Which buses use the port tunnel?

mickoneill30

I missed my normal 41C this morning and got a 41X 15 mins later from Rivervalley. It had a sticker on it saying via port tunnel. It took 45 mins from Rivervalley to Stephens. Thats 8am - 8:45am (it was in Talbot St. at 8:30am). This is great (I can get an extra 15 minutes sleep in the morning now).
Is there anywhere on Dublin Buses website where they show what buses use the port tunnel? The 41X timetable makes no mention of it.

MarkoP11

Its all over the Dublin Bus website
http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp

33X, 142, 747 and 748 all do or will use it

SteM

Dublin Bus is pleased to announce that from Sunday 10th June, the express airport services, Airlink 747 and 748 will operate from Dublin Airport via the Port Tunnel, reducing journey times into the City Centre by up to twenty minutes.

Does this just mean the 747/748 from the airport will use it, or will the busses TO the airport use it too?

Victor

I think a lot of Ulsterbus services are also using the tunnel - I saw a 200 and a 234 coming from the docks heading for Busaras.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=33X
http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=747
http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=748

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp?action=view&news_id=670

Route 33x to operate via Port Tunnel

Route 33x to operate via Port Tunnel for faster journey times.

Dublin Bus are pleased to advise customers that from Monday 11th June the 0645 33x service from Skerries will operate via the Port Tunnel, reducing journey times by up to twenty minutes.

The service will operate as per the existing timetable from Skerries to the M1, then via the Port Tunnel, East Wall Rd., North Strand, Amiens St., O'Connell St. and on to St. Stephens Green.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp?action=view&news_id=671

Airlink 747/748

Dublin Bus is pleased to announce that from Sunday 10th June, the express airport services, Airlink 747 and 748 will operate from Dublin Airport via the Port Tunnel, reducing journey times into the City Centre by up to twenty minutes.

Airlink now offers an even faster direct service to and from Dublin Airport, for €6 one-way or €10 return.

Pick up points for Airlink in the City Centre are unchanged.

antoinolachtnai

Is the 41X running through the tunnel regularly?

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote:

Is the 41X running through the tunnel regularly?

I was speaking to somebody in Dublin Bus (nothing official, just somebody I know) and he told me that the one using the tunnel is probably an overflow bus (it was about 2 mins after another 41X that was packed) and that if it wasn't on the timetable not to rely on it as they only put those on if they have a driver spare.
No extra 15 mins in bed for me then.

The Swordsman

antoinolachtnai wrote:

Is the 41X running through the tunnel regularly?

According to those nice people in Summerhill Garage, it depends on whether there are any passengers for Drumcondra Train Station, which is a registered stop. If there aren't, then the driver has the discretion as to whether he wants to use the tunnel or not.

So, the moral of the story is : don't depend on it. The extra 15 mins in bed is not guaranteed but you could have a more relaxing cuppa before you start work.

antoinolachtnai

There might be passengers waiting to be picked up at Drumcondra, what about them?

And the OP said there was a sticker on the bus saying it would go via the tunnel, right?

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote:

There might be passengers waiting to be picked up at Drumcondra, what about them?

And the OP said there was a sticker on the bus saying it would go via the tunnel, right?

If it was an overflow bus (it's not on the timetable) then nobody would have been waiting for it in Drumcondra (nobody seems to get on it there anyway). There was a normal 41X a couple of minutes before it.
It did have an A4 page on the front window saying Via Port Tunnel.

For the normal buses though I haven't heard the bus drivers asking for our destinations. I always have a weekly ticket so he doesn't know if I'm going to Drumcondra or the city. Admittedly I'm normally plugged into my walkman or asleep so he could be announcing there's a fire for all I know.

antoinolachtnai

It doesn't really depend on whether there's any drumcondra passengers on board, because the driver is refusing drumcondra bound passengers.

Anyway, were you able to get into town in 30 minutes? that's pretty good.

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote:

It doesn't really depend on whether there's any drumcondra passengers on board, because the driver is refusing drumcondra bound passengers.

