Help - Blanchardstown to Ballyfermot

Tusky

I'm going to be moving back home next month and am possibly starting a course in Ballyfermot and was just wondering whats the best way to get out there. I live in the Hartstown area which is served by the 39 & 220..and one other I think (70 something). I know that there are plenty of buses to Ballyfermot from city center and I think there is one from Blanchardstown village & shopping center aswell but im not 100%.

Would I be best getting a bus to BSC and then a bus to BF or a bus into town and then to BF ? all help appreciated!

Nevyn

It is the 76/a/b you want.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=76A&printable=yes

It can be pretty irregular but it will save a lot of time if you can plan to get it.

Tusky

They seem to be very irregular alright. Seems to be two options. Getting into Ballyfermot at 8:50 or 10:20, hopefully that will suit the course timetable. Are those dublin bus times usually accurate ? I thought the bus journey would be much longer than 40 minutes though.

Getting back from Ballyfermot looks much more difficult as none of the buses seem to go as far as Blanch.

KC61

Tusky wrote:

They seem to be very irregular alright. Seems to be two options. Getting into Ballyfermot at 8:50 or 10:20, hopefully that will suit the course timetable. Are those dublin bus times usually accurate ? I thought the bus journey would be much longer than 40 minutes though.

Getting back from Ballyfermot looks much more difficult as none of the buses seem to go as far as Blanch.

Departures ex-Blanchardstown Centre (76/76B):
0640 / 0810 / 0940 / 1330 / 1730 / 1905

Departures ex-Tallaght (76A):
0640 / 0800 / 1145 / 1540 / 1710

The 1540 should be in the Ballyfermot area at about 1630-1640 and the 1710 for 1810-1820.

It's very difficult to judge the journey times as they are totally dependant on traffic, but the northbound buses do have bus lanes for quite a bit of the journey from Tallaght.

Nevyn

well they don't factor in traffic but as the crow files it is not that far at all.

Tusky

KC61 wrote:

Departures ex-Blanchardstown Centre (76/76B):
0640 / 0810 / 0940 / 1330 / 1730 / 1905

Departures ex-Tallaght (76A):
0640 / 0800 / 1145 / 1540 / 1710

The 1540 should be in the Ballyfermot area at about 1630-1640 and the 1710 for 1810-1820.

It's very difficult to judge the journey times as they are totally dependant on traffic, but the northbound buses do have bus lanes for quite a bit of the journey from Tallaght.

Cool, thanks for that. Any idea what the travel time between Blanch - Ballyfermot is ? Says on dublinbus.ie its about 40 minutes.

John R

Tusky wrote:

Cool, thanks for that. Any idea what the travel time between Blanch - Ballyfermot is ? Says on dublinbus.ie its about 40 minutes.

Without traffic it would only be about 15-20mns, at that time of the day 40mns is probably more like it. The only way to know for sure is to try it out as there are a number of bad spots including the toll bridge.

At least the morning runs should be fairly reliable, I would be less confident about returning in the evening, It is more prone to delays in that direction as getting through Clondalkin village is a nightmare. For the return journey you will really have to give it a try and see if it is reliable at all.

The routing from Blanchardstown is:

Blanchardstown Centre, Blakestown Way, Huntstown Way, Hartstown Rd, Mount View Rd, Blanchardstown Rd South, Main Street, N3, M50, Lucan Rd, Kylemore Rd, Ballyfermot Rd.


An alternative routes home would be 25/66/67 from Kylemore Rd to Lucan and 239 from there to Clonsilla Rd and walk/39 from there (the 239 goes from), not great but the 239 departures are usually reliable and it would be better than.

66A to Leixlip Confey or 66 to Leixlip Louisa Bridge and train to Clonsilla/Coolmine would also probably be quicker than going into the quays and back to Blanchardstown on the 39

Tusky

John R wrote:

Without traffic it would only be about 15-20mns, at that time of the day 40mns is probably more like it. The only way to know for sure is to try it out as there are a number of bad spots including the toll bridge.

At least the morning runs should be fairly reliable, I would be less confident about returning in the evening, It is more prone to delays in that direction as getting through Clondalkin village is a nightmare. For the return journey you will really have to give it a try and see if it is reliable at all.

The routing from Blanchardstown is:

Blanchardstown Centre, Blakestown Way, Huntstown Way, Hartstown Rd, Mount View Rd, Blanchardstown Rd South, Main Street, N3, M50, Lucan Rd, Kylemore Rd, Ballyfermot Rd.


