[Dublin Bus] New Nitelink Timetable

Xylophonic

Revised Nitelink Services from Monday 2nd February 2009
Dublin Bus wishes to advise customers that due to low customer demand, the Monday to Thursday Nitelink Service will be cancelled with effect from Monday 2nd February 2009. A revised Friday and Saturday night service will operate as follows:

7n, 25n, 27n, 29n, 31n, 39n, 40n, 42n, 46n, 51n, 54n, 66n, 77n
00:00, 00:30, 01:00, 01:30, 02:00, 02:30, 03:00, 03:30, 04:00
41n
00:30, 01:00, 01:30*, 02:00, 02:30, 03:00, 03:30, 04:00
* To Portrane
33n, 67n, 69n, 70n, 84n, 88n
00:00, 02:00, 04:00
48n, 15n
00:00, 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, 04:00
44n, 49n
00:30, 01:30, 02:30, 03:30

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp?action=view&news_id=841

serfboard

Disappointing, but inevitable.

loyatemu

thats actually an improved service for the 84N if its true - it never ran during the week, and the 00:00 service is new. http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=84n

Vic_08

loyatemu wrote: »

thats actually an improved service for the 84N if its true - it never ran during the week, and the 00:00 service is new. http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=84n

First bus on all routes was always 00.30 so the midnight departures are all new. Seems like for the most part they have just shifted the main routes to start and finish 30mns earlier.

paulm17781

Still nothing too the city. I'd use it instead of taxis if it existed.

Also, why not start running normal buses until 00.30 every night then night links after. I would be near certain people would use buses at that time.

Tusky

No midweek nitelinks is scandalous...How are people from the suburbs supposed to get home from town ?

L1011

Improved weekend service on the 67N too... well, later last bus.

jaffa20

Drink driving FTW!

holton

It was only announced recently that the last nitelinks would be at 3am. They must have seen sense in the meantime...

grimloch

That's an unbelievable pain in the arse. This makes getting home from town a fair bit more expensive.

Slice

Well, the changes were inevitable given the big increase in taxi numbers after the industry was liberalised and also after the recent changes to pub closing times.

Run_to_da_hills

No Difference to the 7N weekend service.

patrickmooney

I was on the 00:30 nitelink on Monday, quite alot onboard. Realised I was on the LAST Monday nitelink on my route. All passengers where handed a printed leaflet about these changes. Yes I think regular public transport should run until midnight at least. 1.15Euro for a bus at 23:40, miss that and you've to pay 5Euro.

Tusky

patrickmooney wrote: »

1.15Euro for a bus at 23:40, miss that and you've to pay 5Euro.

...from now on if you miss it youve to get a taxi.

anonymous_joe

What a load of ass.

I'm a student, tehre's no way I won't be in town midweek. Majorly sucks.

orestes

Brilliant, I will now pretty much make a financial loss if I work during the week cos I have to get a taxi home since I finish work at midnight.

Oh well, I didn't need that money anyway, paying college fees and buying books and food and things like that isn't that important I suppose

spareman

serfboard wrote: »

Disappointing, but inevitable.

Tusky wrote: »

No midweek nitelinks is scandalous...How are people from the suburbs supposed to get home from town ?

grimloch wrote: »

That's an unbelievable pain in the arse. This makes getting home from town a fair bit more expensive.

Tusky wrote: »

...from now on if you miss it youve to get a taxi.

anonymous_joe wrote: »

What a load of ass.

I'm a student, tehre's no way I won't be in town midweek. Majorly sucks.

How am I going to pay for my Holidays next year? No more overtime.:eek:

honru

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

No Difference to the 7N weekend service.

00:00 service introduced, 04:30 service axed. At least it's running to 04:00 and not 03:00 as was reported earlier in the month by the media.

I'm quite livid after shelling out for an annual bus pass in November, a month where the price was increased significantly, solely for the privilege of an unlimited Monday-Saturday Nitelink service. Now I see why they upped the price in November when such a revision typically happens in January.

