Nitelink service

breadmonkey

I haven't gotten the Nitelink for a good while but was hoping to get it home tonight. I just checked the Dublin Bus website and it's saying there is no 46N service from Sunday - Thursday! When did this happen? As far as I remember, there used to be one at 12:30 and one at 2:00 during the week.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

honru

It never ran on Sundays either, unless it was a bank holiday weekend. Nowadays, yep, only Friday and Saturday.

Tazz T

This has been a real pain in the ass for me.

It's fairly ridiculous when a European capital city has no public transport links after midnight for five out of seven days of the week.

jack presley

Tazz T wrote: »

This has been a real pain in the ass for me.

It's fairly ridiculous when a European capital city has no public transport links after midnight for five out of seven days of the week.

Supply and demand!

xOxSinéadxOx

jack presley wrote: »

Supply and demand!

yeah but there was never a good proper service anyway, that's why there was not enough demand not cos the service isn't needed.

jack presley

When the Nitelinks started you couldn't get a taxi if your life depended on it, now there are millions so the need for Nitelinks on weekdays just isn't there anymore.

JHMEG

The people who used the Nitelinks most before are the people that still use them and would still use them: those that aren't prepared for fork out €30 for a taxi.

AlekSmart

The people who used the Nitelinks most before are the people that still use them and would still use them: those that aren't prepared for fork out €30 for a taxi.

Very true JHMEG.

One of the great mysteries to me is the almost total lack of marketing directed at potential Nitelink customers.

The sad element is how little effort was put into developing Nitelink as a concept.

It was devised initially as a quick-fix to relieve the pressure on Dublin City`s administrators and rapidly empty the City Centre of large groups of tired and emotional revellers.

It was and continues to be very good at that.

However in the meantime the City developed around it and instead of seeing the Nitelink service assimilated into the regular scheduled service as in other parts of the UK or Mainland Europe,we continued in our attempts to market it as a super Express.

There was and continues to be sufficient business out there for a 24 hour service on the main QBC routes with perhaps the standard €2.20 adult fare as the Nite fare.

Monday to Thursday services could be hourly from 00.00 until 05.00 in both directions with all stops being served.

It should also be of note that the company and unions already have a general agreement in place to cover such services and there is a serious reduction of cost base already extant as the duties are now worked as a days/nights work rather than on an overtime basis.

However there is a decidely PSO element to this and that is currently something which terrifies the NTA and The Department of Transport into rigor mortis.

If both of these agencies could be persuaded to extract their fingers then some progress could be rapidly made towards "Serving all of the Community" in a true sense.

Cianos

It's another by-product of a city with low population density. If there was a higher population density it'd be a lot more profitable to run a bus service in both directions 24/7. Because of the sh!te urban planning allowing for suburban sprawl we've to put up with horrendous public services.

foggy_lad

There was and continues to be sufficient business out there for a 24 hour service on the main QBC routes with perhaps the standard €2.20 adult fare as the Nite fare.

imo most people wouldnt mind paying €5 for the journey home if there was a bus at 1am and 3am, obviously the people living closer to the centre of town may be better off in taxis or could have a €3 fare? but there should be a demand for nitelink busses on friday saturday and sunday at least.

oharach

AlekSmart wrote: »

Very true JHMEG.

There was and continues to be sufficient business out there for a 24 hour service on the main QBC routes with perhaps the standard €2.20 adult fare as the Nite fare.

If there's enough business for a 24 hour service to Belfast, at the regular fare, then I don't see how Dublin Bus can't make the NiteLink profitable to major suburbs, seven days a week.

Can't this be tendered out? Can't the NTA prescribe some sort of minimum service requirement?

bmaxi

I moved from Dublin a few years ago to near Gorey ,Co. Wexford. It always strikes me as a joke that I can get public transport from Gorey to Dublin in the middle of the night but once I get to Dublin I'm stuck. Seems arse about face really.

KC61

oharach wrote: »

If there's enough business for a 24 hour service to Belfast, at the regular fare, then I don't see how Dublin Bus can't make the NiteLink profitable to major suburbs, seven days a week.

Can't this be tendered out? Can't the NTA prescribe some sort of minimum service requirement?

As mentioned before on this board, there were a large number of private operators originally operating late night services in Dublin, but now only one remains (Finnegans to Bray and Greystones).

I'm sure if there was money to be made someone would have applied to operate them but unfortunately it would appear that no one has.

As Alek states the DoT has shown no interest in subsidising night time services and as such they charge higher fares.

The all night services on the Rosslare and Belfast routes all serve Dublin Airport which is the main reason for their operation.

Run_to_da_hills

The other option would be for Dublin Bikes to release their cycles after midnight .

Victor

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The other option would be for Dublin Bikes to release their cycles after midnight .

You forget the tired and emotional ... and forgetful types.

JHMEG

Cianos wrote: »

It's another by-product of a city with low population density.

In fairness it's another by-product of a bunch of waster ministers and civil and public servants.

Corruptedmorals

I know the Nitelink stood/stands to make great losses ie. not picking people up/ no return journey picking up fares etc. and that lots of people have cheap fares and therefore don't need Nitelinks. I don't think it was fair to cut ALL Nitelinks though. Maybe they could have piloted a skeleton service to the most outlying areas- like the 66N (acting as a 67N and going through few areas of Lucan like it used to) 33N, 46N and a few more, or even more drastically- bypassing the closer areas, like Chapelizod by using the N4? And see if that was sustainable. I know I never go out during the week because of no Nitelinks and staying over somewhere isn't practical for college, lots of people are the same.

JHMEG

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

I know I never go out during the week because of no Nitelinks and staying over somewhere isn't practical for college, lots of people are the same.

Same here. Surprising the pubs in the city centre haven't twigged to the fact that people will stay local cos they can't get home if they go "into town".

