Dublin Bus route 38A and the Bermuda Triangle that is Damastown

gazzer

I waited at the 38a bus stop in Castlecurragh this morning from 7.30 am for a 38a into the city centre.. Despite the fact that there is meant to be a 38a at 7.40 am and 8am it was 8.25 before a bus came.. In that time I counted 4 38a going towards Damastown.. Now it only takes 10 (15 minutes max) to get to Damsatown from Castlecurragh and back to Castlecurragh yet I waited almost an hour for a bus. It is rediculous.. It is not the first time this has happened and I am sick of contacting Dublin Bus and not getting an answer..

January

Well I was at the bus stop up from you, on Ladyswell Road, and no 38a passed me either, it's the traffic from Damastown in the morning, since everybody bypasses the n3 and goes through Damastown, the traffic is madness. You can't move for about an hour in a car, you could walk to Blanchardstown Village quicker than you could in a car or on a bus.

Stark

I'd get the bus from Ladyswell so that you can grab a 38 if the 38a doesn't show up. But yeah, the 38/38a service is ridiculous, thank god I've a car these days and am no longer dependant on it. I hear complaints all the time from people in work of buses showing up, the driver getting out and looking at trees for 20 mins or so, then driving off without picking up passengers and leaving people waiting 20-30 mins for the next bus.

Mr. Presentable

So basically the bus problem is down to you and your fellow motorists

January

Your best bet would be to walk from Castlecurragh to the Blanchardstown Centre or Huntstown and get the 39 from there. They're much more frequent.

Nevyn

They shoudn't have to if the buses are sheduled.
Ring the garage and ask where the buses are and keep complaining until they get the finger out.
If they got 5 peple complaining each morning and saying they ae keeping logs and going to go to the press about it, you would be surprised what they will do.

daymobrew

Thaedydal wrote:

Ring the garage and ask where the buses are and keep complaining until they get the finger out.

The 38A timetable page says:

38A timetable wrote:

Operated by PHIBSBORO Depot. Telephone (01)703 3462

Gareth Quinn is a contact name according to the Contact page.

gazzer

Thanks Thaedydal for that contact info. I will have to get onto the depot.

I forgot to mention in the 'rant' yesterday that when we got to the roundabout at Waterville and the N3 slip road where the 38a is meant to go the driver instead went straight on and into Blanch Village about it. When my friend asked why he was doing this he was told that it was in his book to go that way

January

gazzer wrote:

Thanks Thaedydal for that contact info. I will have to get onto the depot.

I forgot to mention in the 'rant' yesterday that when we got to the roundabout at Waterville and the N3 slip road where the 38a is meant to go the driver instead went straight on and into Blanch Village about it. When my friend asked why he was doing this he was told that it was in his book to go that way

To be honest, the bus drivers just pick and choose the route when they want to. I've seen some 38's heading into Castlecurragh and some 38A's going down into the village and onto the N3 from there. It's just what feels better for them. The 220 does it also, sometimes it will go left onto the Blanchardstown Road heading for the Blanchardstown Centre or it will go right heading towards the Clonsilla Road.

eve

gazzer wrote:

I waited at the 38a bus stop in Castlecurragh this morning from 7.30 am for a 38a into the city centre.. Despite the fact that there is meant to be a 38a at 7.40 am and 8am it was 8.25 before a bus came.. In that time I counted 4 38a going towards Damastown.. Now it only takes 10 (15 minutes max) to get to Damsatown from Castlecurragh and back to Castlecurragh yet I waited almost an hour for a bus. It is rediculous.. It is not the first time this has happened and I am sick of contacting Dublin Bus and not getting an answer..

I used to work in IBM(where the 38 terminus is located) and had a good view of the terminus itself. Just because a bus has finished its route does not mean it will head straight back. I don't know what system the drivers operated for deciding which bus should go next and at what time. But there were regularly 3 buses there (and on 2 occasions 5) before one would leave to start the route.

