Dublin Bus route 15

Lizzykins

I am completely at my wits end with the 15 bus route from Knocklyon. Up to about a year ago the bus ran fairly well but in the past year it's been a disaster. I get the 9.25 bus in the morning( or I should do) but in the last week neither the 9.25 nor the 9.40 has arrived at all. The next scheduled bus is the 10.05. The last number of mornings a bus has come at 9.55 and 10.00 so what bus is that?
I am under pressure from work and the childminder as the afternoons are nearly as bad-the 13.25 and the 13.45 have disappeared off the radar too and I have waited up to an hour in the afternoon for a bus. It can't be traffic as the 15B is merrily going back and forward and every other bus passes me by in Rathmines. I thought I might park in Templeogue to have a choice of buses but when I got to the car park it was full so I had to bail home like a maniac and abandon the car. Needless to say as usual the 9.25 and 9.40 never came. I am going bananas at this and have complained to Dublin Bus via email several times the last time today. What can I do?

MiCr0

ring them and ask where the bus is
the last time i did this i got an answer straight away

most of the time, email complains aren't worth the paper they're written

dereko1969

while not ideal could you either park in rathfarnham shopping centre or the orchard pub? you could then walk across to templeogue road which would give you a choice of 15/15b/65 (walk through the shopping centre carpark, then onto springfield avenue, then turn right or left onto templeogue road, bus stop is equidistant in either direction). you should ring dublin bus though as well.

KC61

Lizzykins wrote:

I am completely at my wits end with the 15 bus route from Knocklyon. Up to about a year ago the bus ran fairly well but in the past year it's been a disaster. I get the 9.25 bus in the morning( or I should do) but in the last week neither the 9.25 nor the 9.40 has arrived at all. The next scheduled bus is the 10.05. The last number of mornings a bus has come at 9.55 and 10.00 so what bus is that?
I am under pressure from work and the childminder as the afternoons are nearly as bad-the 13.25 and the 13.45 have disappeared off the radar too and I have waited up to an hour in the afternoon for a bus. It can't be traffic as the 15B is merrily going back and forward and every other bus passes me by in Rathmines. I thought I might park in Templeogue to have a choice of buses but when I got to the car park it was full so I had to bail home like a maniac and abandon the car. Needless to say as usual the 9.25 and 9.40 never came. I am going bananas at this and have complained to Dublin Bus via email several times the last time today. What can I do?

It may well be traffic - just because you are seeing 15B buses in Rathmines does not mean that they are on time!!!

Remember that the schools are just back and inbound traffic on the earlier journey that the bus has done could knock the schedule out.

However, my advice is if this happens again ring Ringsend Depot at 01 7034533 and ask for the 15 controller. He should be able to identify the problem and explain why it has happened.

I understand that new schedules for all of the 15 group are imminent and these will give the routes additional running time which should eliminate this problem.

Luckycharm

Could you cycle about 25 mins or get a scooter to do the commute about 10/15 mins as buses are very unreliable.

Prof_V

I used to use this route, and for a while travelled at almost exactly the same times - my experience was very similar. I think the rot set in when the terminus was moved to Eden Quay (circa April 2006 I think) without additional running time.

As for ringing the depot, sometimes you get a result, sometimes you don't. At least once, I got told a 15 had just left Scholarstown Road when I'd been standing there maybe 15-20 minutes, but I did get useful information on other occasions.

Lizzykins

Thanks Prof. The terminus move does make sense as the problems date from around Sept 06. In April the schools would have been winding down and out entirely from June. I suppose the more that complain the better and Dublin Bus will have to address the problem.
Someone else said park in Rathfarnham SC and I did consider that but am afraid of being clamped! Anyway will keep you all posted with improvements or not!

dereko1969

i've never seen anyone clamped in rathfarnham sc, i actually had to leave my car in the orchard pub for a week (had been in there the night before going on holiday, left car there when i went to pick it up in morning it wouldn't start and i didn't have time to get it towed) and it wasn't clamped.
i get the 15b and this morning the 905 didn't show, when i asked the driver of the 915 he said he'd asked the inspector and didn't get a reason so if their own bus drivers are getting fobbed off doesn't say much for our chances :eek:
he also said the 905 hadn't shown up all week!

trellheim

I used to go to NIHED [ now DCU ] from Knocklyon 1987-1992. This was before the 15 route, used to walk down to Ballyroan and get the 15B at the Blue Haven .

Alternatively you could buy a bicycle, cycle to Templeogue Bridge lock the bike to a lamppost and you have 65/49/15/15B so more chance of a bus.

this isn't really a DB problem; it is caused by the outbounds from Terenure-> Templeogue bridge being stuck cos there's no bus lane through Templeogue Village and the cars all trying to get to Spawell/M50 block the single lane.

DB don't have enough buses to keep spares at Scholarstown post 0900 [ although AlekSmart or KC may correct me here ? ] .

Solution : Ban cars from the Templeogue Village or make the road from Templeogue Village bus-only [ already planned, see DCC website ]

Chris.

