25 Year Reflection on DB, BE and IE

dublinman1990

I thought it will be useful for the users and subscribers of Boards to know that Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Iárnrod Eireann are going celebrate their 25th anniversary very soon. Their anniversary will be held on Thursday the 2nd of February.

We should all know that whether the transport have services that were good, or bad or some cases even dire in some places.

We should also think about what sort of celebrations will be held, if any, would be appropriate for the day. If they the companies might allow the prospect of designing a 25 year logo, like the DART service did about two years ago.

IE had a celebration to commerate the DART 25th anniversary on a DART train. Do you think it would be appropriate for the bus companies to even a hold a celebration.

We should what we think the staff has gone on through the years from 1987 onwards within the 3 companies. What experience you've had with them when doing their job.

Also, what great improvements have been done to the fleet in general regarding their punctuality and reliability.

In the changing times we live in, do you think the 3 companies have helped you develop a relationship when talking to other passengers. It doesn't have to rude situations by the way, anything that is positive would be great.

Any comments would be most welcome!

Aard

Do you work for CIE or something?

Cookie_Monster

where to start?

In the changing times we live in, do you think the 3 companies have helped you develop a relationship when talking to other passengers

no

What experience you've had with them when doing their job

like every other company I've had experience dealing with, the vast majority are pleasant and know what they're doing but come across the odd prick / moron every now and then.

Also, what great improvements have been done to the fleet in general regarding their punctuality and reliability.

not a whole lot
DB: got rid of non low floor prematurely, got rid of single deckers and artics prematurely, got rid of the nice green livery prematurely.
BE: don't really use them but seem to be the most competent of the companies in regards to fleet management
IE: the less said the better about how they use their assets :mad:

They are all just subsets of CIE and don't really need an anniversary as such, it might be a good time to move them back under a single brand though

dublinman1990

Aard wrote: »

Do you work for CIE or something?

No, I don't work for them?

mikemac1

DB: Huge issues with anti-social wasters and battered pieces of cardboard. The DB model seems to be to discourage fare paying customers in favour of customers paid by Dept Social Protection.
My route has good frequency, sound drivers, modern buses and if DB could just control the messing I might renew my annual ticket. Employ the ex Serbian paratroopers that Irish Rail use

BE: Very good, great drivers and clean modern coaches.Most every January there are price rises though.
JJ Kavanagh and others identified certain profitable college routes that BE seem to have missed out on. Maybe management missed a trick here?

IE: Ran our service into the ground, Ballybrophy line. They don't seem to even want it open and it took lobbying to adjust to a commuter service
Do IE exist to give jobs for life or to serve passengers?


Celebration? I'd prefer if CIE invest the money in services or maybe give awards and recognition to some hardworking staff at the bottom
There are some real characters and legends working. Look at DB and how they struggled on during the snow and flooding . Or drivers and staff who are professional and have a kind word for their regulars and all the locals know their name

Better this then management going drinking and dining in a hotel and clapping each other on the back

n97 mini

I really hope CIE are not planning on spending 1 cent on this. The country is broke, and the last thing we need it to be celebrating monopolies.

Gurgle

I lived in Dublin for 5 years while in college in the 90s. At that time I learned pretty quick that DB was on average slower than walking for any route within 5 miles of the city centre.

Every now and then I look up timetables & prices for a journey, especially if I'll be travelling on my own.

My recent experience:

DB:
The timetable mythology has moved into the 21st century, info delivery by all kinds of modern methods. Still mythology.
Every 2-lane road in the city has lost one lane to a 'QBC', pity so few DB routes actually use those roads.
Its still quicker to walk.

BE:
Day return from Trim to Dublin is €28.50.
Needless to say, the car was used instead. I'll look it up again in another 5 years.

IE:
Have actually managed to get slower and more expensive.

Conclusion: It's still much faster and cheaper to travel this country in a car, even with single occupancy and paying tolls and fuel costs.

LXFlyer

Gurgle wrote: »

I lived in Dublin for 5 years while in college in the 90s. At that time I learned pretty quick that DB was on average slower than walking for any route within 5 miles of the city centre.

Every now and then I look up timetables & prices for a journey, especially if I'll be travelling on my own.

My recent experience:

DB:
The timetable mythology has moved into the 21st century, info delivery by all kinds of modern methods. Still mythology.
Every 2-lane road in the city has lost one lane to a 'QBC', pity so few DB routes actually use those roads.
Its still quicker to walk.

BE:
Day return from Trim to Dublin is €28.50.
Needless to say, the car was used instead. I'll look it up again in another 5 years.

IE:
Have actually managed to get slower and more expensive.

Conclusion: It's still much faster and cheaper to travel this country in a car, even with single occupancy and paying tolls and fuel costs.

With respect you did make several inaccuracies above:

Each QBC in Dublin has a full set of frequent bus routes operating along it - what example are you thinking of that doesn't?

A BE day return from Trim to Dublin is not €28.50. It is €13.30 when bought online or €14 if bought on the bus.

schemingbohemia

but why would someone, you know, use facts when myths can be posted instead? it would be a very quiet section if people only posted facts.

