Dublin Bus route 145 :(

Tickityboo

xper wrote: »

Ooooh, are they selling tickets for watching it navigate through the on-street parking in Wolfe Tone Square?

The 45 doesn't go through Wolfe Tone Square at peak times.

SickCert

Tickityboo wrote: »

The 45 doesn't go through Wolfe Tone Square at peak times.

Oh thats a good one, if i ever get one of these duties neither myself or the controller can tell which ones go via the Wolfe. There were boards issued when the Boghall move was made (2005?). But have since been eaten! So no one knows these days which goes where?

Even the mighty DB dont admit to a peak time abandonment of the square.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/45/

curryman

Anyone had issues with the 145 tonight. i left work in Heuston station at 18.25 20 mins go by and no bus. Then 3 arrive one being a private hire bus and all 3 go out of service. Next 145 arrives at 19.00. Off we go picking up a few on the quays. but to my surprise not one person waiting on dolier st. yet we catch up to a 145 on nassau st. Im Thinking one of the out of service buses was sent up ahead to pick up on dolier st.

foggy_lad

curryman wrote: »

Anyone had issues with the 145 tonight. i left work in Heuston station at 18.25 20 mins go by and no bus. Then 3 arrive one being a private hire bus and all 3 go out of service. Next 145 arrives at 19.00. Off we go picking up a few on the quays. but to my surprise not one person waiting on dolier st. yet we catch up to a 145 on nassau st. Im Thinking one of the out of service buses was sent up ahead to pick up on dolier st.

i saw three pull up then pull away the other night all in service and they all left heuston in convoy!

SickCert

curryman wrote: »

Anyone had issues with the 145 tonight. i left work in Heuston station at 18.25 20 mins go by and no bus. Then 3 arrive one being a private hire bus and all 3 go out of service. Next 145 arrives at 19.00. Off we go picking up a few on the quays. but to my surprise not one person waiting on dolier st. yet we catch up to a 145 on nassau st. Im Thinking one of the out of service buses was sent up ahead to pick up on dolier st.

Sadly the route was in pieces today/tonight many of us spending a quarter of our shift out of service.

Cookie_Monster

SickCert wrote: »

Sadly the route was in pieces today/tonight many of us spending a quarter of our shift out of service.

:rolleyes: jesus what the hell is going on?

I actually have to get the 145 into and out of town tmro at rush hour both times. I'm dreading what would normally be a very swift and easy journey

AlekSmart

Curryman notes....

Anyone had issues with the 145 tonight. i left work in Heuston station at 18.25 20 mins go by and no bus. Then 3 arrive one being a private hire bus and all 3 go out of service. Next 145 arrives at 19.00. Off we go picking up a few on the quays. but to my surprise not one person waiting on dolier st. yet we catch up to a 145 on nassau st. Im Thinking one of the out of service buses was sent up ahead to pick up on dolier st.

You are probably thinking quite correct.

What Foggy_Lad saw...

.I saw three pull up then pull away the other night all in service and they all left heuston in convoy!

What Sick Cert see/saw..

.Sadly the route was in pieces today/tonight many of us spending a quarter of our shift out of service.

What Cookie_Monster expects ...?

jesus what the hell is going on?

I actually have to get the 145 into and out of town tmro at rush hour both times. I'm dreading what would normally be a very swift and easy journey

Up until the 19th September last Cookie_Monster your journey would indeed have been Swift and Easy.

The fact that that expectation may well be unfulfilled tomorrow should be concentrating the minds of the eminent personages responsible for the Network Direct Implementation.

Since the 19Th Sept we are constantly assured that it`s coming right,the 6 "Messers" responsible for the problems have doubtless been identified and neutralized...at this stage the credibility of the entire process is in shreds and it seems not to matter unduly.....Quite possibly we are expected to hang on in there until "Operation Freeflow 2010" creaks into town...

Give it time people,give it time....your time,and plenty of it !:P

SickCert

Even after 930pm last night i was leaving people behind at stops, my tri-axle to the limits.
Now considering this company needs money and were leaving €2.20's at the kerbside, no logic.

Cookie_Monster

journey in from Cabinteely to Canal was fine, 40 odd minutes, running back to back with another 145, didn't fill until Stillorgan.

I'm considering the luas and walk home instead of the mess outbound at rush hour given the expected poor weather also

AlekSmart

I'm considering the luas and walk home instead of the mess outbound at rush hour given the expected poor weather also

I keep returning to this sentiment as expressed by Cookie_Monster and other posters.