Lizzykins

I remember well when the 15 didnt exist! Moved to Knockyon in '88. The 9.10 showed up today-hooray so it's just going to have to be a case of getting out of bed earlier in the morning! I left my house at 8.30 to get 4 year old to minder and arrived to her at 8.55. It took 25 mins to get down ballycullen Road. I'm not really keen on the bike idea so it may have to be walk to minders with child in buggy and then to bus stop. That would keep me fit anyway!

KC61

There did seem to be problems inbound this morning, as from 0740 to 0800 no bus passed along Terenure Road East, causing major crowds to build up, before a 65b, 65 and 15a cleared the loads.

Three 15b buses were then stuck in traffic at Terenure just after 8 along with a 74, 15 and 49!

Luckycharm

Yep traffic was horrendous this morning took me 45 mins to drop my daughter to school in Colmcilles from Ballycullen!! I have a moped and it is the only way to travel in and out of Work in the mornings from Ballycullen to Docks around 30-35 mins and you are not sweating either when you get in.

Doodah7

Luckycharm wrote:

Yep traffic was horrendous this morning took me 45 mins to drop my daughter to school in Colmcilles from Ballycullen!!

Agreed. Traffic on Firhouse Road, Ballycullen Road and surrounding areas were completely jammed this morning. Personally I blame the M50 flyover at the end of Firhouse Road. The two sets of lights are not even remotely synchronised and the result has been mayhem the past two mornings.

Doodah7

Luckycharm wrote:

Yep traffic was horrendous this morning took me 45 mins to drop my daughter to school in Colmcilles from Ballycullen!!

Agreed. Traffic on Firhouse Road, Ballycullen Road and surrounding areas were completely jammed this morning. Personally I blame the M50 flyover at the end of Firhouse Road. The two sets of lights are not even remotely synchronised and the result has been mayhem the past two mornings.

Lizzykins

Ten years ago when they were doing the flyover it was ten times worse. People used to have to leave earlier and earlier to get down the Ballycullen Road. AA Roadwatch had it on every day!

rainbow kirby

I remember that when they were building the flyover and for a while they had to send all the traffic through Knocklyon, used to take me 35 minutes to get from Firhouse to Knocklyon on the 49

Kinda puts the early morning traffic at Liffey Valley I hit now into perspective...

oconnoao

Grrr I could have a similar rant about the 15, so often it doesn't turn up, and its so slow. Just as well I live at the end of the route, at about 8am its full by the 3rd or 4th stop and noone else gets on.

How about parking down by the 15B terminus? even if a bus doesn't show up there, at least the next one is normally 10-15mins later, instead of the 30mins you normally have to wait for the 15.

I'm considering getting the 74A which goes right beside the 15 terminus(although not frequently), it avoids Terenure so I'm hoping it might get in a bit quicker.

trellheim

Here is that study I was on about - 2 years old now, but I don't know if they did anything with it.

http://www.sdublincoco.ie/sdcc/departments/roads/publications/pdf/TerenureTempleogueFINALREPORTWITHFIGURES24012006.pdf

Page 142 for the fun stuff.

KC61

oconnoao wrote:

Grrr I could have a similar rant about the 15, so often it doesn't turn up, and its so slow. Just as well I live at the end of the route, at about 8am its full by the 3rd or 4th stop and noone else gets on.

How about parking down by the 15B terminus? even if a bus doesn't show up there, at least the next one is normally 10-15mins later, instead of the 30mins you normally have to wait for the 15.

I'm considering getting the 74A which goes right beside the 15 terminus(although not frequently), it avoids Terenure so I'm hoping it might get in a bit quicker.

Keep an eye on www.dublinbus.ie this week.

Changes are planned to come in next Sunday (30 September) that should see:

15 - Additional running time and more buses
15A - Additional running time
15B - Extended to Whitechurch Estate and more running time
15C - Cancelled
74 - All day operation Monday/Sunday
74A - All day operation Monday/Sunday

Lizzykins

Thanks for the update! I have resorted to getting out of bed at 7.15 and going to the minder for 8.30. It seems to be working and although the buses are slow at least they come. I'm interested in the 74 as I live up Ballycullen Road and it would be so handy for me. I could leave my car at the minder and fly into Rathmines. Here's hoping!

oconnoao

fantastic! just read about all the changes on the website, sounds really great, if it all goes according to plan, i may have several frequent buses in walking distance just in time for college!

Luckycharm

Lizzykins wrote:

Thanks for the update! I have resorted to getting out of bed at 7.15 and going to the minder for 8.30. It seems to be working and although the buses are slow at least they come. I'm interested in the 74 as I live up Ballycullen Road and it would be so handy for me. I could leave my car at the minder and fly into Rathmines. Here's hoping!

Yep 74 and 74a both both go through Rathmines- both start at roundabout beside hunterswood. 74a goes via yellow house, zion road, rathgar road way- currently 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening of both but looks like improving.

