Dublin Bus route 25X/66X/67X - Bus stop at Esker Lane on Lucan Bypass

Bartel

As a regular user of these three buses, I always get off at this stop. It has been there for years, even before the entrance to Esker Lane was closed off. A new bus shelter was even built.

This evening, I got the 67X @ approximately 5.15 pm from Stephen's Green for my usual journey home. As usual, when it was time to get off the bus I rang the bell and was ready to get off the bus at this stop, but the driver wouldn't stop. He said that it was 'not a designated stop on this route' and he waved a sheet of paper at me which had details of all the stops on it, or so I thought (he was waving it around so fast that I couldn't read it). I told him that I had been using that stop for years and that buses always stopped there. But he wasn't having any of it and continued his 'I'm just doing what I'm told' waffle.

I eventually got off the bus at the next stop (Newcastle Road) and had to walk back to the Esker Lane stop - while I was walking towards it I could see that the 66X and the 67X had stopped there!

As soon as I got home I rang the Phibsboro garage. I spoke to a very helpful lady who gave me the number for the person in charge of these routes who I am going to ring tomorrow and see exactly what the situation is regarding this bus-stop.

If buses aren't supposed to stop at this particular stop, then why bother having the stop there? No other Dublin buses use that particular route, as far as I know. It wasn't a major inconvenience for me, but what if somebody who was disabled or elderly wasn't able to get off at that stop - how would they manage?

Also, Dublin Bus have raised the prices of their pre-paid tickets recently. Its customers shouldn't have to pay extra for this kind of shoddy service.

AlekSmart

Perhaps Bartel in the light of this.....

As soon as I got home I rang the Phibsboro garage. I spoke to a very helpful lady who gave me the number for the person in charge of these routes who I am going to ring tomorrow and see exactly what the situation is regarding this bus-stop.

.....it might have been worthwhile waiting on the word from the top,before launching,what some might construe,as an attack on the Driver ?

Historically,and sadly, the Dublin Bus approach to Xpresso stop`s has been hit n miss,with experiences such as yours relatively common throughout the network.

If the Driver,in this instance,is correct then essentially it`s down to him Waving the Piece of Paper as grounds for complaint ?

Either way it`ll be a worthwhile exercise just to get an unambiguous answer on the issue

foggy_lad

on the same topic of stops i was on a bus eireann bus recently and the driver was kicking up over being asked to stop at o'connoll bridge at a place that the 004 bus has stopped probably since the formation of the state!

he said it was not an official stop and this i know to be the case but the fact that drivers have stopped just before o'connell bridge or just after it for years surely constitutes custom and practice? this is something that drivers will have quoted at management when it suits them usually just before strike action:)

AlekSmart

Nope Foggy_Lad ...

This is something that drivers will have quoted at management when it suits them usually just before strike action

In order to make sense it would read like so....

This is something that drivers will have quoted at management when it suits them usually just before recieving 3 days suspension

I`m not sure of the current arrangements but for certain some years ago many Bus Eireann routes officially had a Stop at Heuston Station followed by Busáras.....this may well still be the case.

This was probably in deference to Busáras being translated into European as Central Bus Station,when in fact it was no such thing.

Ideally by this point in the 21st Century we would have had a City Centre Bus/Coach interchange where Long Distance and Inter Urban Coach passengers could transfer seamlessly to a range of City Services...the fact that we don`t,points to the reality of the less than ideal situation we have muddled on with for far too long now.

And,it could be argued that with sufficient numbers of BE Drivers prepared to be "Flexible" in the truest Irish sense,then there would never be the high level of public indignation which would be a prerequisite to actually getting something done about the nonsensical situation.:P

foggy_lad

AlekSmart wrote: »

Nope Foggy_Lad ...

In order to make sense it would read like so....

I`m not sure of the current arrangements but for certain some years ago many Bus Eireann routes officially had a Stop at Heuston Station followed by Busáras.....this may well still be the case.

This was probably in deference to Busáras being translated into European as Central Bus Station,when in fact it was no such thing.

Ideally by this point in the 21st Century we would have had a City Centre Bus/Coach interchange where Long Distance and Inter Urban Coach passengers could transfer seamlessly to a range of City Services...the fact that we don`t,points to the reality of the less than ideal situation we have muddled on with for far too long now.

And,it could be argued that with sufficient numbers of BE Drivers prepared to be "Flexible" in the truest Irish sense,then there would never be the high level of public indignation which would be a prerequisite to actually getting something done about the nonsensical situation.:P

yes all services coming from naas road stop on request at newlands cross then heuston station and officially the next stop is busaras but for years they have all stopped either just before or just after o'connell bridge so surely it has to be considered an official stop now through custom and practice?

AlekSmart

just before or just after o'connell bridge so surely it has to be considered an official stop now through custom and practice?

Absolutely 100% NOT.

The position has never been clearer especially since the Wellington Quay disaster.

ALL Bus Stops in the Dublin region were supposedly reevaluated by the responsible agency...An Garda Siochana and several were removed or relocated due to that bodies concerns re safety..

However,since officially that OCB stop does`nt exist the bould Gardai will kick for touch and pursue any Driver who has an accident there to the fullest extent of the law....be under no illusion there.

The same can be said for the Dualway City Tour operation which has seized a thoroughly dangerous location outside Clery`s (Southbound) where a staff member is stationed as opposed to a bus-stop. (This operator does indeed have a Stop 1A,which stands unused,forlorn and rusting on Lower Abbey Street)

This entails a Full Size Double Deck vehicle parking dangerously at a junction,within a proscribed distance from a pedestrian crossing and obscuring visibility for other road users and pedestrians...but nobody gives a flying fluich ...until a fatality occurs,then I rather suspect Dualway will happily hang their driver out to dry from whatever lamp post is handy...

I`m sure Foggy_Lad even you can see just what a lunatic location the O Connell Bridge/Eden Quay is,with wild-eyed motorists,even wilder eyed continental truck drivers on the phone as they attempt to get the ferry,and a motley collection of newly arrived provincials dragging portmanteau from the innards of their coach...a recipe for disaster...which will come to the boil very soon I think !!!