How to make it profitable? I think more and more people would use the Nitelink if it were more user-friendly and cheaper when added up against a taxi. A single ticket is €5, but you can't use notes; you have to purchase your ticket in advance. College Green is the only stop within the City Centre. Plus if you're in group of 3-4 people, which is common given the time, and you all live less than 15km from the City Centre, why would you all get a Nitelink at €5 each when you can get a taxi? I think these are the people Dublin Bus are missing out on.

All in all, quite shocking being a capital city in a developed nation we have lost out on a midweek late night bus service.

oneweb

Go one of the flyers on tonight's Nitelink. Even though I don't get it that much the news still annoyed me.

Anyway the domino rally destruction continues... no nitelinks = less ppl going out during the week = ...

Ham'nd'egger

Walking through Terenure tonight (Tuesday) and the 12:30 49N and last 65 into town crossed at Bradys. I saw maybe 6 people on the Nitelink and about 3 on the 65. Maybe it was a bad night but when I do get pulled over beside a mid week Nitelink, it is almost always pretty much empty. I don't know if the later run does better but I'd doubt it does much better to be honest.

If the punters didn't use the non subsidized Nitelink in the good times then there is little hope to run them with little patronage in the bad times. You can see why DB have to cull it to save a few bob if this is their numbers.

paulm17781

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

How to make it profitable? I think more and more people would use the Nitelink if it were more user-friendly and cheaper when added up against a taxi. A single ticket is €5, but you can't use notes; you have to purchase your ticket in advance. College Green is the only stop within the City Centre. Plus if you're in group of 3-4 people, which is common given the time, and you all live less than 15km from the City Centre, why would you all get a Nitelink at €5 each when you can get a taxi? I think these are the people Dublin Bus are missing out on.

You're assuming DB management know what they're doing. It's painfully obvious that buses should run past midnight these days, normal buses not €5 ones. Then as you mentioned there's the fact that a group will get a taxi cheaper. This is a marvelous retrograde step for DB.

thebman

I agree that tickets are a big problem.

They need to devise an automated purchasing system similar to the train stations (but stronger I guess and with CCTV on it) so that people can purchase tickets.

Obviously not touch screen but more like buying a parking ticket, something like that. make it more convienient to use.

bk

thebman wrote: »

I agree that tickets are a big problem.

This issue could quickly and more easily fixed if DB hurried up and introduced wallet based smart cards like on the LUAS.

Basically you top it up with, €10, €20, etc. and it is automatically deducted from your smart card when used. You could also set up a direct debit to make sure your card is always topped up.

thebman

bk wrote: »

This issue could quickly and more easily fixed if DB hurried up and introduced wallet based smart cards like on the LUAS.

Basically you top it up with, €10, €20, etc. and it is automatically deducted from your smart card when used. You could also set up a direct debit to make sure your card is always topped up.

True but the only issue is people out on the two needing to top up. A text to top up service would be useful and ATM's supporting it especially the ones in pubs.

AlekSmart

This issue could quickly and more easily fixed if DB hurried up and introduced wallet based smart cards like on the LUAS.

That very feature was/is an integral part of the Current ticketing array.

However although the equipment and applications have been in place for quite some time the necessary permissions from the Department of Transport only cover the current restricted range of "smart enabled" tickets.

It should be recognized that not ALL BAC management wear frock-coats and top-hats.

Many of BAC`s senior managers are as well versed in World wide trends and systems as ANY of their peers in the private sector,however the requirement to involve a very Tradionalist Department of Transport in ALL Fare related issues places serious constraints upon BAC`s ability to respond to Customer demand.

For supporting evidence of this simply refer to the current situation regarding the Integrated Ticketing Working Group with perhaps a timid enquiry as to when we can expect the first Operational fruit of it`s labours.

€34 Million and not a scrap of cardboard to be seen.....Yet !

So bk,the electronic purse which would transfom your Public Transport use in Dublin IS there,ready and waiting to be enabled...it`s just a matter of when.....

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

bk

thebman wrote: »

True but the only issue is people out on the two needing to top up. A text to top up service would be useful and ATM's supporting it especially the ones in pubs.

As you say, there are many ways around this, phone top ups, direct debit top up (never leave the card drop below €10), machine top up, atm top up.