KC61

As mentioned above, the changes have now been announced on www.dublinbus.ie to come into effect from this Sunday 30th September:

Significant service improvements for Ballycullen, Knocklyon & Ballyboden from Sunday 30th September

Route 15
Dublin Bus is pleased to announce that departures on Route 15 will be doubled from Sunday 30th September offering a 10 minute frequency at peak times and enhanced Saturday and Sunday services.

Route 15b
The terminus of Route 15b will be moved from Ballyroan to Whitechurch while the service will more than double from 23 to 57 departures on weekdays. From Sunday 30th September Route 15b will operate via Taylors Lane, Ballyboden Rd., Ballyroan Rd., Templeogue Rd., Terenure, Rathmines, St. Stephen’s Green and Eden Quay.

(Note by KC61: The increased number of departures refers to those ex-Whitechurch and not the whole 15B service. There are currently 23 inbound 15C services and 54 inbound 15B services each weekday. Therefore in the new timetable there are 3 extra 15B departures. However, Whitechurch Estate will see a huge increase in services from 23 per day to 57. Also the correct 15B routing should reflect Marian Road and Butterfield Avenue between Ballyroan Road and Templeogue Bridge)

Route 15n
The 15n Nitelink will be extended to serve Ellensborough, departing College St. every Friday and Saturday night from 00:30 am every 30 minutes until 04.30. These changes will place from the Friday 28th September.

Routes 74 and 74a
From Sunday 30th September these routes will now have a significantly improved timetable, improved frequency and a 7 day service. Services will also be extended in the City Centre to serve Macken St. in the South Docklands and will no longer serve Eden Quay.

Route 49/a
Route 49/a will no longer serve the section of Ballycullen Rd. between Ballycullen Drive and Woodstown/Greenfield Park. Ballycullen Rd. customers wishing to access these routes to Tallaght may use the stops on Ballycullen Drive.

Route 15c
This route will no longer operate, alternative services include
Route 15b and Route 74a.

All buses on Routes 74, 74a and 49/a will be low floor wheelchair accessible buses.


Please note all timetables will be updated on Friday 28th Septhember 2007

Further note by KC61 - I would expect a revised 15A timetable also as these buses are integrated with the 15/15B/15C.

I also think that the company have misjudged the situation by not retaining peak hour 15C journeys to/from Whitechurch Estate as the 15B route will take an extra 10/15 minutes approximately in the rush hour than the existing 15C routing.

trellheim

what black hole are you getting the buses from for that ? :eek:

and is the 15b not going to serve RSC and Butterfield road anymore ?

that'll only leave the 75 serving a very busy shopping centre

KC61

trellheim wrote:

what black hole are you getting the buses from for that ? :eek:

and is the 15b not going to serve RSC and Butterfield road anymore ?

that'll only leave the 75 serving a very busy shopping centre

If you read my piece in italics above I do state that the 15B will still serve Marian Road and Butterfield Avenue - it's a mistake in the official notice.

The increase in the 15/15B service will be managed by cancelling the 23 15C services that currently operate. The 74/74A will now have an all day service, using the six buses currently operating the routes and the rest will come from the fleet expansion pool that have sat in Broadstone depot since last December awaiting entry into service.

Luckycharm

KC61 wrote:

If you read my piece in italics above I do state that the 15B will still serve Marian Road and Butterfield Avenue - it's a mistake in the official notice.

The increase in the 15/15B service will be managed by cancelling the 23 15C services that currently operate. The 74/74A will now have an all day service, using the six buses currently operating the routes and the rest will come from the fleet expansion pool that have sat in Broadstone depot since last December awaiting entry into service.

Hi KC61 Do you have any idea as to how often the 74s will be running?

KC61

Not as yet...the plan was for a 30 minute off-peak service on each of the 74/74A and more peak-hour services - I would imagine a 15/20 minute peak hour on each.

You'll just have to wait until Friday morning on www.dublinbus.ie

Lizzykins

Sounds great! Cant wait to see schedule.

delta_bravo

trellheim wrote:

Solution : Ban cars from the Templeogue Village or make the road from Templeogue Village bus-only [ already planned, see DCC website ]

Chris.

Have you got a link for this? I really couldnt see this happening

Prof_V

delta_bravo wrote:

Have you got a link for this? I really couldnt see this happening

I've never heard of it either. Anyway, DCC has no jurisdiction over Templeogue Village. What did happen was that DCC and SDCC commissioned a joint study of traffic management in the Terenure-Templeogue area (far bigger than Templeogue Village alone). The centrepiece of the recommendations was a one-way system with inbound N81 traffic using Fortfield Road and Terenure Road East and outbound traffic the existing route on Templeogue Road, plus an inbound bus contraflow on Templeogue Road (and possibly an outbound one on Terenure Road West). The scheme got thrown out because of public and political resistance. In any case, it wouldn't have directly affected Templogue Village. The report is at: http://roads.southdublin.ie/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=80&Itemid=62.

trellheim

AH. that was the link I posted. I didn't know it had been chucked out. It seemed reasonable. probably that was the reason.