Swords Express extension

pinkypinky

http://www.swordsexpress.com/extended_route.html

Pleased to see that Swords Express is extending both its route and its hours of operation. I wonder how much longer it will take to get into town now that it'll be running up Forest Rd and down through Boroimhe? I'd still be getting on on Main St so the fact that it's starting up in Swords Manor won't matter.

Stheno

is it going to go down Rathbeale road on that route?

pinkypinky

Website seems to be down at the moment but from what I remember, it starts in Swords Manor, comes down through Applewood and follows the 41c route from there, except that it doesn't go into River Valley, so I guess not.

antoinolachtnai

Web should be up again. We will go via Murrough Road, crossing Rathbeale Road near Ardcian, then on to Glen Ellan Road past Applewood, then the bypass down to the Pavilions. This gives us the fastest journey through Swords. I think we are well within 15 minutes walk from most places along Rathbeale Road.

We go along Forest Road from the village, don't go through River Valley and then turn towards Airside. This is actually fairly quick. Because we will then go through Airside and onto the motorway that way, we actually get some of the time back.

pinkypinky

Oh and back to running on Sundays! I am never getting the 41 again!!

PWEI

Great news, Swords badly needed a service like this.
Is it necessary though for every bus to go down Forest Rd through Boroimhe
especially the morning services? If the bus is stopping at Swords Manor, Glen Ellen/Sandford Woods, Applewood & then the Pavilions the bus will be full by the time it gets down to the Forest Road. It might make more sense to have a separate bus in the morning leaving the Pavilions & servicing Boroimhe & Hollywell.

dsmythy

How's the service getting on passenger wise in the mornings and evenings?

The Scientician

I'm glad to see the extended hours but the extended route makes it slightly less useful for me. It's still probably better than what Dublin Bus offers however.

The Scientician

dsmythy wrote: »

How's the service getting on passenger wise in the mornings and evenings?

Depending on the time it's either empty or packed to rafters, both ways.

bc dub

where in the manor will it depart from?

antoinolachtnai

bc_dub: it will leave from the Abbeyvale stop and will stop opposite the Spar.

The_Scientician, PWEI, We will put on extra coaches to meet the demand. We don't run empty very often!

Going via Forest Road only adds two or three minutes onto the time. What we lose there, we mostly get back by joining the motorway near Holywell rather than going via the airport roundabout, which is a little longer and can be a bit congested. On the test runs we are making good time.

Best

Antoin.

M.J.M.C

Antoin

Thanks for all your work in getting this service extended to these areas.
Its greatly appreciated

bc dub

Great addition, but one issue I've noticed, if there are 2 Dublin buses at the terminal in the manor and an express bus parks, a 3rd Dublin Bus can't park in behind fully. It leaves a big chunk of the bus on the road, which is also an exit of the roundabout.

PWEI

Guy in work was moaning about the new service yesterday. He was complaining the journey now takes over an hour instead of 30mins. He got the 06:45 yesterday & it didn't get to town until 07:55.

antoinolachtnai

Where did he get on and at what time? That sounds more like the 07:00 but I will check.

PWEI

I asked him again & it was actually the 07:45 from the Manor which was in town for 08:45. He lives on the Rathbeale Road & used to get the 07:55 from the Pavilions which would be in town for 08:30.

LXFlyer

This isn't supposed to sound smart, but given from your post it sounds like he's getting on the bus earlier in the new route then obviously it will take longer than getting on at the Pavilions? Perhaps he should get on at the Pavilions as before if the route via Applewood and Seatown takes too long.

PWEI

lxflyer wrote: »

This isn't supposed to sound smart, but given from your post it sounds like he's getting on the bus earlier in the new route then obviously it will take longer than getting on at the Pavilions? Perhaps he should get on at the Pavilions as before if the route via Applewood and Seatown takes too long.

Yes your right,he got on it earlier because he got it from Applewood at 07:50 but it was still at the Pavilions at 07:55 but didn't get to town until 08:45. The 07:55 bus under the old route from the Pavilions would be in town for 08:30. If you just count the journey time from the Pavilions it's still taking longer because of the longer route down the Forest Road & through Boroimhe.

davidhand365

Hi,

Can you please cater more for customers on the later stops of the service (ie Rivervalley, Borimhe, etc). I've been late every day so far this week due to buses being full at the times i want to be getting on at (approx 8.25 to be in for 8.55/9.00 am) and not the "extra buses" that eventually show up to pick up the overflow at 8.45/8.50 to get into town for 9.15.