Anyway, were you able to get into town in 30 minutes? that's pretty good.

Hah depends on the passengers. I've been on the 41X coming home many times, I've heard the driver announce that Drumcondra was the last stop till Swords and I've heard muppets shouting at the driver to stop the bus somewhere in between.

30 mins was great. Pity it's not official.

The Swordsman

The 41X bus route into town in the morning is the best route in Dublin cos it brings you a different way each day. Some days it goes down the old Airport Road (like this morning), some days it goes down the M1 (like yesterday morning). Some days it goes through Ballymun. On good days it goes through the Port Tunnel.

Some mornings, like this morning, you get the added entertainment of watching the driver does his very best to avoid letting passengers on, which was great fun for us passengers already on the bus. I'm sure those people trying to get on saw the funny side also.

I usually drive to work. I had to get the bus in one day last week and was very pleasantly surprised to get into town so quickly through the Port Tunnel. I vowed then to use the bus when I could but I'm getting frustrated again. I'll think I'll be taking the car tomorrow.

BTW - the bus I got last week that went through the Port Tunnel was the first 41X of the day from Swords Manor so it could not have been an overflow bus.

embraer170

Does this just mean the 747/748 from the airport will use it, or will the busses TO the airport use it too?

Took the 748 to the airport this morning and it did not use the tunnel.

mickoneill30

I got a 41X that used the tunnel again. Got it at 8:05am. I'm sitting at my desk in Hatch St. since 8:50am. I asked the driver how we could tell which 41Xs use the port tunnel. He said it's up to the driver. Apparently they're trying to get it official but it's taking management a while. He recommended giving Dublin Bus a ring or email because the more customers put pressure on them the more likely it is to happen.

So if you're a 41X user (or any user that gets a bus from Swords or Rivervalley to the city in the mornings) can ya send a quick email reminding them that passengers like to get into the city quick.
Their link is http://www.dublinbus.ie/home/contact_us.asp

The driver this morning had to drive past about 3 stops with plenty of people at them because our bus was packed (that's with 2 41Xs going past the stops in 15 mins). Wouldn't do any harm for more buses either.

antoinolachtnai

so how did he know that no one wanted to get off at drumcondra or Parnell Sq.?

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote:

so how did he know that no one wanted to get off at drumcondra or Parnell Sq.?

Dunno. I didn't ask him. Nobody seemed to complain. As a passenger heading for Stephens Green I don't care about that. He dropped off at North Strand Road and Talbot St. so he wasn't a million miles from Parnell St.
Dunno what the Drumcondra people did.

Edit: Actually this morning was walk to bus stop in daze, see big yellow thing, get on, get off near work. He might have had the sticker on the window. I wasn't paying attention.

The Swordsman

mickoneill30 wrote:

Wouldn't do any harm for more buses either.

Both in an out of town. The buses out of town should go to River Valley or Swords Manor, not both.

While we're on the subject of the 41X out from town, the 1715 bus from Belfield yesterday didn't arrive in Swords Manor til 7PM.

It took the bus around 10 minutes to get around from the Abbey Theatre onto Abbey Street. The lights changed about 5 times before the driver could get around. It took probably another ten minutes to get the 50 yards to the bus stop at the Irish Life where the world and his wife were waiting to get on, which in turn took another 5 minutes or so. If the stop for the 41X was at Liberty Hall, cutting out Marlborough Street and Abbey Street, it would save a fair amount of time.

Maybe we should lobby to get the 41X out of town going through the tunnel also.

While I'm ranting here, how does a 41X virgin know which stops in town to get the bus at. The stop I got the bus at yesterday (Leeson Street) listed buses that stopped there and 41X was not one of them. There is another stop on Leeson Street where the 41X stops and it is not listed there either. Even worse, on Dawson Street, there are two stops about twenty yards from each other. The 41X is listed on one but the bus doesn't actually stop there. It stops at the other one. Don't ask me why. I don't understand it either.

Rant over. Back to work.