Actually I've always thought that there is great potential here for a much more interesting wider application of smart cards. Imagine a system that would not only allow you to use the bus, dart, luas in an integrated manner, but would also allow you to make small purchases like newspapers, coffee, etc. and could be topped up at ATM's

BTW non of this is rocket science, already done in many asian countries.

KC61

-Phuqer- wrote: »

If a bus isn't mentioned there does this mean it's bein cut or just no change to the current weekend timetable? No mention of the 70n.

Eh, yes there is:

33n, 67n, 69n, 70n, 84n, 88n
00:00, 02:00, 04:00

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

reckoner

anonymous_joe wrote: »

What a load of ass.

I'm a student, tehre's no way I won't be in town midweek. Majorly sucks.

Disgraceful! Cutbacks my ass, dont hink they realise how profitable some services such as the 67N Mon-Thurs are, serving 4 major suburban areas! Always packed! And i'm a student, screwed!
1130 last but Sun-Thurs! Great service, great country! Monopoly bull****!

Rawr

reckoner wrote: »

Disgraceful! Cutbacks my ass, dont hink they realise how profitable some services such as the 67N Mon-Thurs are, serving 4 major suburban areas! Always packed! And i'm a student, screwed!
1130 last but Sun-Thurs! Great service, great country! Monopoly bull****!

Indeed. Although I preferred taking the more direct 66N back home, the 67N (aka '25A/66/67A'...N) was a welcome affordable link across the county border.

Although cutting Nitelinks, makes sense in terms of less people going out drinking mid-week (if at all), it just serves as a stab in the back for those of us whose daily-life doesn't always end at midnight. Orestes' post above is typical of a person who's got to work late shifts and must have an available bus service.

Without the Nitelinks, an artificial mid-week curfew of c.a. 23:30 has now been imposed. If I decide to go to a friend's home on the other side of the city during the week, I'm now forced to catch the last usual bus. Before, I'd have the freedom to catch an early Nitelink. Unless I can afford a Taxi to Kildare, that freedom is now gone.

That said, I think I remember a few years ago, that the mid-week Nitelinks would only operate during the Christmas rush, and that year-round mid-week service has only been around for a few short years. Yet those short years felt like the service that we always should of had. With Nitelinks it was even possible to still get home after arriving to Dublin Airport on a late flight.

In my opinion the Nitelink should be regarded less as a means of carting drunks out of An Lar, and considered as more of a needed late-night extension of the existing day-time service. If routes really are running empty busses, the likes of the mid-week 67N (merging the 66N and normal 67N) may be the way to go instead of culling the mid week service altogether.

Nevyn

None on a thursday ? Fúck that.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

thebman

Rawr wrote: »

Indeed. Although I preferred taking the more direct 66N back home, the 67N (aka '25A/66/67A'...N) was a welcome affordable link across the county border.

Although cutting Nitelinks, makes sense in terms of less people going out drinking mid-week (if at all), it just serves as a stab in the back for those of us whose daily-life doesn't always end at midnight. Orestes' post above is typical of a person who's got to work late shifts and must have an available bus service.

Without the Nitelinks, an artificial mid-week curfew of c.a. 23:30 has now been imposed. If I decide to go to a friend's home on the other side of the city during the week, I'm now forced to catch the last usual bus. Before, I'd have the freedom to catch an early Nitelink. Unless I can afford a Taxi to Kildare, that freedom is now gone.

That said, I think I remember a few years ago, that the mid-week Nitelinks would only operate during the Christmas rush, and that year-round mid-week service has only been around for a few short years. Yet those short years felt like the service that we always should of had. With Nitelinks it was even possible to still get home after arriving to Dublin Airport on a late flight.

In my opinion the Nitelink should be regarded less as a means of carting drunks out of An Lar, and considered as more of a needed late-night extension of the existing day-time service. If routes really are running empty busses, the likes of the mid-week 67N (merging the 66N and normal 67N) may be the way to go instead of culling the mid week service altogether.