I am somewhat concerned that this very obvious danger to Dublin Bus`s ongoing wellbeing is apparently of little concern to Senior Management.

It is seemingly now all about filling individual buses to the gills to satisfy an Accountancy imperative rather than any old waffle about providing a Public Transport Service as such ?

foggy_lad

what needs to happen is a bus heads out with another a few(8-10)minuttes behind as per the timetable it and the following busses should not pass the busses ahead of them under any circumstances so that when bus A fills up it passes stops but these are then served by bus an empty B which has not passed bus A and sped along the route before people even get to their stops!

AlekSmart

what needs to happen is........

Foggy_Lad,I`ve no doubt but you`ll soon be advised that the roll-out of the AVLS system will soon see the routes operating like a Swiss Watch,with each and every bus maintaining that fixed dependable headway....I`m all for it too as it allows the Driver a relaxed and regulated trip with none of the Blind Panic which has come to represent the Network Direct programme.

But,I still return to the requirement to master the alphabet itself before attempting to write War & Peace and it is this lack of appreciation of A,B and C that worries me greatly.

Cookie_Monster

turned out fine.

arrived at 530 to stephen's green, 9 min wait. 145 only going to bray though. immediatly followed by another to kilmac. wasn't full at any point.

Kitty-kitty

foggy_lad wrote: »

what needs to happen is a bus heads out with another a few(8-10)minuttes behind as per the timetable it and the following busses should not pass the busses ahead of them under any circumstances so that when bus A fills up it passes stops but these are then served by bus an empty B which has not passed bus A and sped along the route before people even get to their stops!

I actually saw this in motion today. Two busses came along at once and the instructor at the corner of O'Connell St waved the first bus on so the second one stopped.

... the two busses which arrived together after a 45 minute wait, which meant I missed my train.

I've been having trouble with the 145 on a Friday evening in that they always have only one luggage rack of the kind that you have to lift things on. They can fit three suitcases at best. On a double decker to the train station, I'd actually rather the older busses - I mean, as well, what is with this wasted space by having seats facing each other? People HATE seats facing each other. They're always the very last at the back to fill up.

Heart

Kitty-kitty wrote: »

I mean, as well, what is with this wasted space by having seats facing each other? People HATE seats facing each other. They're always the very last at the back to fill up.

The seats which face each other at the back are positioned over the wheel arch. It is not a choice to have the seats face each other here, it's impossible to have it any other way due to having the wheels underneath.

H

bg07

Is it possible to use bus add-ons on rail tickets on buses other than the 145 between the city centre and heuston such as the 66 and 25a to parkgate street or the expresso buses such as the 66x and 25x to St John's Road?

xper

SickCert wrote: »

Even after 930pm last night i was leaving people behind at stops, my tri-axle to the limits.

No doubt four tri-axles (1 x 145, 3 x 46As) travelling outbound in convoy at 7:50 on the N11 contributed to this.

SickCert

Today was a disaster.

I took over my bus 20mins late at the Church and headed to Kilmac.
(informed control at the Woodbrook car park)
Arrived at Kilmac 30mins down
(informed control ~ keep going as in a 40min gap)
Started another trip to Heuston

*Theres a thing to add here, being on the route for a few years now. You get to know the faces and have a bit of banter, greetings etc. Its all destroyed by this new timetable.

Were was i, oh yes ~ Starting another trip to Heuston
Since i was in the biggest gap ever since my time on the old 155's, i carried 200+ passengers to town. Abused most of the way, some selective tuts.

Arriving at Heuston 55mins down! Told to blank it out and to head to the garage on my break. The crowds there could have done damage, there was rage in their faces. I can understand their views too.
(informed control, large numbers ~ return to the garage)

I arrived in Donnybrook on my break as i was due out again, so another missed outbound departure.

Heads should roll over this mess. During peak times there should not be half a dozen tri-axles going PH up and down the N11 to get back onto time so they can lose it again straight away.

The best route, best improved route and now a route in tatters.
If only the AVL was up and running.
NEXT Bus ??????????

samsamson

SickCert wrote: »

Today was a disaster.

I took over my bus 20mins late at the Church and headed to Kilmac.
(informed control at the Woodbrook car park)
Arrived at Kilmac 30mins down
(informed control ~ keep going as in a 40min gap)
Started another trip to Heuston

*Theres a thing to add here, being on the route for a few years now. You get to know the faces and have a bit of banter, greetings etc. Its all destroyed by this new timetable.