Sizzler

No more port tunnel buses :mad:

There was a letter passed around the bus this morning from one of the garage managers that said that the Department of Transport had been in touch with them and stated that Dublin Bus had no license to use the port tunnel and hence the service via the tunnel had ceased with immediate effect.

What a load of bollix. Since when do you need a license to go through the tunnel The only thing I can think of is the safety aspect....even at that surely thats for dublin bus to worry about not the dept of transport!

One for the local TD's me thinks

KC61

Sizzler wrote:

No more port tunnel buses :mad:

There was a letter passed around the bus this morning from one of the garage managers that said that the Department of Transport had been in touch with them and stated that Dublin Bus had no license to use the port tunnel and hence the service via the tunnel had ceased with immediate effect.

What a load of bollix. Since when do you need a license to go through the tunnel The only thing I can think of is the safety aspect....even at that surely thats for dublin bus to worry about not the dept of transport!

One for the local TD's me thinks

Every routing and timetable change needs to be approved and licensed by the Department of Transport - I know it sounds daft but that's the rule!

The passenger at present is the last person to be considered.

Enigma365

There was a letter passed around the bus this morning from one of the garage managers that said that the Department of Transport had been in touch with them and stated that Dublin Bus had no license to use the port tunnel and hence the service via the tunnel had ceased with immediate effect.

You have to be kidding? Surely they chcked whether they were allowed use the port tunnel?

Rashers72

Funny thing, Tom Morrisey, a PD candidate in the recent election in Fingal, advised that Dublin Bus had not applied to the Dept of Transport to run any buses through the Port Tunnel. That was about 6 weeks ago. So DB knew they had to apply. So 2 things may have happened:
DB tried it on or
Paperwork stuck in Dept of Transport (likely, as these seem to be ths biggest shower of ________, and have no interest in helping the travelling public):mad:

Sizzler

So whats the upshot to get this sorted Lobby Dublin Bus....DOT....or TD?

mickoneill30

I'd imagine that Trevor Sargent would be a good person to start with. He's in the affected constituency. No harm contacting the FF, FG TDs too.

How does this stuff happen. Are Dublin Bus management / DOT totally, totally stupid. Putting a bus into the tunnel removes it from the Swords Rd. which eases traffic a tiny bit on that disaster. How many buses would be using the tunnel if all the 747s, 33X, 41X used it?

markpb

mickoneill30 wrote:

How does this stuff happen. Are Dublin Bus management / DOT totally, totally stupid. Putting a bus into the tunnel removes it from the Swords Rd. which eases traffic a tiny bit on that disaster. How many buses would be using the tunnel if all the 747s, 33X, 41X used it?

Do you really think anyone in DoT cares about traffic, passengers or other such trivial issues? The DoT exists to make up rules (bus route licenses) and then apply the rules even where it makes no sense, even to the detriment of DB and it's passengers.

Anyone who cares at all about the stupidity of this action should immediately email all the ministers in the area and make their thoughts known. This is childishness of the highest order.

KC61

mickoneill30 wrote:

I'd imagine that Trevor Sargent would be a good person to start with. He's in the affected constituency. No harm contacting the FF, FG TDs too.

How does this stuff happen. Are Dublin Bus management / DOT totally, totally stupid. Putting a bus into the tunnel removes it from the Swords Rd. which eases traffic a tiny bit on that disaster. How many buses would be using the tunnel if all the 747s, 33X, 41X used it?

The bottom line at the moment is that the last people to enter the equation in bus route planning is the passenger.

There is no overall body planning the bus services in Dublin. Each operator plans their own individual services and if the cross another operator's services (planned and licensed or actually in operation, then that operator can object).

For example:
Dublin Bus currently want to introduce all day services via the Lucan QBC. Paul Morton is objecting to this as he is planning to operate an enhanced all day service on his Lucan route at some stage in the future. The objection is being reviewed by the Department of Transport, and has been for several months, but no answer has come.

Result? Residents of Adamstown have no service.

Now, Dublin Bus are not innocent either. They could decide to route that service via the South Clondalkin QBC but have chosen not to do so. Hence we have a turf war. And this is replicated across the city where various bus services are not yet in operation due to other operators objecting to the new service. The Department then has to review the objection and this seems to be taking long periods of time.

