Quickest Route - Finglas To Ranelagh

tempnam

I've tried various different routes, but I can't do this journey in less than an hour (during rush hour). So far I've tried:

1. (Bus) 140 from Finglas to Rathmines & walk to Ranelagh

2. (Driving) N2 > Constitution Hill > Christchurch > Clanbrassil Street > Grove Road > Ranelagh Road

3. (Driving) N2 > Constitution Hill > Christchurch > Clanbrassil Street > Harolds Cross > Leinster Road > Grosvenor Place > Grosvenor Road > Rathgar Road > Castlewood Avenue > Ranelagh

4. (Driving) N2 > Withworth Road > Dorset Street > Gardiner Street > Quays > Erne Street > Merrion Square > Fitzwilliam Place > N11 > Chelmsford Road > Ranelagh

Anyone got any other suggestions? I'd run / walk / cycle as it would be quicker but there are no shower facilities in the office!

KD345

I'm surprised the 140 isn't working for you, the timetable at rush hour gives it a running time of 44 minutes from North Finglas to Rathmines.

Another option is to take the 140 to Kildare Street (or another bus to the city centre) and walk to Stephen's Green Luas. The journey is about 5 minutes to Ranelagh.

tempnam

Sorry - I should have said that I'm talking about door to door travel time. i.e. from walking out my front door to walking into the office. No doubt the bus woukd be quicker if I was driving from the Finglas bus stop to the Rathmines bus stop.

But when you factor in a 10 min walk at each end of the journey then the car is quicker.

So, any ideas on a faster route? I reckon that the most direct route isn't necessarily the quickest, so a 'long way round' approach may be better... a friend suggested M50 to the N81 Tallaght exit and heading back in from there. Any thoughts on this one?

KD345

What part of Finglas are you traveling from? It's a big place.

The 140 has a bus lane the whole way into Phibsboro. You'll do well to beat this at rush hour. From town to Ranelagh, the Luas does it from Stephens Green in 5 mins. Again, the car won't beat that. If it's a question of time then a combination of bus and Luas will be the quickest. Consider a Leap card or tax saver ticket to save cash.

Even factoring in a 10 minute walk, it will take about 40 minutes to Kildare Street by bus from Finglas. Then 10 minutes to get from Stephens Green to Ranelagh. It's tight but it can be done.

I would advise against traveling to Tallaght, you'll just end up sitting in traffic in Templeogue or Terenure.

Why not sample a few different options and see which works best?

Cienciano

Quickest way is on a motorcycle. The 140 isn't bad from the north city centre, i'd say the ranelagh to north city is the killer

monument

tempnam wrote: »

I've tried various different routes, but I can't do this journey in less than an hour (during rush hour). So far I've tried:

1. (Bus) 140 from Finglas to Rathmines & walk to Ranelagh

Get a cheap bike plus two locks and cycle the bit from Rathmines to Ranelagh.

OR

If the bus is often slowed down somewhere in the city, cycle from there.

Clearly you have to be smart about where you lock your bike and you regardless of where you lock it you should read up about locking bicycles correctly: http://irishcycle.com/how-to/lock-your-bicycle/

tempnam wrote: »

Anyone got any other suggestions? I'd run / walk / cycle as it would be quicker but there are no shower facilities in the office!

Cycle the full way and just take it handy enough, remember it's downhill into the city from Finglas and close to flat towards Ranelagh.

If you break a sweat on the way home then shower. Have a small towel and babywips in case it happens on the way to work.

Get panniers (bag/s that attach to a bicycle) to advoid backpack related sweat.

If you're not used to cycling you can start by doing it once or twice a week and build yourself up from there.

Victor

If using bus+Luas, change at Harcourt, not SSG.

tempnam wrote: »

a friend suggested M50 to the N81 Tallaght exit and heading back in from there. Any thoughts on this one?

Madness!!

Cienciano

If you come off the finglas exit on the M50 at the wrong time, you could be in a queue for 15 minutes. Some days the queue goes miles back. There's traffic lights on the m50 juction and the junction into North City business park causes chaos.