Aircoach (Ballinteer to Airport)

FueledByAisling

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the aircoach? Hoping to get one to be at the airport at half 5. Anyone know how long in time wise the distance is?

Mushy

Half 5 am or pm? I got one at like 4.40 am one morning and was up there less than an hour later. This was at Notre Dame school though. Lot of journey is M50, goes along Nutgrove Avenue to Terenure, then left to Templeogue and onto M50.

Great service as ever.

Dub13

What are the numbers like on this...?I have seen it going by a few times and only a handful on it.

mikedragon32

Dub13 wrote: »

What are the numbers like on this...?I have seen it going by a few times and only a handful on it.

Greystones route was the same for ages too. Seems to be slow to take off (bad pun) but the service is quite well used now. The dundrum service will likely be the same.

patrickbrophy18

Dub13 wrote: »

What are the numbers like on this...?I have seen it going by a few times and only a handful on it.

This was the same with the Dalkey route as well. In fact, at it's infancy, it was running on empty most of the time. Now, a year later, it is taking on a lot of people per day. It takes a good few months for the loadings to build up. In fact, given that the gap for an airport service was at it's biggest along most of the Ballinteer routing alignment, I can see the service taking on huge loadings in the coming months.

FueledByAisling

Sorry I'm talking am time. I say I'd have to be at my stop at the departure time just to be safe as it could fly from ballinteer to rathfarnham road at that time in the morning!

LXFlyer

FueledByAisling wrote: »

Sorry I'm talking am time. I say I'd have to be at my stop at the departure time just to be safe as it could fly from ballinteer to rathfarnham road at that time in the morning!

The coach takes roughly 50 minutes from Ballinteer to the Airport.

So if you need to be there for 05:30, get the 04:30 departure. It'll take about 10-15 minutes to get to Rathfarnham.

LXFlyer

Dub13 wrote: »

What are the numbers like on this...?I have seen it going by a few times and only a handful on it.

Like most new public transport services, it takes time for the public to catch on to it. Very rarely with bus or coach operations do you get instant full loadings - it takes time to build up the business.

Given it has quite a lot of pickup points unless you are viewing it beyond Templeogue it would be hard to pass judgement on it.

Nevertheless I've regularly seen it leaving Broadford terminus with passengers on board so that is a good sign.

atgate

I've got it to/from Spawell a few times. It's usually pretty empty, maybe 2-6 passengers. Havent taken it for a few weeks so it may be busier now. I'm hoping it picks up as it's a brilliant service for me - 10 min walk from my house and 20 minutes to the terminal. My other options are 90 mins minimum by Dublin Bus or 40 quid by taxi.

markpb

I've taken the 4.35am from Dundrum a few times and it has always kept exactly to the timetable, waiting at each stop if we got there early. I think it arrived at the airport around 5.15/5.20 both times.

coylemj

markpb wrote: »

I've taken the 4.35am from Dundrum a few times and it has always kept exactly to the timetable, waiting at each stop if we got there early. I think it arrived at the airport around 5.15/5.20 both times.

Correct, the buses are fitted with GPS trackers which allow you to see where each bus is on the web so it also allows the system to tell the driver when he's running ahead of schedule and to wait until the scheduled departure time for a given stop.

They may not be exactly on time every time because you can't plan for delays caused by accidents and other unforeseen events but they will never leave the stop early so if you're there on time you can be sure you will not miss the bus.

I use the Greystones bus and it's an excellent service.

RiseToMe

Sorry to drag up an old thread but can anybody give me directions to where the pick up is in terenure? Not familar with the locality but need to get from the enterprise centre there to the stop for a flight on Friday afternoon.

LXFlyer

It is outside the library on the Templeogue Road - walk down to the main crossroads from the enterprise centre and turn left, and take the lefthand fork and the stop will be in front of you.

RiseToMe

lxflyer wrote: »

It is outside the library on the Templeogue Road - walk down to the main crossroads from the enterprise centre and turn left, and take the lefthand fork and the stop will be in front of you.

Thanks a million mate

delta_bravo

Aircoach Ballinteer route is ending on December 24th. Not surprised really, it never had sufficient traffic to sustain itself.

AlekSmart

delta_bravo wrote: »

Aircoach Ballinteer route is ending on December 24th. Not surprised really, it never had sufficient traffic to sustain itself.

A significant element in the demise of the Balinteer route was the inability to accept the DSP Free Pass.

This led to all manner of nastiness and indignant antics out at the Airport,but the reality in and around Balintter/Dundrum, was of car loads of well heeled Free Passers careering indignantly off in the family limo to meet up with the Leopardstown,Dalkey or Greystones Aircoach.

It's a great pity to see it go,as there was nothing wrong with the routing.

delta_bravo

It was very convenient for people living in terenure and templeogue. I got on at spawell several times and don't remember more than twelve people on the bus by the time I got on

LXFlyer

AlekSmart wrote: »

A significant element in the demise of the Balinteer route was the inability to accept the DSP Free Pass.

This led to all manner of nastiness and indignant antics out at the Airport,but the reality in and around Balintter/Dundrum, was of car loads of well heeled Free Passers careering indignantly off in the family limo to meet up with the Leopardstown,Dalkey or Greystones Aircoach.

It's a great pity to see it go,as there was nothing wrong with the routing.

delta_bravo wrote: »

It was very convenient for people living in terenure and templeogue. I got on at spawell several times and don't remember more than twelve people on the bus by the time I got on

As I pointed out in the other thread, I would suggest that the real reason it failed was a combination of the following:

1) Reliance on the residential and mainly leisure traveller market - there are no hotels or large industrial/business parks on the route which means that unlike all the other Aircoach routes there are no sources of large numbers of passengers.