There is no time limit on how long an operator can "sit" on a licence once it is issued before commencing the service. Hence some licensed services may not come into operation for several months or even years! But these operators can still object if someone else wants to operate a service.

An added complication in the case of Dublin Bus is that once a new route is licensed, they then plan the schedule and rosters and the "marked-in" drivers (i.e. drivers who drive that route and no other on set rosters) can then object if they feel that the roster is unsatisfactory thereby delaying the process even further.

What is needed is an independent bus regulator who:
1) Decides what routes are required and puts them up to tender thereby removing the route planning from operator level
2) Decides what timetable is required and thereby removes the timetable planning from operator level.

Then the bus companies build the driver rosters around the schedule that they have been issued with, and cannot alter it without recourse to the regulator. Services should be required to be introduced within 3 months of a licence being issued and if not, the licence lapses.

Notice of any planned changes should be made at least a month in advance to enable customers to object/offer comments. Notification of cancelled routes should require three months notice.

This would then remove the whole turf war scenario that we are currently stuck with whereby the last people to be consulted in any way are the passengers, and whereby we *might* get some integrated thinking rather than the mish-mash mess we have and where civil servants are managing the whole situation rather than transport professionals.

We remain in a situation where Dublin Bus unions, the company and the other operators are all trying to further their own interests while the passenger loses out.

All of this requires a tough decision at cabinet level, because this whole mess is as a result of a lack of action in changing government policy and enacting the DTA.

mickoneill30

I got this reply from DB about a request for more info on the 41Xs a couple of days ago.

"Thank you for your e-mail.

The Department of Transport has instructed Dublin Bus not to operate the 41x
service via the Port Tunnel. We have not been issued with the licence to do so.
At the moment it is unclear what is happening in relation to this but till it is sorted we will be operating on the initial route.

Many thanks"

So I'll be emailing these guys

tsargent@greenparty.ie
james.reilly@finegael.ie
darragh.obrien@fingalcoco.ie
http://www.fiannafail.ie/contact.phpx?pid=193&bid=432&show=Candidate

with that letter to see if the politicians or Dublin But or the DOT can see if they can figure out a way for buses to use the tunnel.

I think public bodies just like to think up new and exciting problems to try and annoy us.

markpb

I mailed Noel Demsey, the DoT email address, John Bruton, Sean Haughy and Finian McGrath about this this morning and got a reply from John Bruton saying he would table a Dail Question on this decision. I doubt we'll hear anything from that and if we do, Noel Demsey will just say that DB were operating an unlicensed route.

mickoneill30

Ya never know. It should be an easy fix (I'm probably being optomistic) and it would look good for a TD in the Dublin North constituency to be able to say he got the buses through the tunnel.

KC61

It might be an "easy fix" for the Port Tunnel but what about all the other areas of the city that are deprived of buses because of the licensing situation?

The WHOLE issue needs to be addressed the passenger put first.

mickoneill30

Got this reply from Micheal Kennedy.

Thank you and I understand that Dept Transport are considering 2
applications to use a route thro'tunnel one from private operator and one
from Dublin Bus.It seems Dublin Bus used the tunnel without a licence but I
am asking Dept Transport to expedite this decision

I hope this clarifies matters for the moment
regards

Michael Kennedy


Hmmmm. Seems like a mail to just keep me happy.

markpb

mickoneill30 wrote:

I understand that Dept Transport are considering 2 applications to use a route thro'tunnel one from private operator and one from Dublin Bus.

I guess this explains the departments sudden spring into action - can't have DB competing with a private operator! Dear heavens no, all those cave people people getting on and off in the tunnel would have to make a decision which operator to go with.

dowlingm

mickoneill - what could he have said in the email would have satisfied you??

MiniD

Once again, the interests of passengers gets lost in the lengthy paperwork of various bodies who supposedly have interests of the traveling public at heart.

How long has the tunnel been in planning? In all this time did it not occur to Dublin Bus or DOT to have these plans approved and ready when the tunnel finally opened.

