Changes in the bus routes.

Nevyn

http://www.dublin15.ie/pages/CV112/CV112n08.htm

Direct busses to ongar.

Take the Ongar express
by Peter Goulding

There was some good news for residents of the outlying community of Ongar recently when Dublin Bus announced that plans were afoot to introduce a dedicated bus route into the city centre.

The pronouncement was made by Gareth Quinn, North West area manager, at a meeting with the Ongar Residents Association Committee (ORAC.) Not surprisingly, certain members of the committee had previously expressed displeasure at the length of time that the 39 currently takes in its scenic meanderings towards An Lár.

“Yes we intend to introduce a faster, more direct service from Ongar to the city centre,” Mr. Quinn confirmed. “The service is likely to be during or after the summer. By and large the whole of the bus services in Dublin 15 are being rescheduled. This is a major undertaking but I expect to see significant improvements for our customers in the Dublin 15 area, not just with the introduction of the Xpress service but throughout all the existing services as well.

“With regard to the new route starting in Ongar, without doubt our customers there have suffered due to the chronic traffic congestion that has overtaken our roads and the distance that they must travel on the bus. However, though this service starts in Ongar, our customers all along the new Ongar Road and in the vicinity of Blanchardstown Road South will also be able to use it.

“The new service we will be maximising the use of all the bus lanes provided by Fingal County Council and the quality bus network team who have undertaken Trojan work in the area to help keep public transport moving,” he concluded.

“This is great news for Ongarians,” said Samantha Dooley of ORAC, who recently helped to organise a highly publicised protest against unfinished work in the estate. “We have been pushing for an express bus route to pick up at Ongar, then straight onto the N3 and into the city. The current bus takes between 80 - 100 minutes and is generally full by the time it leaves the area.

“This new bus route, would take around 45 minutes because of the bus lane. The general understanding is the N3 will be updated to accommodate a bus lane, which will benefit many local areas.”

It is understood that a service will still be provided for commuters who wish to take the snail-mail version of the service and prospective passengers along the route will stand a better chance of actually watching it stop, rather than the current practice of seeing it sailing by stuffed to the gills.

The announcement comes as another feather in the cap for ORAC. The introduction of an express link to the city comes hot on the heels of the provision of a post box in the village and the replacement of the Lucan gardaí with the Blanchardstown gardaí, who will officially take over responsibility for the policing of Ongar with effect from April 9th.

37 to run to the Shopping Center.

http://www.dublin15.ie/pages/CV112/CV112n12.htm

“Castleknock commuters will be left stranded” says councillor

In January, Community Voice reported on the plans being formulated by Dublin Bus to move the terminus of the No. 37 service from its present location in Fernleigh to the Blanchardstown Centre.

According to Paddy Doherty, business development manager with Dublin Bus the company was planning the move following the completion of the bus lanes on Blanchardstown Road South. Instead of ending its journey in Fernleigh it is now being proposed that the bus will continue its journey from Carpenterstown across the Canon Troy Bridge and up the Blanchardstown Road South to its new destination at the Town Centre.The 37 bus – too full for Castleknock passengers

However as details of the proposals start to sink in, local residents of the Carpenterstown area and further down into Castleknock have started to raise concerns about the effect the move will have on their daily commuting.

Cllr. Eithne Loftus (FG) has now called on Dublin Bus to re-consider its plans as she feels it will leave Castleknock commuters stranded as buses will now be full by the time they reach Carpenterstown and Castleknock.

Speaking to Community Voice she said, “I am very concerned that the bus will fill up with passengers from Blakestown, Mountview and Clonsilla before it gets to Carpenterstown and Laurel Lodge.“ Despite assurances by Dublin Bus that it will be using slightly bigger buses with greater capacity to service the route she remains unhappy with the proposal.

According to Cllr. Loftus, “if the plan goes ahead, there will have to be a major increase in frequency on this route. At the very least, Dublin Bus should agree to start some buses in Laurel Lodge during the morning rush hour period. This would ensure that no one is left stranded at the bus stop.”

She is also calling for the deregulation of bus services to allow private operators to compete directly with Dublin Bus. “This would mean more bus routes for Dublin 15, such as new direct bus services from Littlepace, Ongar, Clonsilla and Castleknock,” she claims.

In a re-opening of the former left / right divide between Fine Gael and the Labour Party she accuses her former general election allies of having an “old-fashioned anti-business opposition to deregulation.” According to the councillor, “Luas is operated by a private company and it works very well. Dublin 15 residents want more buses and don’t really mind who operates them.”