An alternative routes home would be 25/66/67 from Kylemore Rd to Lucan and 239 from there to Clonsilla Rd and walk/39 from there (the 239 goes from), not great but the 239 departures are usually reliable and it would be better than.

66A to Leixlip Confey or 66 to Leixlip Louisa Bridge and train to Clonsilla/Coolmine would also probably be quicker than going into the quays and back to Blanchardstown on the 39

Cheers, thats a great help. I didnt think there was an alternative route to bus into town and then 39 home. From memory I seem to remember that the 239 are very very unreliable. A friend lived on their route and he was always complaining about them. The 66/a to the train station might be my best bet.

Would cycling from Hartstown to Ballyfermot be an option I wonder ? I think its about 6 or 7 miles.

John R

Tusky wrote:

Cheers, thats a great help. I didnt think there was an alternative route to bus into town and then 39 home. From memory I seem to remember that the 239 are very very unreliable. A friend lived on their route and he was always complaining about them. The 66/a to the train station might be my best bet.

They changed the 239 route to the north of Lucan about 18 months back that gave it a shorter route with the same running time, anytime I have been in the area since then the departures seemed pretty reliable but I suppose like any infrequent route dealing with these traffic black holes it probably suffers more at certain times.

The 76 SHOULD be the best bet for you but if you find it unpredictable then the other oprions are worth a try.

Really all the departures on the route should be run to Blanchardstown not just the handful that currently are.

Tusky wrote:

Would cycling from Hartstown to Ballyfermot be an option I wonder ? I think its about 6 or 7 miles.

Yes 6-7 miles sounds about right but as you cannot cycle across the toll bridge it would mean cycling through Carpenterstown and down the narrow backroads to Chapelizod, across the bridge and up to Ballyfermot. Not the best roads, a few hills and lots of speeding cars that use it as a rat-run.

Tusky

John R wrote:

They changed the 239 route to the north of Lucan about 18 months back that gave it a shorter route with the same running time, anytime I have been in the area since then the departures seemed pretty reliable but I suppose like any infrequent route dealing with these traffic black holes it probably suffers more at certain times.

The 76 SHOULD be the best bet for you but if you find it unpredictable then the other oprions are worth a try.

Really all the departures on the route should be run to Blanchardstown not just the handful that currently are.



Yes 6-7 miles sounds about right but as you cannot cycle across the toll bridge it would mean cycling through Carpenterstown and down the narrow backroads to Chapelizod, across the bridge and up to Ballyfermot. Not the best roads, a few hills and lots of speeding cars that use it as a rat-run.

Yeah might be a bit dangerous alright. I think theres a massive hill on quite a narrow road just after the pheonix park in Chapelizod. Could possibly go in the park gate to bypass it though. Its just frustrating having to get loads of buses and potentially spend 3-4 hours per day commuting when its only 6 or 7 miles away!

January

You could get the 239 to Liffey Valley (they're reliable enough these days!) and then the 78A to Ballyfermott (it's really only down the road, you could walk it, I have!).

Tusky

adrieanne__x wrote:

You could get the 239 to Liffey Valley (they're reliable enough these days!) and then the 78A to Ballyfermott (it's really only down the road, you could walk it, I have!).

Yeah but that goes from the shopping center doesnt it ? I suppose I could cycle there...

How long is the bus from the center to Liffey Valley and how long is the walk from LV to Ballyfermot ? Cheers.

John R

Tusky wrote:

Its just frustrating having to get loads of buses and potentially spend 3-4 hours per day commuting when its only 6 or 7 miles away!

It shouldn't be that bad. In the morning the 08.10 76 should easily get you in by 9am so less than an hour.

If there is a reliable 76 in the evenings it would take a similar amount of time.

If you need to use one of the other routes it will take a bit longer but overall you shouldn't be spending much more than 2 hours commuting. Out of peak times the 79 to the Quays and the 39 shouldn't take more than an hour as they are both frequent.

Tusky wrote:

Yeah but that goes from the shopping center doesnt it ? I suppose I could cycle there...

How long is the bus from the center to Liffey Valley and how long is the walk from LV to Ballyfermot ? Cheers.

