[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by Bazzer2

I would be thinking about other areas where the 40 is the only option, such as Liffey Valley, Quarryvale, Fonthill, Ronanstown, Neilstown, Rowlagh, Collinstown, Coldcut and Upper Ballyfermot.

Granted a 10-minute service such the 40 is not to be sneezed at, when it works. But as a rapid transport option to the city centre, which is where most people want to go, it doesn't.

The reality is that there is a finite number of buses/drivers available to operate the service. What you're looking for is effectively a third service through Ballyfermot which I can't really see happening given the current climate.

The fact that the 26 was rerouted via Palmerston suggests to me that loadings from Ballyfermot were not that great - people may not share this desire.

As it is can people not switch from the 40 to the 79 at Sarsfield Road?

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by qerty

Yes but both the 79 and 79a operate via Kylemore and Decies and Lally road. IMO it should operate the same route as the 40 from where it comes onto Ballyfermot road as far as Inchicore bridge and then operate via the current 79a routing! Passengers could be in town in less than 15 minutes as opposed to the 25-30 in currently takes! For an area that is quite close to town it takes an awfull long time to get there!

At the very least peak services could operate this route and all other services could maintain the current routing.

I don't think you'd be very popular with the residents of Kylemore Road, Decies Road or Lally Road with that idea.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by Bazzer2

That's where many people on the 40 HAVE to go!

Why not split the route in two? Half of the service through Kilmainham etc, the other half along the Quays for people who want to get to the city centre without having to endure the crawling pace.

Simplifying routes was one of the aims of the ND project - by splitting them in two you'd end up with a completely random service on the northern half of the route as journey times from Liffey Valley to O'Connell Bridge would be different.

[phasers]

As a Neilstown/Rowlagh resident, I can say firmly that the 40 is a complete disaster.

My bus stop is only 3 stops (a fifteen minute walk or so) from the Liffey Valley terminus, but local residents are often waiting up to 45 minutes for a bus because the drivers are skipping the Neilstown loop and going straight onto the Coldcut road. This also means that any bus that does do the proper route fills up by the time it gets to the Neilstown road, causing passengers to wait longer. Boarding times are longer too, so a journey that took 40 minutes on the 78a now takes almost an hour.

I've been watching the bus stop from my window the past couple of days so I can see exactly how bad it is.

I also got the 40 home from the City Centre the other day and it had already filled up (and stayed full until Inchicore) when we hit Dame Street, I assume because the buses are bunching in Finglas and skipping stops.

The 78a, and now the 40, are vital to Neilstown. It's our only bus route to the City Centre so people really do rely on it. I've been writing complaint emails, and advising other unhappy passengers to do the same. Hopefully somebody will listen but I'm not counting on it.

[qerty]

Originally Posted by lxflyer

I don't think you'd be very popular with the residents of Kylemore Road, Decies Road or Lally Road with that idea.

If the 46a can be removed from Stillorgan village, and the 39a made more direct, why cant the 79a??

[AlekSmart]

Originally Posted by phasers

As a Neilstown/Rowlagh resident, I can say firmly that the 40 is a complete disaster.

I also got the 40 home from the City Centre the other day and it had already filled up (and stayed full until Inchicore) when we hit Dame Street, I assume because the buses are bunching in Finglas and skipping stops.

The 78a, and now the 40, are vital to Neilstown. It's our only bus route to the City Centre so people really do rely on it. I've been writing complaint emails, and advising other unhappy passengers to do the same. Hopefully somebody will listen but I'm not counting on it.

So bloody sad.....RUNNING TIME-RUNNING TIME-RUNNING TIME......Yet again the company have been caught out by a reluctance to admit that Network Direct is all about service CUTS.......Remove 200 Buses and 350 Drivers from a system and it is IMPOSSIBLE to maintain previous service levels.....a little honesty rather than PR puffery would be more appropriate at this stage.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by qerty

If the 46a can be removed from Stillorgan village, and the 39a made more direct, why cant the 79a??

Stillorgan Village is hardly the same - it's quite a walk from the railway bridge on the Kylemore Road to Ballyfermot Road, especially for older people.