Can there not be a service that starts at the Pavilions at 8.20 for example??

I know this sounds like I should just get a 20 min earlier bus or something but I can gaureentee if i stand at one of the later stage stops the bus will be full by the time it gets there.

Lux23

Anyone see Leo Varadkar on the bus on Tuesday, he said on the week in polictics that he was taking the bus to cabinet.

PWEI

davidhand365 wrote: »

Hi,


Can there not be a service that starts at the Pavilions at 8.20 for example??

I know this sounds like I should just get a 20 min earlier bus or something but I can gaureentee if i stand at one of the later stage stops the bus will be full by the time it gets there.

That's what I was suggesting earlier in the topic. It would make sense to let a lot of the early morning buses from Swords Manor go straight to town after the Pavilions. Then have a few separate buses starting from the Pavilions & servicing Boroimhe & Hollywell.

Stheno

PWEI wrote: »

Yes your right,he got on it earlier because he got it from Applewood at 07:50 but it was still at the Pavilions at 07:55 but didn't get to town until 08:45. The 07:55 bus under the old route from the Pavilions would be in town for 08:30. If you just count the journey time from the Pavilions it's still taking longer because of the longer route down the Forest Road & through Boroimhe.

I had this experience tonight, due to work socials I got the 19:45 and before I'd have been at the pavillions by 20:15 tonight it was closer to 20:30 due to the new route.

It's still a good service but has impacted on journey time.

And one other suggestion, can you update drivers when the tunnel is closed? I've been on the SE twice when the tunnel was closed and the driver didn't seem aware of it, so I and everyone else were just stuck there, in one case due to an accident for an hour, I knew about it on the quays due to the radio, but the driver clearly didn't.

mickoneill30

I live in Boroimhe and drop my missus at the Pavillions on my way to work. For her the service isn't an improvement. She can't get on at Boroimhe as its full by then but now we're not sure what time the busses will pass the Pavillions and the journey time is longer. I know its early days and will probably meed some tinkering.

I'd be another vote for having one or two starting from the Pavillions during the morning. Maybe have one from the Pavillions and have it go up Forrest Road and the one right after it from Applewood go the old route from Pavillions (cutting down their journey by a few mins). Or maybe even have one or two from Applewood skip Pavillions and Swords main street altogether if they're already full. I don't know if they are.

I'm not complaining. We're fans of Swords Express in our gaff. At least they try and imrove the service.

She is a fan of the trip home. Apparently that's quicker for her.

LXFlyer

mickoneill30 wrote: »

I live in Boroimhe and drop my missus at the Pavillions on my way to work. For her the service isn't an improvement. She can't get on at Boroimhe as its full by then but now we're not sure what time the busses will pass the Pavillions and the journey time is longer. I know its early days and will probably meed some tinkering.

I'd be another vote for having one or two starting from the Pavillions during the morning. Maybe have one from the Pavillions and have it go up Forrest Road and the one right after it from Applewood go the old route from Pavillions (cutting down their journey by a few mins). Or maybe even have one or two from Applewood skip Pavillions and Swords main street altogether if they're already full. I don't know if they are.

I'm not complaining. We're fans of Swords Express in our gaff. At least they try and imrove the service.

She is a fan of the trip home. Apparently that's quicker for her.

By implication you're suggesting DB don't? Remember they wanted to introduce the 141 to Rathmines and it was vetoed by the DoT.

The problem you're encountering is in fact what DB deal with by having the 41c start at the CBS rather than Swords Manor in the mornings.

I would have thought that this ought to be relatively easy to solve with a few extra services starting at Pavillions or perhaps Seatown.

mickoneill30

lxflyer wrote: »

By implication you're suggesting DB don't?

Yep. Maybe they do now though. I'm only remembering the years of when there was only the 41X and no Swords Express. The 41X used to be full after 2 or 3 stops. I live at a stop it passes (last one in Boroimhe). I used to have to drive to C&Ts (about a mile away) and then walk down to the church to be sure of standing room.

I sent letters at the time (I remember one saying I counted the bus passing 30 people with their hands out). I got back notes saying thanks, it's being reviewed. It seemed to be reviewed pretty quick after the Swords Express came on. I'm guessing it was apathy on the part of the management. I know the DOT were a pain in the ass but if management cared at all they could have gotten local backing. Now there are 6 41Xs that go from Swords in the morning (I can't remember but it was 6 or less before the Swords Express came along). There are 10 Swords Expresses before 9AM and a hell of a lot of those are full (as viewed by the posts above).