Agree completely. Obviously just seen as the drunk bus in the company and not as a night service. Agree with merging routes rather than killing the service altogether. If they aren't profitable then merging them would probably make them profitable.

shltter

reckoner wrote: »

Disgraceful! Cutbacks my ass, dont hink they realise how profitable some services such as the 67N Mon-Thurs are, serving 4 major suburban areas! Always packed! And i'm a student, screwed!
1130 last but Sun-Thurs! Great service, great country! Monopoly bull****!

As Dublin Bus has withdrawn services from Mon to Thurs i am sure a private operator could apply for a license to operate Mon to Thurs if there is a profit in it.

Maybe Antoin has already stuck in his application


I am sure Dublin Bus is fully aware of which services on the nitelink make money and which don't

shltter

thebman wrote: »

Agree completely. Obviously just seen as the drunk bus in the company and not as a night service. Agree with merging routes rather than killing the service altogether. If they aren't profitable then merging them would probably make them profitable.

It operates as a commercial service attracts no PSO or subvention as such DB can do as they like operate not operate.

If you view it as an essential public service and it is not commercially viable for DB or any other operator . Then you should contact your politicians and insist it is included in the PSO system under the new DTA.

I presume as DB have removed the Mon to Thurs service the way is open for a private operator to operate some or all or an alternative service at least on those nights.

Indeed for a small operator it may be profitable on certain routes given the wage costs of Inspectors and particularly Chief Inspectors who take the money but serve no useful purpose. A lot of nitelink journeys just to pay the chief inspector nevermind anyone else

MOH

There's already private buses on some routes on weekends, as far as I know?

honru

Rawr wrote: »

That said, I think I remember a few years ago, that the mid-week Nitelinks would only operate during the Christmas rush, and that year-round mid-week service has only been around for a few short years. Yet those short years felt like the service that we always should of had.

I remember browsing through an old '90s Dublin Bus pamphlet, mid-week Nitelinks used to run to the same frequency as weekend services until 04:30. Don't know for how long this operated for, but I do recall the mid-week services being culled after the taxi deregulation.

cherrycool

The last Luas is at half twelve, the last bus should at least be twelve. I think the reason Nitelinks are supposedly 'underused' is because they are at bad times; who gets a half twelve Nitelink at a fiver when they can get the bus an hour earlier? There should be one Nitelink during weekdays, at about half one. And if its still not full enough, use the single decker buses. As for starting Nitelinks at midnight; thats ridiculous. No one will pay five euro for that when the last bus is like twenty minutes earlier. They should take all of the midnight ones and use them during the week! You can tell the bigshots who orchestrated all of this clearly don't slum it on Nitelinks with the rest of us

Buffman

I think the new midnight depature is to allow the same bus and driver get back into the city, have a break, and then run the next service. Same with pushing the 03.30 to 04.00. Means that the '00:00, 02:00, 04:00' routes will have only 1 bus/driver serving them. It's all about saving money.

Corruptedmorals

I'm delighted the last Nitelink is at 4 and not 3 though. And yeah, the 67N was never even half-empty. They should have just merged routes and killed off Nitelinks that are serving areas not that far from town, affordable taxi distance.

Metrobest

Dublin is one of the booziest cities in the world. Unlike other places, the city is buzzing at night with people from the suburbs flocking to take advantage of the city centre's famous nightlife. It seems certain that in this climate, midweek nightlinks could have been commmercially viable but Dublin Bus mismanaged the service as always.

There are fundamental problems with the way nitelinks are managed. The first is where they (don't) stop. They should pick up at every stop outbound, just like a regular bus. Nobody wants to go for long walks at night to get to a bus stop. When will Dublin Bus realize this fact?

Second, the fares. Passengers use nitelinks for two reasons - either a substantial cost saving over a taxi, or due to the unavailability of taxis. On weekends, taxis are in short supply, hence the nitelinks are more heavily used. But on weekdays, taxis are easy to come by. All the more important then to have nitelinks stopping in convenient locations.

Regarding price, for many journeys to inner suburbs it's not much more expensive to take a taxi. So nitelinks should have a zone fare system with an inner zone with a fare of 2.50. Dublin Bus seems to think nitelinks are price inelastic, which is a crazy way to run public transport.