Were was i, oh yes ~ Starting another trip to Heuston
Since i was in the biggest gap ever since my time on the old 155's, i carried 200+ passengers to town. Abused most of the way, some selective tuts.

Arriving at Heuston 55mins down! Told to blank it out and to head to the garage on my break. The crowds there could have done damage, there was rage in their faces. I can understand thier view too.
(informed control, large numbers ~ return to the garage)

I arrived in Donnybrook on my break as i was due out again, so another missed outbound departure.

Heads should roll over this mess. During peak times there should not be half a dozen tri-axles going PH up and down the N11 to get back onto time so they can lose it again straight away.

The best route, best improved route and now a route in tatters.
If only the AVL was up and running.
NEXT Bus ??????????

SickCert, it's very interesting to read about all this from a driver's point of view.

I take the 145 every day of the week to college/work and it has definitely gotten worse. More than once in the past few weeks I have been standing at a bus stop in Bray at 3 and have been late to start my shift in town at 5. Other times I have been in town by ten past 4.

It really is completely unreliable. I should also say that I'm prone to rolling my eyes when the bus finally pulls up and not saying thank you if the bus has made me late, so I'll try and keep in mind that the drivers are under pressure too!

SickCert

samsamson wrote: »

SickCert, it's very interesting to read about all this from a driver's point of view.

I take the 145 every day of the week to college/work and it has definitely gotten worse. More than once in the past few weeks I have been standing at a bus stop in Bray at 3 and have been late to start my shift in town at 5. Other times I have been in town by ten past 4.

It really is completely unreliable. I should also say that I'm prone to rolling my eyes when the bus finally pulls up and not saying thank you if the bus has made me late, so I'll try and keep in mind that the drivers are under pressure too!

Its beyond the drivers fault, it crettins fault. (59 upper)
We know the passenger that ignores us, we know the ones that have a moments for us too. Many are angry too, i would be!
To have friendly faces on a route turn so quick, its a PR disaster. Not one we control. The number to complain to is 7034404 as this crap is going to go onto Jan 2011 as least.

AlekSmart

I take the 145 every day of the week to college/work and it has definitely gotten worse. More than once in the past few weeks I have been standing at a bus stop in Bray at 3 and have been late to start my shift in town at 5. Other times I have been in town by ten past 4.

Samsamson,Unlike my colleague Sickcert I do not drive the 145 on a daily basis.

However my route does share some of the alignment and in recent weeks has started to collect wild-eyed passengers attempting to catch-up with full 145`s which have passed them by in both directions.

Tonight (Fri) I had two such people on different journeys.

Luckily,in one case I was able to get him to the Burlington Hotel ahead of the pressurized 145.
The second baled out at the green inbound to get a Taxi to Heuston...:(

My brief conversations with both lads was illuminating as both were original 145 converts,and both described the Route in glowing terms as being fast,reliable and cheap when using travel 90`s.

In short both of these men were ideal Bus Passengers.

In both cases the actions of elements of my senior management have now lost us two customers.

One has already bought a moped and is taking delivery next Wednesday,while the other has booked his Driver Theory Test and plans to share his sisters car on a daily joint commute.

Now,if I as a Driver were to operate in a manner likely to lose two customers in this way I would most certainly face disciplinary action and even dismissal.

Over the past month Drivers have borne the brunt of frustrated,angry and disillusioned passengers of a service which up until 19th September just WORKED,and worked WELL.

Having read through the Deloitte Report`s recommendations I cannot find anywhere within it a requirement to destroy previously functional and popular services.

Yet if we take the 4,46A and 145 this appears to have been the intention from the get-go.

At no point has any attempt been made to inform or involve the platform or garage operational staff in any of these "Improvements",other than belated "notices" re bus-stop locations now beginning to appear as if the issue had only been discovered.

In terms of morale,I have never seen the workforce so bereft of it as their input appears to be regarded as not worth having.

As Sickcert points out,many drivers on a route do get to recognise and engage with passengers over the years,often this can be merely a nod or smile or at other times a Mars Bar or Newspaper slipped under the security screen as they alight.

That sort of regular interaction is what allows a strong solid customer base to form and any action which threatens that needs to be recognised as against the best interests of the Company,its Workforce and most importantly,it`s Customers !

This entire episode represents,for me,possibly the lowest point in the history of Dublin Bus and if lessons are not learned PDQ,then the future of the Company is far from assured.

