Dublin commute

heathersonline

hi all

I didn't want to drag up 8 year old threads so thought I'd start a new one. I'm due to start a new job on Monday , initially based in the ifsc with a view to moving it back to Wexford after a month or two. I'm living just outside Castlebridge.

Interested in knowing if anyone else is doing the commute, opinions on best/cheapest/least painful options would be welcomed.

At the moment I believe my options are as follows

-drive door to door and pay for parking (seriously expensive, stressful with traffic but convenient)
-drive to Gorey and get the Wexford bus
-drive to Gorey and get the train
-drive to one of the earlier park and rides and jump on the Luas (Dublin bikes from Luas to ifsc)

I don't have access to a tax saver scheme as I will be contracting so interested in opinions around cost as well as any other factors. Bus eireann & Wexford bus weekly and monthly ticket pricing all seems to be based on the tax saver scheme

Thanks for any insights!

Marhay70

heathersonline wrote: »

hi all

I didn't want to drag up 8 year old threads so thought I'd start a new one. I'm due to start a new job on Monday , initially based in the ifsc with a view to moving it back to Wexford after a month or two. I'm living just outside Castlebridge.

Interested in knowing if anyone else is doing the commute, opinions on best/cheapest/least painful options would be welcomed.

At the moment I believe my options are as follows

-drive door to door and pay for parking (seriously expensive, stressful with traffic but convenient)
-drive to Gorey and get the Wexford bus
-drive to Gorey and get the train
-drive to one of the earlier park and rides and jump on the Luas (Dublin bikes from Luas to ifsc)

I don't have access to a tax saver scheme as I will be contracting so interested in opinions around cost as well as any other factors. Bus eireann & Wexford bus weekly and monthly ticket pricing all seems to be based on the tax saver scheme

Thanks for any insights!

Why not drive to Oylgate and catch Wexford Bus direct to IFSC? You could park for free and from what I can see a monthly ticket is E255 with Wexford Bus. Driving to Dublin is going to cost well over E 100pw in fuel and that's before the nightmare of Glen of the Downs to IFSC twice daily and the parking ripoff.

heathersonline

Marhay70 wrote: »

Why not drive to Oylgate and catch Wexford Bus direct to IFSC? You could park for free and from what I can see a monthly ticket is E255 with Wexford Bus. Driving to Dublin is going to cost well over E 100pw in fuel and that's before the nightmare of Glen of the Downs to IFSC twice daily and the parking ripoff.

That could be a runner, means getting up a bit earlier but no hassle leaving the car there which might not be the case in Gorey or enniscorthy. Thanks for the ticket price, couldn't see it on their site

man98

Don't Bus Eireann have services via Castlebridge? Probably easier than driving to Oylegate.

Zhane

man98 wrote: »

Don't Bus Eireann have services via Castlebridge? Probably easier than driving to Oylegate.

As far as I know BE takes longer.

Marhay70

BE service through Castle bridge was a token one and AFAIK has been discontinued.
Heathersonline, I don't follow your reasoning about having to get up earlier, Oylgate is at most twenty minutes from Castle bridge via Crossabeg, on a wet morning it can take that to get up The Avenue in Gorey.

Cantona's Collars

Marhay70 wrote: »

BE service through Castle bridge was a token one and AFAIK has been discontinued.
Heathersonline, I don't follow your reasoning about having to get up earlier, Oylgate is at most twenty minutes from Castle bridge via Crossabeg, on a wet morning it can take that to get up The Avenue in Gorey.

20 minutes:eek: Is she cycling? I can do Enniscorthy to Wexford in that time.Ten minutes give or take from Castlebridge to Oylegate,park up the car and get the bus.

heathersonline

Marhay70 wrote: »

BE service through Castle bridge was a token one and AFAIK has been discontinued.
Heathersonline, I don't follow your reasoning about having to get up earlier, Oylgate is at most twenty minutes from Castle bridge via Crossabeg, on a wet morning it can take that to get up The Avenue in Gorey.

Im thinking if have to leave slightly earlier as the bus will hit Oylgate earlier than Gorey, it's only 12 minutes from the house though, did a test run just now

Marhay70

zerks wrote: »

20 minutes:eek: Is she cycling? I can do Enniscorthy to Wexford in that time.Ten minutes give or take from Castlebridge to Oylegate,park up the car and get the bus.

Yeah, I was erring on the side of caution but getting on to the N11 can be fraught sometimes.

ezra_

If the bus isn't working out, you can rent a car park space in the iFSC for 60-100 quid a month.

heathersonline

Day one done, was on Wexford bus from Oylgate at 6.15am and was in leeson street for 8.20. Pretty happy with that, and it'll only get better when the roadworks are done. I'm going to stick with this for the moment and when I settle in will try the 7.30am from Gorey, see how that goes.