L1011

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Maybe they could have piloted a skeleton service to the most outlying areas- like the 66N (acting as a 67N and going through few areas of Lucan like it used to) 33N, 46N and a few more, or even more drastically- bypassing the closer areas, like Chapelizod by using the N4? .

The midweek 66N was a combined 25/66/67N already. It served Lucan, Leixlip, Maynooth then returned to Celbridge.

This also happened the very odd time on quiet weekends with the last bus on Friday nights, or it may just have happened the once I was on it - passengers shuffled off the 25 and 67 buses to the 66 and those buses sent back to depot.

JHMEG

MYOB wrote: »

The midweek 66N was a combined 25/66/67N

No midweek service now of course, and the 67N reduced to a skeleton on Fri/Sat. Pity, as a taxi from An Lár to Celbridge/Maynooth is €€€€

patrickmooney

Really a skeleton service, which picks up both inwards and outward is needed. The current nitelink service is a joke. Yes DB complain that people aren't using it, it's because it's totally not customer friendly. Have a bus run every 45 mins or every hour. Combine the routes like the old weekday nightlinks, but have them pick up at all stops and loop back into the city. I myself plan my week around availability of public transport. I refuse to give a taxi €30 to get home when my annual bus ticket should have me covered.

antoinolachtnai

A few things:

1. You can't really run a night service without it being in conjunction with a day service. It's very hard to equip it and crew it. You can't just keep the buses and drivers waiting around for it.

2. Nitelink is a subsidised service. For a period at the beginning it was not, but it has been for a long time.

3. Really, it should not be that expensive to run the service, if you have drivers looking for hours to work.

4. There are alternative ways to run a night-time transport service. In particular, you could use shared taxis to serve the spread-out suburbs. This is how Brussels is served with the Collecto system (http://www.bruxellesmobilite.irisnet.be/articles/taxi/comment-ca-marche) . There is a much simpler shared taxi system in Belfast.

Corruptedmorals

MYOB wrote: »

The midweek 66N was a combined 25/66/67N already. It served Lucan, Leixlip, Maynooth then returned to Celbridge.

This also happened the very odd time on quiet weekends with the last bus on Friday nights, or it may just have happened the once I was on it - passengers shuffled off the 25 and 67 buses to the 66 and those buses sent back to depot.

Oh I know yeah, that's why I said used to. Should be reinstated really. Same with the 33N and 41N which were combined midweek, I'd say loads of other routes were the same. Anyway I think they should have kept the Nitelinks serving places where taxi fares are €25-30+.

jack presley

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Oh I know yeah, that's why I said used to. Should be reinstated really. Same with the 33N and 41N which were combined midweek, I'd say loads of other routes were the same. Anyway I think they should have kept the Nitelinks serving places where taxi fares are €25-30+.

I'm sure they would have if there was sufficient demand and it was at least breaking even. Dublin Bus is losing money hand over fist so if it was costing them money to run a service like this, theres no way they'd keep it up.

lord lucan

jack presley wrote: »

I'm sure they would have if there was sufficient demand and it was at least breaking even. Dublin Bus is losing money hand over fist so if it was costing them money to run a service like this, theres no way they'd keep it up.

Even many of the weekend Nitelinks are poorly patronised. I was on the 03.00 25N on Sunday morning and there were 15 people on it. If they're all paying cash that's €75 they took in. Minus drivers wages and fuel(including running back to town with no customers) and you can see where they're losing money.

This seems to be common imo. I often use the Nitelink(66N AND 25N) at the weekends and they're rarely full,often they're practically empty. I don't blame DB for not wasting resources on running it during the week. It'd be even more of a drain on resources and would probably result in cutbacks in other areas if they were forced to do it.

Run_to_da_hills

lord lucan wrote: »

Even many of the weekend Nitelinks are poorly patronised. I was on the 03.00 25N on Sunday morning and there were 15 people on it. If they're all paying cash that's €75 they took in. Minus drivers wages and fuel(including running back to town with no customers) and you can see where they're losing money.

This seems to be common imo. I often use the Nitelink(66N AND 25N) at the weekends and they're rarely full,often they're practically empty. I don't blame DB for not wasting resources on running it during the week. It'd be even more of a drain on resources and would probably result in cutbacks in other areas if they were forced to do it.

A couple of smaller busses would be the way to go, something like what Mr Patton has.

lord lucan

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

A couple of smaller busses would be the way to go, something like what Mr Patton has.

At least on a double decker you can go upstairs(or down) to avoid any shenanigans.;)

JHMEG

The patronage would be better if they
a) didn't invent new routes for the nitelinks,
b) didn't use different terminii
c) used the same stops as the day buses, picking up and dropping off
d) ran at times that were consistent with the day timetable, or at least standard across all nitelinks
e) charged fares consistent with the distance travelled

As is even the skeleton services could be better; the 00:00 is only half an hour after the last regular bus, and half an hour before the pubs close. And then there's no bus till 02:00, one and a half hours after last orders.

xper

I think you hit a big nail on the head there. The departure times are a joke.

Another is image which in part goes back to the lack of decent marketing. I've frequently heard people, both male and female, who do go out in town but always taxi/walk home and say they wouldn't dream of setting foot on a Nitelink and never have. They seem to have an image of a massed brawl on every journey.

Heart

xper wrote: »

Another is image which in part goes back to the lack of decent marketing. I've frequently heard people, both male and female, who do go out in town but always taxi/walk home and say they wouldn't dream of setting foot on a Nitelink and never have. They seem to have an image of a massed brawl on every journey.

I agree with this... I've had more pleasant Nitelink journeys than on some daytime routes! I'm sure there are the odd incidents, but it's certainly not as the perception seems to be on my Nitelink route.

H