The 39 still serves the old route through Blanchardstown.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by AlekSmart

So bloody sad.....RUNNING TIME-RUNNING TIME-RUNNING TIME......Yet again the company have been caught out by a reluctance to admit that Network Direct is all about service CUTS.......Remove 200 Buses and 350 Drivers from a system and it is IMPOSSIBLE to maintain previous service levels.....a little honesty rather than PR puffery would be more appropriate at this stage.

It's about eliminating inefficiencies and overcapacity which there certainly was.

The problem as you say Alek is that the running times (at certain times - by no means all) have been far too tight.

[phasers]

Are the management completely oblivious to the short running times or do they just not care? It's chaos, and I bet the drivers are getting it in the neck from passengers as well.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by phasers

Are the management completely oblivious to the short running times or do they just not care? It's chaos, and I bet the drivers are getting it in the neck from passengers as well.

I'd like to think they are not, given they have detailed reports from the AVLC of how long every bus takes to travel from A to B, but it has to be said that drawing up new schedules and rosters is not exactly straightforward, and tends to take weeks to do as they often have to do up several versions before everyone is happy.

[Carawaystick]

Can anyone explain why the 33n now goes via Dublin Airport, Druncondra and Santry, are these not served by other night links?
I thought network direct was supposed to eliminate parallel services

[dfx-]

Originally Posted by lxflyer

It's about eliminating inefficiencies and overcapacity which there certainly was.

Routes like the 39/51B/C/77/78A/27/145/46A/15s/128/140 had no trouble with overcapacity. Arterial, core revenue routes have been messed with for no reason. Everyone of them has been changed to some degree.

An EV on the 145 is a sentence to a crammed, uncomfortable journey, running time increase or no running time increase. Unsuitable for the Heuston section too.

I'm slightly scared at the thought of the Rathmines/Rathgar corridor next week with this 15 nonsense. I'll be lucky to get any 14.

[CIE]

Defining multiple routes on a single corridor as "inefficient" is specious as well. A long bus route serving a very-populated urban area is highly inefficient. It's the passengers that define what overcapacity is rather than the operators. The buses are supposed to go where the people want and need to go, not where the consultants think they should go.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by dfx-

Routes like the 39/51B/C/77/78A/27/145/46A/15s/128/140 had no trouble with overcapacity. Arterial, core revenue routes have been messed with for no reason. Everyone of them has been changed to some degree.

An EV on the 145 is a sentence to a crammed, uncomfortable journey, running time increase or no running time increase. Unsuitable for the Heuston section too.

I'm slightly scared at the thought of the Rathmines/Rathgar corridor next week with this 15 nonsense. I'll be lucky to get any 14.

In fact there was overcapacity on virtually every corridor - why else in certain cases were DB able to in some of those cases able to cut both peak and off-peak frequency on virtually every route? The 19, 19a and 83 for example merged into the 9 and 83 and still seem to be coping very effectively with the loads post-implementation.

The 145 is still operating at the same frequency (more or less) as before the change but without the long gaps throughout the day that used to occur due to some buses operating via Bray Station and others not. As for being crammed, buses are designed to operate at full capacity last time I checked - or do you want half -empty buses instead? That simply cannot continue.

There was gross inefficiency with virtually no route having regular fixed interval clockface schedules. At one stage on a Saturday afternoon a 15, 15a and 15b all left Eden Quay together at the same time and then there was a 15 minute gap to the next departure of any variant. Most routes had totally irregular departure patterns. Some routes had excessive running time with buses sitting at termini for over 25 minutes or in one extreme example an hour between departures! That frankly had to change.

People do want more cross-city services and one can already see more passengers on the 14 for example availing of the cross city penetration. I certainly believe that the increased cross-city penetration is a positive thing offering greater choice to customers.

The fundamental problem with the implementation has been that in certain cases (by no means all) running times were far too tight, meaning buses did not have sufficient time to get from one terminus to the other meaning knock on effects with later journeys late, curtailed or cancelled. Result? There could be long gaps in service, the advertised timetable has not been delivered, and you have a disaffected customer base. Not good.

This is something DB have to fix and far more quickly than they have been. Devising new rosters/timetables is a very complex task, but my own view is that if it ain't working they need to move heaven and earth to fix it.

[lxflyer]

Originally Posted by Carawaystick

Can anyone explain why the 33n now goes via Dublin Airport, Druncondra and Santry, are these not served by other night links?
I thought network direct was supposed to eliminate parallel services

The 33N has always served Dublin Airport.