I'm guessing driving would cost around €500-€600 per month between diesel, parking and a small bit of wear and tear, probably not a runner till the cash starts rolling in! Would certainly consider it if a car share was an option

Thanks to all for contributions to date, made my life a lot easier.

heathersonline

Just an update, I went to Gorey the rest of the week, it's a nicer road at that time of the morning and also is quicker getting into the car there than going on to Oylgate on the bus. Have also discovered there are a few different bus eireann services that are hidden away in their website that go from Gorey, one being an express bus that I'm going to try out tomorrow. Their 10 journey ticket is €68 compared to Wexford buses €70, the timetable looks better with BE

thedarkroom

heathersonline wrote: »

Just an update, I went to Gorey the rest of the week, it's a nicer road at that time of the morning and also is quicker getting into the car there than going on to Oylgate on the bus. Have also discovered there are a few different bus eireann services that are hidden away in their website that go from Gorey, one being an express bus that I'm going to try out tomorrow. Their 10 journey ticket is €68 compared to Wexford buses €70, the timetable looks better with BE

How long does the express bus take to get to Dublin? I would consider this if the time right.
Currently, I drive up and down from Gorey daily to neat the airport and it takes 1 hr 15 minutes without having to boot it. Problem is I leave really early and am in the car park at work at 7am. Don't mind the early start but occasionally it would be nice to not to have to drive. 10 journey ticket sounds like good value, I'm sure there are probably better deals if going for larger quantity.
My current fuel cost for diesel is €350 per month plus I use the M50 toll coming home so there's €400/month before service costs. I reckon my car costs me about €11,500 a year+ - fuel, tolls, servicing, purchase and sundries, which is a hefty bill so the bus is worth considering. It all depends on the time and convenience such as catching the bus in the morning, how long it takes, reliability of timetable, frequency of timetable, connecting bus from Bus Eireann to workplace and back again, etc etc.
I looked in to it myself before and decided against it but I must look again as it would appear to have improved since I last looked.
I used to car share for a while but the other person moved on so it finished. Problems with sharing are many, ie coinciding of work hours in particular can make your day longer if you both start and finish at different times or do not work relatively close but the savings are obviously considerable.
I've been commuting now for just over 20 years and it does take it's toll. Costs, family life, social life, etc and I know many people who found that it wasn't for them. I also know many who are ok with it, horses for courses and all that.
I would be interested to hear how you get on with the express bus - journey time, comfort, frequency, convenience of stop locations, etc.
regards.

heathersonline

Seems the express bus is the way to go. The bus leaves as per the timetable and arrived into leeson street bridge at 8am. Not sure about stops after that but is a pretty efficient service by the looks of things.

Slightly cheaper than Wexford bus but times are much better on the express service. No wifi on the BE bus but I may have just got unlucky.

Geog1234

A few snippets of info that may be of use:

· It’s possible to buy the Bus Éireann Gorey-Dublin 10-journey online for €64.60. There’s no booking/card fee. Either print the confirmation off and hand it to the driver or show the information in the red box on the confirmation to the driver on a mobile device. (The 10-journey ticket can be bought to commence on any day of the week).

· Bus Éireann 384 also serves Gorey. Here’s the timetable:
http://buseireann.ie/pdf/1202998677-384.pdf

The Bus Éireann services from Rosslare Harbour to Dublin via Castlebridge and Ballycanew were discontinued in September 2012.

Ardcavan operate a coach service to Dublin serving Castlebridge and Crossabeg. It’s just once a day each way and the morning arrival is probably too late but it’s always handy to know all possible options. Timetable: http://ardcavan.com/dublin.html

The rail journey to Dublin is a very scenic run and well worth experiencing at least once (particularly in the fine weather). Free parking is available in the old cinema car park near Wexford station for rail ticket holders.
· It’s also worth keeping an eye on Irish Rail Wexford Station on Facebook where offers and useful information are posted. Timetable:
http://www.irishrail.ie/media/08_dublin-rosslare_020615-310815.pdf?v=gradgpy

For local travel:

· Wexford Bus have a local route to Castlebridge but last bus back is too early for commuting.
http://wexfordbus.com/timetables/wexford-to-castlebridge/
€2.60 for a single ticket into Wexford using Leap Card

· Bus Éireann Fridays only bus linking Castlebridge and Crossabeg to Wexford:
http://buseireann.ie/pdf/1202387060-380.pdf

Bus Éireann service on Mondays & Saturdays along coast road between Wexford and Gorey via Castlebridge, Curracloe and Kilmuckridge
http://buseireann.ie/pdf/1423737364-379.pdf