Also, it seems crazy that nitelinks don't pick up passengers as they return to the city centre. How much mission-critical revenue is lost by this ridiculous strategy is anyone's guess.

All these factors and more have combined to destroy the economic viability a very neccessary night time public transport service in a European capital city. And it's all thanks to Dublin Bus's shambolic management of the nitelink service.

sdanseo

I'd expect this crap from a prvate company but not from a public body mandated by government to do what they do. They'll keep double deckers on obscure routes during the daytime with literally nobody on them (102 near me for example might have 5 people at any one time between 10am and 4pm) but not the nitelinks. I rarely if ever use the nitelink, because I don't drink - but that doesn't mean I don't think it's absolute bullshít.

If I thought they'd use the money constructively I wouldn't mind. But the amount they'll save in the scheme of things is puny on a recessional scale - plus now they'll have an excuse to lay of more drivers. Not only that but their passengers now have to pay €30 for a taxi.

Although I bet taxi drivers will be having a grand auld party later.

LiamD

I went for a 2am nitelink last night, but it didn't depart until 2.15. It seemed to be the same with the rest of the nitelinks at college green.

Buffman

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

I'm delighted the last Nitelink is at 4 and not 3 though. And yeah, the 67N was never even half-empty. They should have just merged routes and killed off Nitelinks that are serving areas not that far from town, affordable taxi distance.

Yep, they should have tried combining more routes like the midweek 67N (67N/66N/25N), and given that a few months trial before completely axing the midweek service. Anytime I got a midweek 67N there was always a good few on it.

LiamD wrote: »

I went for a 2am nitelink last night, but it didn't depart until 2.15. It seemed to be the same with the rest of the nitelinks at college green.

More time to sober up!:D


Is this a direct result of DB letting drivers go or are the N drivers on overtime?

Anyway, from Monday night onwards you can all look out for me on Westmoreland Sreet, I'll be the one shouting 'ANYBODY WANNA SHARE A TAXI TO CELBRIDGE':D

AlekSmart

Dublin is one of the booziest cities in the world. Unlike other places, the city is buzzing at night with people from the suburbs flocking to take advantage of the city centre's famous nightlife. It seems certain that in this climate, midweek nightlinks could have been commmercially viable but Dublin Bus mismanaged the service as always.
There are fundamental problems with the way nitelinks are managed. The first is where they (don't) stop. They should pick up at every stop outbound, just like a regular bus. Nobody wants to go for long walks at night to get to a bus stop. When will Dublin Bus realize this fact?

I`m not so sure about the City Centre being in a "buzzing" state any longer,particularly outside of Friday and Saturday night.

Whilst the criticisms of the Nitelink service can be understood there is often a failure to comprehend thentype of service Nitelink actually is.

Its a Limited Stop Express SErvice linking the City Centre with the major Suburbs.
Thats what`s on the tin.

Nitelink was introduced as a reactionary measure many years ago now to cope with a public outcry concerning the situation in the City Centre as Night Clubs closed and the patrons came staggering onto the streets in search of one of the less than 2,000 Taxis then extant.

It`s success was immediate and the interest of the usual political suspects waned as the public order crisis was averted.

However the next step never came,namely the extension of regular stage carriage services on a 24 hr basis along the main corridors in BOTH directions.

Plans were well afoot with all drivers recruited since 2002 capable of being utilized on a 24 hr basis, and at least one route the,7 had a form of proposed bill (Timetable) drafted but the required enthusiasm was not there.

A full 24Hr service could still be introduced with alacrity if only the will existed.
For example a flat fare of €2.20 would represent both value and viability and would be well recieved I suspect.

Sadly however the stomach for new and innovative approaches simply does not exist and the Department of Transport will have no truck whatever with anything less than redundancies,cost savings and service reductions.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Is there any chance of this decision being reviewed, reversed or amended ? What about some public outcry like Alex said put the buses on the road in the first place ?

Sod paying for a taxi. I'll be staying in so...

lostexpectation

which night is student night these days weds or thurs, students who might like to the bus late at night

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Larianne

What's the address and person to complain about these changes? :mad:

Nevyn

http://www.giveusthenight.com/

Is a group trying to change things.