However although Sickcert gives the Donnybrook Garage phone number,I would be more inclined to refer disgruntled customers to the Head Office general number 8734222 or the specific e-mail address:

networkdirect@dublinbus.ie

Whilst the above may well be the avenue preferred by the company I would suggest that those customers who have specific and ongoing difficulties put those in writing (Pen and Paper) and submit them to the Customer Service Manager,Dublin Bus,59 Upr O Connell St,Dublin 1.

The situation is now only likely to be resolved by large scale direct customer action as the constant and ongoing negative feedback through Drivers is largely being disregarded.

We,staff AND customers alike, can only hope that some saner counsel will manage to make itself heard.

curryman

AlekSmart wrote: »

However although Sickcert gives the Donnybrook Garage phone number,I would be more inclined to refer disgruntled customers to the Head Office general number 8734222 or the specific e-mail address:

networkdirect@dublinbus.ie

E-mail sent as disruption again tonight at heuston no where near as bad as thur but DB between Both nights has lost 17 passengers. I will also be ringing Donnybrook during the week as im sure there will be more disruption

axiom

lovin the Luas ....

more expensive, takes longer than the bus, but at least I know i'll be where I want to go in an hour (including all the walking and waiting)

gave the 145 another go the other day and was still in tatters the service, usual waitin about 30 - 40 mins with 6 or 7 out of service buses go by and a few 46a's ..... be giving a miss for the next while anyway

Tourman

It is hard to believe that DB management are particularly oblivious to the disaster that is now the 145.
I also find it hard to believe that they really think it will work its self out in time. I have read comments describing the management as idiots and stupid , and I don't think they are either of those.

So if they are aware of the difficulties and they know that it won't work its self out anytime soon and they are of at least average intelligence what is the issue?
Is there some political struggle being played out, with the customers and staff of DB being used as pawns, between the NTA and Dublin Bus

dfx-

Twice I've got the 145 at 6/7pm in the past 10 days to Bray from Westmoreland St. 50 minute journeys.

No problems at all, VT29 behind three 46As and an EV. Mind you, the EV wouldn't have coped with the VTs load last Monday evening..not a bad word to say.

pclive

This morning they are in the process of putting up a RPTI sign at the side door of Heuston on St Johns Road.
When the sign is switched on it might make sence to exit the station by the side door and check if theres a bus coming, sometimes it might be faster than waiting on a 145/90.
They are frequent enough there during the morning peak. I dont bother going near the 145/90 or the luas always a good few Xs passing by about 8am.

KC61

Tourman wrote: »

It is hard to believe that DB management are particularly oblivious to the disaster that is now the 145.
I also find it hard to believe that they really think it will work its self out in time. I have read comments describing the management as idiots and stupid , and I don't think they are either of those.

So if they are aware of the difficulties and they know that it won't work its self out anytime soon and they are of at least average intelligence what is the issue?
Is there some political struggle being played out, with the customers and staff of DB being used as pawns, between the NTA and Dublin Bus

I would refer you to here.

SickCert

Tourman wrote: »

It is hard to believe that DB management are particularly oblivious to the disaster that is now the 145.
I also find it hard to believe that they really think it will work its self out in time. I have read comments describing the management as idiots and stupid , and I don't think they are either of those.

So if they are aware of the difficulties and they know that it won't work its self out anytime soon and they are of at least average intelligence what is the issue?
Is there some political struggle being played out, with the customers and staff of DB being used as pawns, between the NTA and Dublin Bus

The latest on the 145 saga.
The route is to be monitored again, yes again for a 2 week period and IF THEY! find a problem it will be adjusted with the admitted failures 47/63 and 46a.

foggy_lad

SickCert wrote: »

The latest on the 145 saga.
The route is to be monitored again, yes again for a 2 week period and IF THEY! find a problem it will be adjusted with the admitted failures 47/63 and 46a.

and after that they will make a small change and wait a few more weeks to see if it works etc etc they really know how to work the system!

busses are travelling the route in groups of at least 2-3 as if the drivers were under threat and in some cases they genuinly will be if the situation is left as it is.

they need to stick a few inspectors out in the cold like years ago with their notebooks and synchronised watches and time every section of the route and also time every bus at certain strategic points adn ensure the busses leave on time, they will also need "mystry shoppers" to travel the busses to record where the time is being lost!

stop

Anoter convoy outbound in Donnybrook around 19:45 tonight - 6 VTS! 3x145 & 3x46a.