Amazingly, on the week of the election, the 142 gets approval to use the tunnel, so why was there no problem there?

dowlingm

in these kind of applications, they should be deemed approved if not dealt with in a timeframe, say 90 days. That would wake the bureaucrats up.

AlekSmart

MiniD,I think you may well find that Bus Atha Cliath were well prepared for the Port Tunnel.
However all they could do was submit an application for a licence variation....its then up to the Department and they need T I M E to consider the deep and meaningful issues at stake.......approx 7 MONTHS it would appear at present.......:eek:

Mind you there`s little point in asking for Information as they will react negatively.......None of your Effin Business....to quote a former Taoiseach

MiniD

AlekSmart wrote:

MiniD,I think you may well find that Bus Atha Cliath were well prepared for the Port Tunnel.
However all they could do was submit an application for a licence variation....

If this is the case Alek, then how does it explain the 142 getting permission but the 33X and 41X not?

If you read back through this thread it is stated that a PD candidate claimed DB had not put in an application for these routes. This was 6 weeks ago.

These are by their nature, express routes. It should not matter what journey these buses take so long as they get to town as quick as possible.

Again, it's the passenger who is left waiting without anybody taking responsibility.

For the record, I have contacted DOT in the past and they were very helpful with providing information on various routes. In contrast, Dublin Bus, on occasions, couldn't give me clear answers on basic timetable or routing queries.

John R

MiniD wrote:

If this is the case Alek, then how does it explain the 142 getting permission but the 33X and 41X not?

If you read back through this thread it is stated that a PD candidate claimed DB had not put in an application for these routes. This was 6 weeks ago.

These are by their nature, express routes. It should not matter what journey these buses take so long as they get to town as quick as possible.

Which may well be why DB decided to run it through the tunnel without applying for a licence alteration, they weren't changing the times or adding any stops in new areas so why should it matter what road the bus used?

It's a similar situation to the arguement that happened after the M1 Drogheda section opened, Matthews coaches complained to the DOT that BusEireann were illegally using the motorway that they had the exclusive licence for it.

MiniD wrote:

Again, it's the passenger who is left waiting without anybody taking responsibility.

Well it was the elected representatives of the people who created this situation and it was done purposely to benefit private companies to the detriment of the publicly owned operation and as a result the travelling public at large.

But then the same shower have been gloriously re-elected so what do you expect?

If the people whose jobs it is to represent the public interest are the ones that have caused this to happen who the hell else is going to be in a position to do what is best for the passengers?

MiniD wrote:

For the record, I have contacted DOT in the past and they were very helpful with providing information on various routes. In contrast, Dublin Bus, on occasions, couldn't give me clear answers on basic timetable or routing queries.

Try finding out what licences they have issued to private companies and you will get a different response from them, it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS to whom they have issued exclusive licences to run bus services to any particular area.

There is now an ever-growing population living in recently developed areas or estates who have no viable bus service because someone has gotten dibs on providing that area with it's bus service and has not done so. Maybe they are operators who have plans to run a service or maybe they are speculators who are sitting on the licences in the hopes of making some cash from it in the future. We simply don't know because our government believe it is not our place to know anything about our public services.

But don't forget, in five year's time it is your DUTY to re-elect them because Ah-Sure they've done a great job really and that other lot can't be trusted...

AlekSmart

Well Mini, I`m excited and delighted to learn of your positive experiences with the Dept of T.
In the light of your past positive experiences perhaps you could use these to good advantage in securing the DETAILS of which New Route or Material Deviations from route licence apps are CURRENTLY still under consideration.
Of particular interest would be the ACTUAL dates which the applications were submitted on.
I`m afraid the apparent conundrum regarding the 142 vs the 33X and 41X is less clear,however I am very much aware of several political wannabee`s who were lobbying across a wide spectrum in the immediate pre-election phase.

Lets just say that it appears that somebody in Bus Atha Cliath was hmmmmm...."made aware" of a...hmmmm lets see now...ah yes...a lacuna which had arisen and thus the company made a swift application which thankfully and surprisingly (For ALL Concerned) was smiled upon by those who live atop Mt Olympus.