When Swords Express came on you could see them changing the timetable frequently to try and squeeze in extra capacity. I can see how they're constrained. They only have one route so they either get loads of buses that are full in the mornings but are idle in the day which would probably cost more money than they'd make. Dublin Bus shouldn't have had that much of a problem. Changing a few 41 or 41c buses to 41Xs would have meant little change in their numbers. If they did it right and had been awake there should have been no market for Swords Express really.
Now the 41Xs seem to have plenty of capacity as a lot of the customers have moved.

Anyway rant over. It was just so annoying for so many years

Uriel.

Hmmm just on the 15.45 bus, took 29mins to get to the car garages at airside. Not great I have to say, especially considering it's a saturday. No major delays of anything out of the ordinary. Just came to a Gada checkpoint at the usual place before you go down the ramp to the M1, but the bus was not held up before that point.

29mins is a lot to get to where it got to, to be honest, it's not 15% full either :-(

antoinolachtnai

That is a bit out of the ordinary from timings I have seen. Where did you get on and do you remember what time?

pinkypinky

I went for the 13.45 today, getting on at the Pavilions, which is still my closest stop. It arrived at 14.04 and was 20 past by the time my friend got on in Airside. There were no delays into town and we got off the bus about 15 mins later. It certainly felt slower than usual but looking at my timings I don't think it is. However, I've often been in town on a Saturday within 20 mins before.

It's great the service is expanded and I think once it's tweaked a little it'll be even better.

Uriel.

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

That is a bit out of the ordinary from timings I have seen. Where did you get on and do you remember what time?

Antoin, I got on at the Murrough Road, not sure if that's the second or third stop on the route. The bus was there at about 15.49. No problem in lateness leaving first stop or anything.

C.O.Y.B.I.B

Went to a morning show in grand canal theatre yesterday and decided to get the express instead of driving. Got the 930 from swords manor and got off at Beckett Bridge at 10 which I thought was great. Coming home I got on the 245 and got off in Swords Manor at 3.35 which wasn't bad.
The slowest part of the journey was around the pavillions so maybe something could be done about bypassing it atcertain times.
As comparison I got the 41 last Sat from Manor and It pulled out of the airport 45 mins later.

The Scientician

I took this this morning for the first time since the change. IIRC arrival at the Pavillions was about 10 minutes later than the scheduled time from the Manor, which is about right, flew into town on the new route. My fears are abated.

mickoneill30

They've updated their timetable from Monday.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/F6pMTehMiNHEG8Z-2A5VBhidL4WbFh1BMv4cM5eogRQZXfX21qufLkU4vDAJWg2UWvrZk5YbF41ecDZ_oIyfMlBA1Q=s512

Couple of buses now start at Pavillions and the 8AM doesn't go through Forrest Road. And one that starts at Highfields.

Seems pretty decent.

It's almost if they pay attention to customers

PWEI

Pretty decent alright but surely it would make more sense for the buses starting at the Pavillions to go down the Forrest Road. And some of the buses starting from the Manor not to go down the Forrest Road as they are full by the time they leave the Pavillions. Are ye with me?

mickoneill30

PWEI wrote: »

Pretty decent alright but surely it would make more sense for the buses starting at the Pavillions to go down the Forrest Road. And some of the buses starting from the Manor not to go down the Forrest Road as they are full by the time they leave the Pavillions. Are ye with me?

I would guess (and am probably totally wrong) that if a bus was full by Pavillions AND nobody had paid the Swords fare (as in wanting to get off in Swords) the drivers could have discretion and choose the shorter route either skipping Pavillions and / or Forrest Road.
That way if there was space on the bus the driver would have to keep on servicing stops until it was full.

If that's not the plan then hint hint Antoin.

Although knowing some of the decisions of the Department of Transport before they probably don't like buses going off route and taking shortcuts to benefit passengers.

The 8AM from Swords Manor doesn't go up Forrest Road. Maybe he's measured it and the 8AM is the only one guaranteed to have enough passengers.

All in all though its great to have a service that has the flexibility to adapt to try and improve the customers service.

PWEI

First time trying out the new service today. I got the 18:45 from town which according to the timetable was supposed to be going to the Manor but it didn't. It stopped at the Pavilions & I had to walk to Applewood. Very disappointing to be honest. I travel to town by motorbike normally but have been considering switching to the SE since the service was extended. But unfortunately it wont be a reliable enough service for me if they're going to be changing their destination like this.

antoinolachtnai

I'd say it was the 18:30 running late, but I will check on this. There are going to be new digital destination boards shortly to make this all clearer.