2) The vehicles were too large - something similar to the vehicles used by Dualway on the Airport Hoppa service from Tallaght to the Airport would be more appropriate (as delta_bravo observed 12 pax was the norm).

3) It possibly was too frequent (there might not be a need to operate hourly throughout the day).

4) There was and is an existing service to the Airport from Rathfarnham and Terenure in the form of the 16/16a, but I don't believe this would be a major factor as the time taken by the 16 (80-90 minutes +) would be far in excess of the Aircoach (typically 35-40 mins to Rathfarnham). In fact the switch from Nutgrove to Grange Road of the 16/16a should have benefitted Aircoach as it meant they had Nutgrove to themselves. There was no commonality of route in the Ballinteer area, with the 16 skirting the extremity of the area, while Aircoach went right through it.

5) The ongoing recession does mean fewer travellers, particularly in the leisure market.

The DSP issue may have been a contributory factor, but I don't believe it was an over-arching one.

It's a shame as it was a great idea, given taxi fares can be up to €50, but alas it is ceasing. With a bit of luck perhaps an operator with smaller vehicles might consider it worth a shot.

markpb

lxflyer wrote: »

3) It possibly was too frequent (there might not be a need to operate hourly throughout the day).

I agree with everything else you said but I'm not sure about this bit. I've used this route a lot (right from 6am on launch day) but the frequency put me off sometimes. It's (usually) okay timing a bus on the way to the airport (and getting there too early) but I regularly missed it by minutes on the way home and took a taxi or Leopardstown Aircoach rather than wait and hour for a 45 minute journey.

There wasn't the demand (for all the reasons you listed) for a more frequent service though.

LXFlyer

Fair point Mark. Possibly too frequent with that large vehicle. A smaller vehicle would be far more suitable.

I missed it too by minutes coming home and at that stage the 747/14 or 16/14 combination proved better than waiting a full hour for the next coach.

However I couldn't see any market for a higher frequency.

It's a tough one to be honest.

patrickbrophy18

lxflyer wrote: »

Fair point Mark. Possibly too frequent with that large vehicle. A smaller vehicle would be far more suitable.

What vehicle operated the Ballinteer route?

They have an extensive fleet of buses by different manufacturers. So, I'll name a few with pictures. There are 8 possible vehicles which could have operated this route:

1. Jonckheere SHV (Tri-axle):
   
2. Scania Irizar PB:
   
3. Scania Century:
   
4. Caetano Levante (Winner):
   
5. Plaxton Panther:
   
6. Setra S315GT-HD:
   
7. Setra S415 HD:
   
8. Setra S416GT-HD:
   

SandyfordGuy

It was normally the Scania Century or Setra S415HD on the Ballinteer route.

The correct route alignments are as follows with number of coaches

1. 2008/2009 Jonckheere SHV (Tri-axle): 19
   Cork, Ballsbridge, Greystones, Leopardstown
   
2. 2006 Scania Irizar PB: 1
   This vehicle type no longer operates for Aircoach.
   
3. 2004 Scania Century: 3
   Dalkey, Ballinteer
   
4. 2006 Plaxton Panther: 2
   Cork only (branded for this route)
   
5. 2005 Setra S315GT-HD: 1
   Cork only
   
6. 2004 Setra S415 HD: 20
   Belfast, Dalkey, Ballinteer, Leopardstown, Ballsbridge
   
7. 2012 Setra S416GT-HD: 1
   Cork only, branded for route (short term loan)

With regards to the Caetano, the Winner and the Levante's are two different types of buses, the white one is a Winner, the blue ones are Levantes.

1. 2012 Caetano Winner: 1
   Greystones, Leopardstown, Ballsbridge (short term loan)
   
2. 2006 Caetano Levante: 4
   Cork only, branded for route.

patrickbrophy18

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

With regards to the Caetano, the Winner and the Levante's are two different types of buses, the white one is a Winner, the blue ones are Levantes.

1. Caetano Winner: 1
   Greystones, Leopardstown, Ballsbridge (short term loan)

The white one is occasionally deployed onto the Dalkey/Killiney route also.

SandyfordGuy

That vehicle doesn't have a fixed route per se, although it won't turn up in Belfast because the whole route is run by Belfast based Setra 415's. It's unusual to have one vehicle that roams around so much when it is the only of it's type in the fleet, but it may be something to do with the fact it's being tested on Volvo's behalf as there are a few prototype bits and pieces in there so the more variety it gets the more feedback the guys in Volvo will get I suppose.

SandyfordGuy

That vehicle doesn't have a fixed route per se, although it won't turn up in Belfast because the whole route is run by Belfast based Setra 415's. It's unusual to have one vehicle that roams around so much when it is the only of it's type in the fleet, but it may be something to do with the fact it's being tested on Volvo's behalf as there are a few prototype bits and pieces in there so the more variety it gets the more feedback the guys in Volvo will get I suppose.

Just before the Scania PB left Aircoach it did a couple of days on the Greystones route, but that was simply as with the bus pending disposal and that disposal happening in Dublin, it was logistically easier to send it up to Dublin for a few days and keep it close to hand. It wasn't originally supposed to go out at all after being pulled off the Cork route but a vehicle shortage pressed it to do it's final laps in Greystones, ironically the first time it's ever been off the Cork route was the last bit of work it did for Aircoach