There is also the possibility that the Department of T and Bus Atha Cliath may differ on the concept of express service routing and the requirements of the individual licences.

It matters little now as my over riding point appears to be diluted in your interpretation of my opinion.

I believe that as the Prime Mover in the Procurement and Delivery of a €700+ Million piece of major transportation infrastructure,it should have been the priority of the Department of T to have encouraged as many Licenced Operators as possible to modify its routings to make full use of the PAT in the interests of the Bus Using public.

What attitude ANY individual operator takes is up to itself as can be observed for example by the Aircoach Company`s decision to locate inbound and outbound stops in Drumcondra thus neatly ruling out the PAT as an aide to the Airport routing.

Another source of contention could possibly be the amount of Bus Atha Cliath licencing information which is Public Domained very rapidly whilst the Private Sector operators are granted a form of Diplomatic Immunity from public scrutiny under the guise of "Commercially Sensitive Infromation" protection.

No matter what this present PAT Bus situation reflects poorly on ALL concerned but responsibility,if it can be apportioned should start at the TOP ??

KC61

MiniD, I would suggest that you re-read my synopsis of the situation above.

The whole licensing situation focusses on operators and not the passenger. Again, I would reiterate that any operator may object to another operator commencing a service which impacts on their own existing or licensed but not yet operational services. As Billy points out, Dublin Bus plans tend to be reasonably well known. The Department will not release details of any private licensed operations as that is "commercially sensitive" information.

Dublin Bus are not innocent either as they have deliberately tried defending their patch from private operators over the years as well. Their customer service leaves an awful lot to be desired as the MVA report into their operations stated.

The 142 came into being following major representations from a FF candidate to implement the service in the run up to the election. It was frankly a political stunt, but one that shows what can be done if the government wants it. This 41X and Port Tunnel situation highlights the complete disregard that the passenger is held with. There should be absolutely no issue with any bus service using the Port Tunnel. But alas bureaucracy is getting in the way again.

Again, an independent Dublin Transportation Authority is required to take control of all public transport planning for the Greater Dublin Area from the array of operators and put some order in place.

The most important part of this is that there has to be some representation from users of public transport. At the moment they are treated with contempt as they are the last to be made aware of changes (refer to the number 4 fiasco).

John R has summed up the situation perfectly - the focus of any gripes needs to be on the politicians. The legislation that is in place has left the planning of city services in the hands of civil servants, rather than transport professionals, whose focus is totally on operators rather than end users. And it is ultimately the politicians who need to resolve this mess.

MiniD

Alek, I'm not for a minute suggesting the DOT are faultless in all this, but only to say when I asked for information they were friendly and helpful. That's all. I didn't ask them to reveal details of private operators so perhaps you're correct.

I was simply querying how the 142 got preference over the 41X. You stated it takes 7 months to get approval, which may be the case. But is has been mentioned here that no application had been made up to six weeks ago.

KC, you're right. The whole set up does nothing to help the customer and an independent transport body is needed urgently in Dublin.

AlekSmart

Yup MiniD,7 months is is the present time frame although it can take a lot longer depending upon the level of "Clarification" required by the Department.

I am not taking issue with anything you post merely attempting to flesh out the somewhat bare bones of this scenario.

It is now abundantly clear that the current Public Transport requirements have rapidly outstripped the DoT`s ability to administer them.
The current Department Hirearchy appears unsure of what EXACTLY it`s remit is and therefore tends to revert to fail-safe mode when faced with decision making.

Part of this problem would appear to be the uncertainty which prevails within the major Departments of State around Election Times as the Senior Departmental officials endure a traumatic period when they remain uncertain of who their "New Man" will be.

Sadly this translates into Inertia of the worst kind which was easier to deal with in the "Old" days but with todays pace of life results in an ongoing mess of vast proportions... :rolleyes:

D'Peoples Voice

AlekSmart wrote:

...... when they remain uncertain of who their "New Man" will be.....

or "New Woman"

AlekSmart

Nah...never happen...remember Albert Reynolds statement...... :rolleyes:

Victor

AlekSmart wrote:

Nah...never happen...remember Albert Reynolds statement...... :rolleyes:

Wasn't that P Flynn?