AngryLips

Maybe we can celebrate the creation of CIE 25 years ago by shutting it down completely? :rolleyes:

Gurgle

lxflyer wrote: »

Each QBC in Dublin has a full set of frequent bus routes operating along it - what example are you thinking of that doesn't?

The Navan road is the one I'd see most often (rarely on a weekday admittedly), and a bus is a rare thing to see in that QBC.

lxflyer wrote: »

A BE day return from Trim to Dublin is not €28.50. It is €13.30 when bought online or €14 if bought on the bus.

Feck, you're right.
I looked it up last saturday, all I found was €28.50. Now its €13.30

KD345

Gurgle wrote: »

The Navan road is the one I'd see most often (rarely on a weekday admittedly), and a bus is a rare thing to see in that QBC.


Feck, you're right.
I looked it up last saturday, all I found was €28.50. Now its €13.30

The Navan Road is one of the busiest QBCs in the city.

LXFlyer

Routes 38a/b, 39/a and 70 operate all along the N3 between the city and Blanchardstown, while the 37, 38 and 122 operate along parts of it.

I'd suggest that it would be pretty hard to miss the buses given their peak frequencies?

37: 10 mins (peak) / 20-30 mins (off-peak)
38/a/b: 10 mins (peak) / 20 mins (off-peak)
39: 15 mins (peak) / 30 mins (off-peak)
39a: 10 mins (peak) / 15 mins (off-peak)
70: 10 mins (peak) / 60 mins (off-peak)
122: 10 mins (peak) / 20 mins (off-peak)

markpb

lxflyer wrote: »

I'd suggest that it would be pretty hard to miss the buses given their peak frequencies?

Anecdotally, the last time I was on the Navan Road at the weekend, there was a 30 minute wait for the next bus. Even for a Sunday evening, I was surprised at the gap. (Disclaimer: it was just once, I'm not saying it's a problem).

DoesNotCompute

DB: F*** all use to me, since they got rid of the 66 to Kilcock, although to their credit, they are the best value for money out of the 3 companies.

BE: Very well run service, but seriously overpriced. The frequency of buses to Kilcock could be increased, especially on a Sunday. The buses needlessly have the heating on full blast though all the time, which probably greatly increases the buses' carbon footprint, and causes passenger discomfort. Never understood that.

IE: Good value for money if you are travelling within the "short hop" zone. Excessively overpriced anywhere outside of it. Again, not enough trains running through Kilcock on a Sunday. Generally pleasant staff, and the security staff in large stations are a very welcome addition.

CIE

I'd like to know what it cost the public to create the "brands" from the original broken-wheel catch-all umbrella. If keeping the "broken wheel" would have saved the public money, I would have preferred that. The 8100-class electric trains were delivered with the broken-wheel logo, as were the KC- and KD-class buses. I wasn't bothered that the same kind of mustard-coloured (or whatever that colour was) Atlanteans that ran city bus services in Dublin also ran in Cork, Limerick and Galway. I do wonder what it's costing the public to turn Cork city bus route numbers into three-number versions of their old selves, or what ND will cost the public in the long run.

DoesNotCompute wrote: »

DB: F*** all use to me, since they got rid of the 66 to Kilcock, although to their credit, they are the best value for money out of the 3 companies.

BE: Very well run service, but seriously overpriced. The frequency of buses to Kilcock could be increased, especially on a Sunday. The buses needlessly have the heating on full blast though all the time, which probably greatly increases the buses' carbon footprint, and causes passenger discomfort. Never understood that.

IE: Good value for money if you are travelling within the "short hop" zone. Excessively overpriced anywhere outside of it. Again, not enough trains running through Kilcock on a Sunday. Generally pleasant staff, and the security staff in large stations are a very welcome addition

When you say "excessively overpriced", what are you comparing to, and what would "moderately overpriced" be by comparison?

IINM, running a heater does not increase carbon footprint (such as that might be) since that heat is generated by the motor anyway and it's being redirected into the passenger compartment from the heater core instead of being exhausted into the atmosphere; it might even be reducing same. But passenger discomfort does not need to be imposed. (At least you don't get tropical summers where you'd have to worry about air conditioning and open windows are absolutely no help.)

starviewadams

DB:Got rid of my local service the 51C just when I started college and replaced it with the 68/a which was in turn replaced by the 51b and now the 13.The service and reliability has disimproved since I've become a regular bus commuter,the fares have gone massively up,and and so has anti-social behaviour too.Well done CIE!

IE:Only use the DART a handful of times a year,no problems to report.

BE:Never got a bus down to the country.

Cookie_Monster

lxflyer wrote: »

Routes 38a/b, 39/a and 70 operate all along the N3 between the city and Blanchardstown, while the 37, 38 and 122 operate along parts of it.

I'd suggest that it would be pretty hard to miss the buses given their peak frequencies?