PWEI

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I'd say it was the 18:30 running late, but I will check on this. There are going to be new digital destination boards shortly to make this all clearer.

Hi antoinolachtnai,thanks for the reply. I'd appreciate if you could shed some light on this. If it was the 18:30 running late how come the next bus that went also only went as far as the pavilions. A colleague of mine was on the bus with me & he had asked the bus parked behind ours & the driver advised him he was also only going as far as the pavilions.

PWEI

I've been getting the SE all week & I've been pleased with the service. I've been getting the 07:00 bus to the city centre & the 15:45 back to Swords. The 15:45 to Swords has been getting to Applewood by 16:35 which is pretty good. The 07:00 to town has been taking slightly longer but that's because it seems to get delayed 5 to 8 mins at traffic lights at the Samuel Beckett bridge.


antoinolachtna, I left a pair of shoes on the 07:00 this morning, they were at the back of the bus & I was last to get off. Do you know how I could get these back? Thanks.

PaulD77

Great service. Got it for the first time on Tuesday. Left work in Airside business park at 4.30. Waited 10 mins for the bus and was still standing in O'Reillys of Tara Street having a beer by 5. Even managed to get 10 minute nap in!

P_Daly

Can anybody explain to me why a bus departing at 10:45 would take ten minutes longer than a bus travelling in the morning at peak times? When I'm on morning shifts I get the 07:15 from Swords Manor which drops me in at Jurys Inn Custom House at 07:50 which gives me loads of time to make it in to work for 08:00. The last two days I've been getting the 10:45 from the Manor to get in to work for an 11:30 shift. Both days it arrived at 11:30 at Jurys Inn.
Today we didn't leave Hollywell until 11:15, that's a half an hour to get out of Swords?
First off it didn't arrive at Applewood until 10:48, eight minutes after departure.
Whereas the 07:15 always arrives four minutes after departure.? Today for no apparent reason after picking somebody up at Pavilions the driver just stopped there for a further three minutes. I might as well have been on the 41C today, it would probably have got me town faster.
Also nobody got on the bus at the Forest Road today or at either boroimhe stops. Would make more sense for the bus to go up the main street and have a stop for boroimhe passengers at the 2nd entry to Airside.

LXFlyer

Well it does not take rocket science to figure out that Swords Village would have far more traffic at 11:00 than at 07:00 given all of the business are open at that stage, with deliveries taking place, and people travelling to/from the shopping centres. Hence it would take longer to get out onto the M1.

P_Daly

lxflyer wrote: »

Well it does not take rocket science to figure out that Swords Village would have far more traffic at 11:00 than at 07:00 given all of the business are open at that stage, with deliveries taking place, and people travelling to/from the shopping centres. Hence it would take longer to get out onto the M1.

There was fcek all traffic in Swords at the time. Doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to figure out it wasn't rush hour. When the bus stopped at the Pavilions for 3 to 4 min for no apparent reason there was no cars ahead of it.
It takes 3 to 4 minutes to drive from Swords Manor to Applewood yet the driver arrived 8 minutes after departure. I live in that neighbourhood and there is no traffic there at that time of the day. At the time of the day the kids are already in school. I just got the impression the bus driver was taking his time & wasn't bothered about
making good time. At one stage he was at a traffic light that went orange & he could have kept going but stopped. 30 minutes to get out of Swords is not an express Service & I for one won't be using the service again at that time of the day.
I was back in my car today & it took me 25 minutes to get to town.

Beasty

P_Daly wrote: »

At one stage he was at a traffic light that went orange & he could have kept going but stopped.

You mean ..... he actually obeyed the law, and stopped as it was (presumably) safe to do so?

I guess you will manage to drive into town quicker if you're an "amber gambler" (unless, of course, you come across someone else who is prepared to take similar risks)

P_Daly

Beasty wrote: »

You mean ..... he actually obeyed the law, and stopped as it was (presumably) safe to do so?

I guess you will manage to drive into town quicker if you're an "amber gambler" (unless, of course, you come across someone else who is prepared to take similar risks)

Well considering the amount of people in this country who break Red Lights (& I'm not one of them), I always find its safer to keep going when the light goes orange. As a lot of people behind tend to accelerate to break the red light. But thanks very much for your insightful input on the topic.