AlekSmart

Possibly uttered with the Daughter in mind no doubt....?

mickoneill30

mickoneill30 wrote:

So I'll be emailing these guys

tsargent@greenparty.ie
james.reilly@finegael.ie
darragh.obrien@fingalcoco.ie
http://www.fiannafail.ie/contact.phpx?pid=193&bid=432&show=Candidate

with that letter to see if the politicians or Dublin But or the DOT can see if they can figure out a way for buses to use the tunnel.

I sent an email to the guys above last Friday.

Michael Kennedy (FF) replied within a couple of hours to say that he'd be asking the DOT to try and expedite their decision on the license.

I got an email from James O'Reillys (FG) office on Monday saying that they thought it was mad and they'd look into it and raise a parliamentary question for the transport minister if necessary.

Darragh O'Brien (FF) replied today saying that he had made contact with the minister asking for an update on the situation and would reply when he hears back from him.

No reply from Trevor Sargents (Greens) office yet.

Maybe with a few TDs pestering the minister and the DOT then we might get some action from Dublin Bus and the DOT. I hope I'm not being too optimistic.

markpb

I got replies from Sean Haughy (I will take this matter up with the new Minister for Transport and will keep you advised of developments) and Richard Bruton (I will immediately table a Dail Question on this decision.) but nothing back from Finian McGrath or (unsurprisingly enough) Noel Demsey or the DoT.

markpb

There was an article about this in todays Irish Times. Can't find a link but it basically congratulated the driver for taking some initiative, blasted the DoT, said they took the decision because another operator had requested a license to operate a service from Swords to c/c via the port tunnel and it would take them six months to consider DBs application for a new route. Funny how it didn't take six months when one of FFs cronies needed the 142 launched in a hurry before the election!

Wishbone Ash

markpb wrote:

There was an article about this in todays Irish Times. Can't find a link but it basically congratulated the driver for taking some initiative, blasted the DoT, said they took the decision because another operator had requested a license to operate a service from Swords to c/c via the port tunnel and it would take them six months to consider DBs application for a new route. Funny how it didn't take six months when one of FFs cronies needed the 142 launched in a hurry before the election!

Liveline (Joe Duffy) devoted most of yesterday's show to this topic.

mickoneill30

mickoneill30 wrote:

|
No reply from Trevor Sargents (Greens) office yet.

I got an email from Trevor Sargent today in reply to my email a couple of weeks ago. He's also contacted the CEO of Dublin Bus.

KC61

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Liveline (Joe Duffy) devoted most of yesterday's show to this topic.

There was more coverage on Liveline yesterday (Tuesday) of the topic.

mickoneill30 wrote:

I got an email from Trevor Sargent today in reply to my email a couple of weeks ago. He's also contacted the CEO of Dublin Bus.

Again, I have to say that e-mailing Dublin Bus is not the answer here.

The problem lies with the Department of Transport Licensing Section who have created a bureaucratic mess. Another operator has applied for a licence to run an express service from Swords to the City via the Port Tunnel and some faceless civil servants are now "studying" the application - this can take months - and Dublin Bus have been instructed to remove the 41X from the tunnel.

Even if the private operator is granted a licence, it will probably take another three months as they order the buses for delivery.

What is not being taken into account here is that no private operator is going to invest capital in a new fleet of vehicles before being granted a licence. Dublin Bus however do it in reverse - apply for a licence after getting the buses. Hence we have the mess that we are in.

The whole system is operator focussed and not passenger focussed. Until the politicians realise this and amend the legislation we are stuck in this paralysis. Who cares who operates a bus service? The fact is that anyone should be allowed use the tunnel.

In the meantime 60 buses remain unused in Broadstone for 6 months due to this licensing process because the Department fears that private operators will take legal action if Dublin Bus is granted a licence over them.