This year's (2007) new Dublin buses

KC61

Unfortunately Mick, both John R and markpb are both correct. These items have been covered in previous posts by myself, Aquavid and others.

At present the whole process is governed by the 1932 and 1958 Transport Acts, neither of which are suitable to cover the situation we are now in.

There does not appear to be any time limit within which an operator must commence a service that it receives a licence to operate. And as a result they can sit on licences and object if Dublin Bus attempts to put a service in place.

Any private operator who does win a licence will, by definition, have a time lag before he implements the service, as he will have to hire staff and buy buses. I would suggest that three months should be the maximum time allowed. Dublin Bus tends to do things slightly in reverse - it acquires the buses and then applies for the licences.

Any private licence application is indeed deemed to be commercially sensitive and is not subject to FOI rules. The DoT licensing section is operating to the letter of the 1932 and 1958 Acts and until they are repealed and replaced we are stuck in this mess. The Minister has stated that his first step is to establish the DTA and then tackle the Act. My own view is that the two are inseparable and should be dealt with concurrently as nothing else will solve the problem.

The bottom line is that the private operators are in this to make money and not to provide a service. The whole system is not being administered with the passenger in mind. It is being administered in accordance with the 1932 and 1958 Acts. That is all.

If a private service does not work (as in my examples above) the operator will simply walk away and to hell with the consequences!! Why do you think Mortons are objecting to additional Lucan Road QBC buses from Dublin Bus? The whole system is a sham and is being abused by private operators who have only a quick buck in mind. Dublin Bus in the past are as guilty as the privates as in the 1990s (before the Dept started rigidly enforcing the Acts) it was not unknown for them to flood an area with unscheduled buses so as to prevent a private operator from gaining a foothold. This happened in Lucan when Mortons started their service, and I don't think Paul Morton has ever forgiven them for it!

Incidentally, as Aquavid points out above, Dublin Bus provided the funding section of the Department with full details of the services that they planned to operate with the new additional 100 buses (as opposed to replacements), including the 141 (Swords-Rathmines), 128 (Clongriffin-City), Lucan, Blanchardstown, Stillorgan QBC enhancements etc. However they have to resubmit these in the form of licence applications to the licensing section, and have had some rejected. If this was not so serious, it would be laughed out of court. You genuinely could not make this stuff up.

It REALLY is that bad.

I agree with you however, I think that our politicians need a comprehensive education on this area and I would certainly suggest that once the Dáil resumes that you put pressure on the TD's and the Department. I certainly do not intend letting them get away with it.

Red Alert

This situation is absolutely ridiculous - I would love someone to post a photo of those lovely new buses rusting away on the paper for joe public to see.

antoinolachtnai

Why don't Dublin Bus makes those buses available for hire? Or are they available for hire?

mackerski

Why can't they at least swap old for new and put some of the more clapped out buses in storage pending resolution of the issues? Get those shiny ones on the road...

Aquavid

Believe it or not, the Department won't allow them to do that either.

Those buses can only come into service as an increase in capacity, and cannot be used, even temporarily, to displace older vehicles.

Once they have entered service, they can wander over the whole system and intermingle with normal buses, but they can only be comissioned as part of a fleet increase, which of course the same department will not licence . . .

Aquavid

Aquavid

Getting back to the original topic of the thread, the new new buses, which can and will enter service, may be another few days yet, as initial driver testing has highlighted a few small mods needed in the cab area (all paid for under warranty by manufacturer in case you're wondering).

Aquavid