I wonder if this will make a difference.

ciaran76

I would worry if I was a 37 bus user as people WILL use this new route into town if they miss their regulary bus etc etc.

The new Ongar route has to be good news for the people in the area. They should also have (for the 39) every 2nd bus does not go into the shopping center or something along those lines.

Zaph

ciaran76 wrote: »

They should also have (for the 39) every 2nd bus does not go into the shopping center or something along those lines.

That's a good idea, the amount of time wasted there is ridiculous. Better still would be to have more local buses that only service the area and don't go into town at all.

Gaspode

Ongarians!!!
Is that for real? What would residents of Castleknock be, Castleknockians or Castleknockers?

Still good news for the residents there.

ciaran76

deswalsh wrote: »

Ongarians!!!
Is that for real? What would residents of Castleknock be, Castleknockians or Castleknockers?

Still good news for the residents there.

Shouldn't they really be Ongarites ? TBH I dont know what I am talking about !!!:p

dodgyme

Where will some of the new 39 routes go?. It would be great if they just went from ongar -> littlepace and on to town avoiding Blanch.

Polar101

This sounds like they'll be making the 70B route run more often (currently it goes once a day), while replacing some of the 39's with the changed 37 route. Okay, but some of us Ongarians (tm) still need a bus service to the Shopping Centre, and it would be nice to have a way to get to Blanch Village by bus too. Technically the latter is already possible, but it is actually slower than walking.

Still, it would be nice to be able to get the bus to town too. Now it's too ridiculous - it is very silly that the Nitelink (70N) takes 30 minutes from town to Ongar, going a pretty direct route, but regular buses take 75-120 minutes and offer a full D15 sightseeing tour in the process.

meanmachine3

all nightlinks are the same.
they normally have 2 pick up points ,but in general they're not dealing with boarding passengers at every stop, dealing with passengers fumbling with either tickets or change, heavy peak time traffic, so once they leave the city centre all they have to do is drop of and it's an open run.
a few drivers on the 39's i know have told me they're generally full after leaving the stop in dame street at peak times.
this is the first stop after hawkins street and have over 120 passengers with the new buses already.
the reason i'm high lighting the above is this. dublin bus introduced one the biggest buses they have on that route and they still cant carry enough passengers.

but regular buses take 75-120 minutes and offer a full D15 sightseeing tour in the process.

.
from what i gather the people in ongar want a quicker bus service or an express type bus into town, but what about those in between say in huntstown/ hartstown?
with regards to the 120 minutes.
again speaking to some drivers ,their complaints are mainly traffic conjestion, lack of enforcement on the bus lanes, the rat run at the phoenix park, and clonsilla train stn.

Mimikyu

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dodgyme

Solitaryman666 wrote: »

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exactly what is needed

Xavi6

I'd have mixed feelings about the 37 route. On the one hand you will be fecked over when going into town but on the other hand it means no relying on those bloody Imp buses to get to the centre. Worst. Service. Ever.

Nevyn

Solitaryman666 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I have been on the 39a in the mornings and there are times it makes no difference due to the back log for the m50 interchange and the 39a has just ene up meeting the 39 and the village roundabout.

Can't see that getting better with the proposed roadworks.

dcGT

Thaedydal wrote: »

I have been on the 39a in the mornings and there are times it makes no difference due to the back log for the m50 interchange and the 39a has just ene up meeting the 39 and the village roundabout.

Can't see that getting better with the proposed roadworks.

I'm not sure about heading into town, but when heading to Ongar, the 39A is a lot quicker than the 39. The journey times are rediculous on the 39. I've called Dublin Bus so many times asking them to put more 39As on the route. If they put 39As on earlier in the morning, I'd say they would get into town a lot faster.

This is good news.

DC.

Polar101

dcGT wrote: »

I'm not sure about heading into town, but when heading to Ongar, the 39A is a lot quicker than the 39. The journey times are rediculous on the 39.

The 39A is still a silly sightseeing route if you travel to/from Ongar - I realize Huntstown and Hartstown etc. have more passengers, but I'd hate to take the 39 to town every day. Passing the shopping centre and Blanch village is definitely faster, but the route is still unbelievably slow.

I'd really like a bus service that starts in Ongar, goes straight up the "New" Ongar Road to Coolmine (to the Power City roundabout), and then continues on the normal 39 route to the city. There's even a bus lane, but no buses use it the whole way. I think that's what the current 39C service should be like.

Ongar towards Littlepace and then the N3 to the city would be useful, but I'd still take the train - and the problems with the local area services would still remain.