37: 10 mins (peak) / 20-30 mins (off-peak)
38/a/b: 10 mins (peak) / 20 mins (off-peak)
39: 15 mins (peak) / 30 mins (off-peak)
39a: 10 mins (peak) / 15 mins (off-peak)
70: 10 mins (peak) / 60 mins (off-peak)
122: 10 mins (peak) / 20 mins (off-peak)

But timtabled frequencies general bear zero relation to real world frequency, esp post ND

RATM

DB/ CIE 25 years old ? Oh god haven't we had enough of RTE patting themselves on the back for their 50 years of dire existance without more of the same.

Public bodies of late have adopted the private sector tradition of celebrating birthdays in business. The difficulty here lies in the fact that private enterprise actually has something to celebrate- i.e. remaining in business in tough times, supporting jobs, families & communities. Monopolies stay in business regardless of the levels of service they operate, or their policies & extortionate prices which annoy the vast majority of their customers, who hence inadvertently fund more state led mediocrity through inefficient expansion that always ends up in a large cesspool of waste.

CIE really haven't much to celebrate, they are only team on the pitch and they win the cup by defaiut every year- hardly a great boast.

Monopolies aside CIE DB over the last 25 years have utterly failed the Irish public for whom they are supposed to serve. In comparison to the service & price levels offered in mainland Europe CIE / DB are inadequate, inefficient and grossly overpaid and overpriced. Ireland is attempting to get out of a deep recession here and these two organisations are holding us back- both through their wastage and the simple fact that our public transport system is dire.

lucernarian

markpb wrote: »

Anecdotally, the last time I was on the Navan Road at the weekend, there was a 30 minute wait for the next bus. Even for a Sunday evening, I was surprised at the gap. (Disclaimer: it was just once, I'm not saying it's a problem).

I also noticed this, the Navan Road QBC (going between An Lár and Blanchardstown Centre) was a shambles on both Saturday and Sunday.

Also, going by the printed timetables themselves on bus stops, the 39a off-peak service is every 20 minutes...

dublinman1990

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I also noticed this, the Navan Road QBC (going between An Lár and Blanchardstown Centre) was a shambles on both Saturday and Sunday.

Also, going by the printed timetables themselves on bus stops, the 39a off-peak service is every 20 minutes...

What is your opinion on the topic above?

lucernarian

DCC should look at finding some way of getting a northbound bus lane between the city centre and Ashtown. There is the space for it at least in a few spots. Traffic light priority issues on it also. In relation to Dublin Bus, the ridiculous lack of buses outside of peak times. Anyone ever seen the throngs of people waiting for a bus on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon outside the Blanchardstown centre? Also, the lack of concern shown by some drivers towards departure times from Crampton quay or College Street. Some drivers wait until the time they are supposed to leave, some take off immediately after the last passenger arrives and others wait for the time as there is a shift change. It leads to problems with consistency and separation between buses going on the QBC. Some might be 20 minutes apart and others may be 5 minutes apart.

Also the scheduled running time between Ongar and the Blanchardstown Centre for the 39/a is too long, the buses nearly always arrive about 5 minutes before what the timetable suggests. It would make sense to have a bus for UCD arriving 5 minutes AFTER the centre closes, not 5 minutes before. Locals won't be coming to the centre to get there just before it closes while workers and shoppers will be more likely to leave when dunnes and many of the shops close.

dublinman1990

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

DCC should look at finding some way of getting a northbound bus lane between the city centre and Ashtown. There is the space for it at least in a few spots. Traffic light priority issues on it also. In relation to Dublin Bus, the ridiculous lack of buses outside of peak times. Anyone ever seen the throngs of people waiting for a bus on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon outside the Blanchardstown centre? Also, the lack of concern shown by some drivers towards departure times from Crampton quay or College Street. Some drivers wait until the time they are supposed to leave, some take off immediately after the last passenger arrives and others wait for the time as there is a shift change. It leads to problems with consistency and separation between buses going on the QBC. Some might be 20 minutes apart and others may be 5 minutes apart.

Also the scheduled running time between Ongar and the Blanchardstown Centre for the 39/a is too long, the buses nearly always arrive about 5 minutes before what the timetable suggests. It would make sense to have a bus for UCD arriving 5 minutes AFTER the centre closes, not 5 minutes before. Locals won't be coming to the centre to get there just before it closes while workers and shoppers will be more likely to leave when dunnes and many of the shops close.

Well thanks for the info, but, I wasn't looking for that. I was meant to say if you could elaborate it more DB and than on IE and BE if you can please.

Lapin

Just a heads up.

A spokesperson from each of the three subsidaries will be on Newstalk Breakfast with Chris & Ivan after 9 this morning.

The usual question and answer gig.

Judgement Day

Lapin wrote: »

Just a heads up.

A spokesperson from each of the three subsidaries will be on Newstalk Breakfast with Chris & Ivan after 9 this morning.

The usual question and answer gig.

Heard part of it - the same old crap just like the George Hook and Barry Kenny 'love in'. :rolleyes:

spank_inferno

Judgement Day wrote: »

Heard part of it - the same old crap just like the George Hook and Barry Kenny 'love in'. :rolleyes:

That 'love-in' you say is pretty odd.
The amount of times Hookey complimented Kenny on his looks, I assumed Barry Kenny was a babe.

Seen him on tv...... he's not a babe.