Nevyn

adrieanne__x wrote:

To be honest, the bus drivers just pick and choose the route when they want to. I've seen some 38's heading into Castlecurragh and some 38A's going down into the village and onto the N3 from there. It's just what feels better for them. The 220 does it also, sometimes it will go left onto the Blanchardstown Road heading for the Blanchardstown Centre or it will go right heading towards the Clonsilla Road.

The 220 route actually loops around on it's self so it can be a bit confusing for people to figure out what way it is going.

eve

Thaedydal wrote:

The 220 route actually loops around on it's self so it can be a bit confusing for people to figure out what way it is going.

And the 39 loop at the Blanchardstown centre seems to be causing confusion there too. Was there last Saturday trying to get a bus towards the City Centre. There's a stop for 39's going to Ongar and a different stop for 39's going the the city. But everytime an Ongar bus pulled up at the shelter for Ongar, several people from the city centre stop just had to go down and ask the driver for a ticket to the city centre.

bazzer

adrieanne__x wrote:

To be honest, the bus drivers just pick and choose the route when they want to. I've seen some 38's heading into Castlecurragh and some 38A's going down into the village and onto the N3 from there. It's just what feels better for them. The 220 does it also, sometimes it will go left onto the Blanchardstown Road heading for the Blanchardstown Centre or it will go right heading towards the Clonsilla Road.

That's a very dangerous statement to make. A driver who deviates from the official route without authorisation risks losing his/her job.
If you actually look at the 220 timetable, you will see not all departures are the same. Some serve Clonsilla Road, some Snugboro Road direct, some Snugboro Road extension WITHOUT serving the Shopping Centre.

Nevyn

eve wrote:

And the 39 loop at the Blanchardstown centre seems to be causing confusion there too. Was there last Saturday trying to get a bus towards the City Centre. There's a stop for 39's going to Ongar and a different stop for 39's going the the city. But everytime an Ongar bus pulled up at the shelter for Ongar, several people from the city centre stop just had to go down and ask the driver for a ticket to the city centre.

Well some people are just unsure or idiots

Last thursday with it being polling day my kids were off school so I deced to vote and then take them into town to hit the parks and the museums.

We left the house at 1:30pm and I figured we would miss the worset of the traffic, we got the bus at the shopping centre at 4:11pm after waiting nearly 30 mins and then it took an hour and 10 mins to get to Dame st.

Coming home I stayed late in town to have dinner with them and until the parks close and so got the bus at 7:10 pm on Dame st and we didn't get off the bus until 8:25pm, and this was not even peak traveling times.

And as for trying to buy pre paid bus tickets out this way, it is beyond a joke
I sent a long letter into dublin bus about that.

daymobrew

Thaedydal wrote:

And as for trying to buy pre paid bus tickets out this way, it is beyond a joke
I sent a long letter into dublin bus about that.

I recommend having a Travel 90 ticket handy. Cheaper and obviously handier than using cash.

About 4 years ago I wrote to DB asking why they got rid of the 10 journey tickets. I found them really handy. No reply yet.

Nevyn

I had gone to the shopping centre to by a pack of travel 90s and to get a one day family bus ticket to be told that the 1 newsagents that did them had stopped and there was no where in the centre to by dublin bus tickets.
I even checked with the information desk and they rang around for me.

I had the choice of walking to hartstown or down into the village with the children to try an purchace a bus ticket or to pay cash on the bus.
Needless to say I am far from happy with this situation and made my unhappiness clear in a letter and an email and I have not heard anything back either.

If they can have dublin bus vending machines in the airport I don't see why they cant' have them in shopping centres.

daymobrew

Thaedydal wrote:

there was no where in the centre to by dublin bus tickets.

Jeez, for a place that is a major Dublin Bus hub, this is pathetic.

Thaedydal wrote:

Needless to say I am far from happy with this situation and made my unhappiness clear in a letter and an email and I have not heard anything back either.

For Irish Rail I gave up writing to customer services because they were brutal at replying (despite their charter committing to replying within a few weeks). Now I go to the top of the chain - the Chief Exec or General Manager. I don't waste their time with one-off issues but rather issues that affect many of their customers.
IMO, your experience (especially the unavailability of tickets) is an issue warranting skipping a few levels.