70s when a road under a railway bridge at Greystones was lowered.

After 1984, single-decks spread much more around the system, as the number in the fleet increased steadily, reaching a peak in the mid 90s before declining again.

The 44B was unusual in that road size and dimensions presented a problem, and so was often the haunt of the oldest single-decks in the fleet (as vehicle size increased over time) - it hosted Donnybrook's last Ps in the early 70s, the last Us, Donnybrook's last Cs in 1983/4, and was the last route in Donnybrook operated by the final two KCs in the depot in November 2000.

The timetable had to be arranged so that when there were two buses on the route, they could never meet each other beyond Lamb Doyles pub, as they wouldn't be able to pass.

As regards poster CIE's experience of a double-deck 44B, I'm wondering if in fact what he travelled on was that strange phenomonon of the 1990s, the 44B that was really a 44C. When the 44C to Ballyogan loop was introduced, there number was not on Donnybrook blinds, and so all buses on this route happily displayed 44B as their number for a period of about 10 years, with the typically Irish assumption that the regular passengers would know where the bus was going anyway. I have a picture somewhere of a packed Olympian at Merrior Square displaying 44B Ballyogan as late as 1999 ! CIE, was the Loop you describe a one-way working around a small isolated housing estate accessed from a country roadway (as Ballyogan Road was until 10 years ago) ?


C635

AngryLips wrote: »

I remember the old 123 route when everyone was forced onto the one level ...some of the characters on that bus were hilarious. Don't see them anymore since all the different heads go off to their own sections

Not the 123 route, but my memory of single deckers on other routes is not so positive, for instance having a junkie shout at me for 20 minutes because he wanted the rear emergency door of the bus opened (why?) and I was sitting beside it (think that was a 51), or the old 68A swanning down Tyrconnell Rd just to pass you and keep going...

bmaxi wrote: »

Classic Irish logic. It was the movement of the bus more so than the surfeit of drink that caused the nausea.

I remember feeling distinctly unwell after 3 pints of Guinness one evening on the last 51 of the evening as it sped down Conyngham Rd, really was like a funderland ride at that time of the evening - drink or no drink.

D.

Opening up new routes is not really an option as the funding is not there to do it.

Any new route would require a subsidy increase.

Nothing to do with single -v- double decks.

Conway635 wrote: »

Traditional single-deck routes up until the mid 80s were as follows


17*
17A*
27*
36*
36A*
36B**
44B*
46
47 (old 47, not the current day one)
47B
52*$
53A*
59*
63
70*
76*
80*
85*
88*



Those with an asterix * were one-man operated (it was all men until the end of the 70s) and could never use double-decks unless in exceptional circumstances.

Route 36B marked ** was highly unusual, mixed one-man single-deck and two-man double-deck (particularly on Saturdays)

Route 52 (City to Sandymount) had a low-bridge, so could never ever be double-deck worked.

Note that in those days the 53 and 53A were entirely seperate routes, not interworked - 53 was double-deck, and 53A one-man singledeck.

The 46, 47, 47B and 63 at Donnybrook were two-man single-deck, and would often see double-decks as peak extras. (note, in those days 47/47B were interworked single-deck, 47A to Churchtown was a distinct service, double-deck worked).

The 84 had been single-deck, but became double-deck in the mid 70s when a road under a railway bridge at Greystones was lowered.

After 1984, single-decks spread much more around the system, as the number in the fleet increased steadily, reaching a peak in the mid 90s before declining again.

The 44B was unusual in that road size and dimensions presented a problem, and so was often the haunt of the oldest single-decks in the fleet (as vehicle size increased over time) - it hosted Donnybrook's last Ps in the early 70s, the last Us, Donnybrook's last Cs in 1983/4, and was the last route in Donnybrook operated by the final two KCs in the depot in November 2000.

The timetable had to be arranged so that when there were two buses on the route, they could never meet each other beyond Lamb Doyles pub, as they wouldn't be able to pass.

As regards poster CIE's experience of a double-deck 44B, I'm wondering if in fact what he travelled on was that strange phenomonon of the 1990s, the 44B that was really a 44C. When the 44C to Ballyogan loop was introduced, there number was not on Donnybrook blinds, and so all buses on this route happily displayed 44B as their number for a period of about 10 years, with the typically Irish assumption that the regular passengers would know where the bus was going anyway. I have a picture somewhere of a packed Olympian at Merrior Square displaying 44B Ballyogan as late as 1999 ! CIE, was the Loop you describe a one-way working around a small isolated housing estate accessed from a country roadway (as Ballyogan Road was until 10 years ago) ?


C635

36B was normally a double deck with single decks added to it, i remember the rear enterance buses, blue and navy metal bodied atlantians on it. Even, once or twice, Van Hools. With the introduction of the GAC single deckers that all went out and soon after it the 36B. (in fact the first single deck bombardier was a regular and a great bus on the route, totally different to what followed).

the 36 also had a lot of rear doored double decks as well, but with their withdrawals we got the GAC single decks untill the abolition of the 36 in the mid 90's. A totally inadequate bus, frequently packed like a cattle truck as empty double deckers to more affluent areas of the city sailed past. That said, they were a slight improvment on the old leopards - from the perspective of shoppers and users of prams anyway.

Same with the 17a. When it ever did decide to turn up, it was always packed and it wasnt till the late 80's that summerhill decided to throw us the very odd double decker.

the groutch wrote: »

and the route itself is quite tight in spots eg. Monkstown Farm, Cornelscourt Hill, top of the Glenamuck Road, etc.

Nothing worse than the routes up in the Dublin Mountains for space

Are they all single deck? I can't recall.

The 59 and 63 are double deck operated with a few single deckers mixed in.