Dublin Bus No. 90/91

Victor wrote: »

Do you do the full Connolly-Heuston distance? Note the 93 and 151 will also get you from IFSC to O'Connell Bridge, where you can get other buses.

I live in Laois (near Rathdowney). My irish rail is valid from Ballybrophy to Dublin City Centre (includes 90/92 & Luas).

I work out in Eastpoint Business Park so that means I have to get either Dart or Bus out. I find the Dart unreliable especially as it is just 1 stop from Connolly to Clontarf Road. For the last few months now I have been getting buses out to Annessly Bridge (top of East Wall Road) and I walk the last 10 mins.

All in all after tax savings on my irish rail ticket plus the extra cash I spend on Dublin Bus my monthly outlay is €206 approx.

Currently in work we have to chose our yearly benefits which also include selecting our ticket for 2008.

I am thinking of getting the All Services Irish Rail & Dublin Bus for €265 which after tax will work out at €212 per month (assuming 20% tax and also assuming my maths is correct ). What this will give me is the following (I hope):

--I can use my ticket anywhere on the Irish Rail network especially from Templemore/Thurles which are just the same time drive wise from my house as it is currenly driving into Portlaoise.
--Getting on at Templemore/Thurles will give me more flexibility in the afternoons/evenings as regards choice of trains.
--My ticket will cover all of Dublin Bus so I do not have to worry about having change evey day plus if I need to go else where in Dublin I am covered.

The only downside is that the Luas will not be on it. However I do have a Luas SmartCard which is still active so I could keep it topped up so if traffic was really bad heading out to Heuston I can hop on the Luas instead.

--laoisfan

Hi

I should have been more precise in my previous posting as regards my current ticket but anyway here is my current actual ticket details.

1 ticket which covers Ballybrophy to Clontarf Road which breaks down as follows:

--Ballybrophy to Dublin Heuston via Irish Rail.
--Heuston to City Centre via no. 90/92 or Luas.
--City Centre (well Connolly) to Clontarf Road via Dart.

Then it is either walk to commuter bus from Dart Station to Eastpoint Business Park.

There is only 1 train which stops in Ballybrophy in the morning which will get a person into Heuston before 9am. That is the 06:58am from Ballybrophy (actual it is the Cork train stopping) and it is supposed to get to Heuston at 08:25am. My experience of this train is bad, a lot of times I have got to Heuston at 08:50am or even 09:00am.

The only alternative is the Limerick trains which does not serve Ballybrophy but yet it serves Thurles-Templemore-Portlaoise. I do currently drive into Portlaoise (30mins) and get on the train there. If I change my ticket to "All Services Irish Rail & Dublin Bus" it means I can get the train from anywhere plus use Dublin Bus anywhere in Dublin too.

I realise I could be putting myself at rish of train failure between Portlaoise and Templemore but isn't that risk there on the whole line anywhere. I mean, Irish Rail hardly plan their train failures.....or do they

I no longer get the Dart from Connolly Station to Clontarf road as it takes too long. I have been getting the bus from across from Connolly Station to Annessly Bridge for some time now and they are quicker and more reliable. Plus there are loads of buses picking up there and stopping at Annessly Bridge.

Anyway, I have gone through the maths, even checked with somebody in Revenue (one of them is a mate from Thurles who goes up/down each too) and he agrees that the All Services ticket for Irish Rail/Dublin is the one to go for if I definitely want to have option of picking what train station I want to get on plus have Dublin Bus as well.

To be honest a lot of the different ticket types can be good or bad depending on where you live/work and what kind of services they run.

I got the no. 90 from Heuston this morning to City Centre and it only took under 10 mins and to be honest it was quicker than the Luas. That said it might only have been this morning!!

My current monthly cost (after tax) is approx. €206. If I change my ticket type it will be approx. €212 per month but will not include Luas. However it will allow me greater flexibility as regards where I get on i.e. Thurles, Templemore, Ballybrophy or Portlaoise plus I do not have to be fishing for change for the bus in Dublin. My Luas SmartCard still works so I could throw €10 every now and again if I want to have option of Luas if traffic is bad etc.

I have probably confused people now

To be honest the sooner the integrated tickets come in the better, it might make life easier for commuters like me and other people of course!!

What would be the solution to bringing in the integrated tickets? Reduce all journeys to single-journey perhaps? 2-cent!

Anyway....to sum up.....really all I am looking for is to have as much flexibility as possible without incurring too much additional expense. The ticket I am thinking of switching too seems to be the best option.

--laoisfan