The 239 starts from Blanch centre but it is not exactly direct. It goes across Clonsilla Rd, past Coolmine station, does a loop around Carpenterstown, crosses back over the railway on the new bridge, back on to Clonsilla Rd, crosses the railway again at Clonsilla station then takes the backroads to Lucan through that new estate, across the liffey it turns right in to Lucan village, straight across the N4 and then does a loop of the Lucan/Griffen Valley estates before terminating at Liffey Valley centre.

As I said you would be better using the 25/66/67 from Ballyfermot to Lucan, the 239 takes the long way from Liffey valley and the 78A does a massive loop around Neilstown to get there from Ballyfermot. You would have to get off the 78A at the back of B&Q/PCworld and walk through the retail park to the bus stop at the shopping centre for the 239.

It would be a 15-20 minute walk from Liffey valley to Ballyfermot

Tusky

I'm impressed with your knowledge of the routes John! Yeah the 8:10 bus is all well and good if im in at 9 but I could easily be in at odd hours too. I'll just have to try a couple of different ways of getting there and see which suits best.

- oh, and I got the 39 to and from city center for years and years. From experience, it very rarely takes less than an hour and if it does it isnt by much. 50-70 minutes usually.

KC61

I'd agree with John R.

Give the 239 about 5-10 minutes to get to Lucan Village from Liffey Valley, and allow the 25/66/66A/66B/67/67A about 15 minutes from Kylemore Road to Lucan.

Note that the 25A does not serve Lucan Village, but that its terminus is on the 239 route - allow 20 minutes for that service to get to the terminus which is about 5 minutes into the 239 journey.

Victor

If this is where you are going, this page has "Bus Routes & Directions"

http://www.bcfe.ie/contact.htm

Cycling - Hartstown Way to Ballyfermot Road

Distance: 10.544 km
Time: 52minutes (generous)

Tusky

Victor wrote:

If this is where you are going, this page has "Bus Routes & Directions"

http://www.bcfe.ie/contact.htm

Cycling - Hartstown Way to Ballyfermot Road

Distance: 10.544 km
Time: 52minutes (generous)

52 minutes would be doable I suppose. Would probably need a shower by the time I got there though...Generous meaning that it could take longer or less than 52 ?

Victor

Tusky wrote:

52 minutes would be doable I suppose. Would probably need a shower by the time I got there though...Generous meaning that it could take longer or less than 52 ?

Generous as in your granny could od it in that time. Thats about 12km/h, you should be able to manage 20+km/h

I imagine its mostly downhill to Chapleizod. The pain is on the way home.

Tusky

Victor wrote:

Generous as in your granny could od it in that time. Thats about 12km/h, you should be able to manage 20+km/h

I imagine its mostly downhill to Chapleizod. The pain is on the way home.

Ah. Yeah its fairly hilly alright. Cheers for the help anyway.

January

Tusky wrote:

I'm impressed with your knowledge of the routes John! Yeah the 8:10 bus is all well and good if im in at 9 but I could easily be in at odd hours too. I'll just have to try a couple of different ways of getting there and see which suits best.

- oh, and I got the 39 to and from city center for years and years. From experience, it very rarely takes less than an hour and if it does it isnt by much. 50-70 minutes usually.

The 39 journey times are much better than they were years ago because they've rerouted the busses around the Blanchardstown Centre and added bus lanes. Doesn't take as long because there's usually no traffic on the road they use now (yellow entrance side, only entrance to the retail park where TK Maxx is.)

Tusky

adrieanne__x wrote:

The 39 journey times are much better than they were years ago because they've rerouted the busses around the Blanchardstown Centre and added bus lanes. Doesn't take as long because there's usually no traffic on the road they use now (yellow entrance side, only entrance to the retail park where TK Maxx is.)

Really ? I haven't been on them in about 18 months but they used to be absolutely awful. Ive never known a bus to serve so many busy areas.

Ongar, Clonsilla, Hartstown, Huntstown, Blanchardstown, B Center, Blanch Village, Navan Road, Stoney Batter..etc

Do they not go into the shopping center at all ? How long is the journey from Hartstown - City Center ?

cast_iron

Another option is getting a 79/79A/78A from to the quays and transfer to/from a 39 etc. The buses to/from B'fermot will have you out there in about 20 mins regardless of traffic and they run fairly often also.

The 25/66 etc option leaves you with a bit of walk from the Kylemore Rd depending on where exactly in B'fermot you are actually going.