Throwback Thursday

DaBluBoi

For comparism's sake, was the 78a a very reliable route back then?

LXFlyer

I don’t think that “reliable” and any bus using Mount Brown ever went arm in arm?

Glaceon

Reliable, pretty much. Safe, definitely not. Had some hairy experiences over the years but more often than not I was OK.

Csalem

This week we are going back six years to 2016 and AV 378 on Collins Avenue with a service on route 31D to DCU. Route 31D started in October 2016, along with the 42D and 70D. These three routes operated one return trip Monday-Friday during college term time. The 42D ran from Portmarnock via Malahide and the 70D from Dunboyne via Cabra. The 31D ran from Baldoyle and went via Raheny, Killester and Collins Avenue. In May 2022 it ceased to operate when Bus Connects introduced new route N4 along Collins Avenue, and passengers from Baldoyle could travel by H1 or H2 to meet the N4 in Killester.

AV 378 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2004. It was withdrawn in 2018 and sold on to another operator in the United Kingdom.  

01/11/2016

https://flic.kr/p/2nX56Dq

dfx-

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119779654#Comment_119779654

The 78A and 51B/C were pretty much reliable. Even by the standard of growing up around the mad 77s in the 90s in Tallaght, the 78A was definitely not safe.

Re: the featured bus, RV469 was an awful bus in C/Rd, resident on the 78A. RV532 was excellent.

Csalem

This week we are going back a decade to 2012 and AV 9 on College Street with a service on route 15 to Ballycullen Road. This ALX400 bus was new to Dublin Bus in 2000. It was withdrawn in 2013 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom. Route 15 started running between the city centre and Scholarstown Road in 1988. At the end of 2011 it became a cross-city route from Clongriffin to Stocking Avenue, following a merger with route 128 under Network Direct. Then in early-2012 the southern terminus was cut back slightly to Ballycullen Road.

This part of College Street was a busy location for buses for many decades, having served as a terminus for a lot of routes. Even under Network Direct it was still a busy location as seen here with routes such as the 15, 15A, 15B, 39, 39A and so on still stopping here. That all ended when Luas Cross City works started and in 2017 this became the Trinity tram stop. The background has also changed in recent years with the demolition of the building on Townsend Street in the background.  

08/11/2012

https://flic.kr/p/2nYsh2y

Csalem

This week we are going back thirty-five years to 1987 and D 609 on Talbot Street with a service on route 44A. This VanHool McArdle AN68 was new to CIE in 1975. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1993 and sold for scrap. Over its career it operated out of Clontarf, Conyngham Road and Ringsend Garages. 

Route 44A to Mount Prospect Avenue started running in 1936. It lasted until 1996 when it was replaced by new City Imp route 130, which also replaced route 30.

Beside the bus is a car with a registration plate that begins with "87 D". 1987 was the first year for this new style of car registrations, with the previous system dating from 1903 using just two letter codes for counties and some numbers (as seen on the bus). The new system adopted in 1987 put the two digits for the year at the start followed by one or two letters to represent the county. In 2013 it was adapted again when the year was split in half for registrations and either a 1 or 2 appended to the year number.  

17/11/1987

https://flic.kr/p/2nZPezL

Csalem

This week we are going back thirty-nine years to 1983 and C 80 on Townsend Street. The bus is dressed for route 47B to Grange Road. This route started in 1949 but ceased in 1999, and ran via Whitechurch Estate. It, along with routes 47 and 47A, were replaced by a combination of routes 15C, 16, 116 and 161. 

C 80 was new to CIE in 1965. In 1985 it transferred to Dundalk and joined the schools fleet. It was withdrawn in 1992 and scrapped by 1994.  

23/11/1983

https://flic.kr/p/2o23cme

Csalem

This week we are going back fifteen years to 2007 and RV 466 on Amiens Street with a service on route 130 to Castle Avenue. This Volvo Olympian bus was new to Dublin Bus in 1999. Initially it was in CitySwift livery but was repainted in the early-2000s. It was withdrawn in 2009 and later sold on to another Irish operator.

Route 130 started in 1996, initially as a City Imp minibus route. The 130 was the merging of two routes, the 30 and the 44A. Route 30 ran from the city centre to Dollymount via Clontarf and started in 1938. Route 44A started in 1936 and ran from city centre to Mount Prospect Avenue via Haddon Road and Castle Avenue. The 130 started with mini-buses, before getting midi-buses around 2000. However within a couple of years double-decker buses started to take-over and have remained ever since.  

02/12/2007

https://flic.kr/p/2o3rY6y

Csalem

This week we are going back fourteen years to Dublin Bus EV 53 on Burgh Quay with a service on route 151 to Adamstown. This route started operating between Docklands Station and Grange Castle in March 2007, running via the Crumlin Road. In July of that year it was extended to Adamstown, which was a new town being built out in west Dublin near Lucan. In 2010 under Network Direct changes the route was cut back to terminate in Foxborough. Route 25B was introduced at the same time which ran to Adamstown via Palmerstown, and provided an interchange with the 151 in Foxborough. The current 151 no longer uses Burgh Quay either. It currently crosses the River Liffey via the Roise Hackett Bridge and reaches College Street via Hawkins Street.

EV 53 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in December 2008. In fact, this Enviro 400 entered service just two days before this picture was taken. It was withdrawn from service in February 2022.  

08/12/2008

https://flic.kr/p/2o4M8dn

Csalem

This week we go back eleven years to RV 534 on O'Connell Bridge with a service on route 15A to Limekiln Farm. This bus was one of nearly 200 Volvo Olympians delivered to Dublin Bus in 1999, and also the last batch of high-floor double-decker buses to be delivered. This bus was withdrawn in 2012 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom. In the background is RV 555 on the 16 to Ballinteer, another bus that had a career from 1999 to 2012. 

Route 15A started running between the City Centre and Whitehall Road in 1949. In 1978 it reached Greenhills, and Limekiln Farm around 1982. Two days after this photograph was taken, the city centre terminus moved from Eden Quay to Benson Street in Grand Canal Dock, and the southern terminus moved to Limekiln Avenue. Except it didn't really. For years the 19A (which became the 9) and teh 15A terminated at the same spot, but the former called it Limekiln Avenue and the latter Limekiln Farm. Under Network Direct changes in 2011, the 15A destinations were made consistent with route 9 by having both display Limekiln Avenue.

With the move to Benson Street the 15A and 15B no longer crossed O'Connell Bridge to cross the River Liffey. 

16/12/2011

https://flic.kr/p/2o61cGy

Csalem

First up I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for looking at my photographs this year.

Second, this is also Throwback Thursday (361). Dublin Bus Tour RA 219 is seen in the snow on O'Connell Street twelve years ago in November 2010. This Olympian was new to Dublin Bus in 1995, initially used on CitySwift route 39 to Clonsilla. In 2001 it joined the tour fleet, when it also lost most of its roof. Itr was withdrawn at the end of 2014, having spent longer doing tours than regular passenger services, and was sold for scrap in 2015. 

In 2017 the Dublin Bus Tour was rebranded as DoDublin.

In the background is the Dublin Bus head office building, which dates from the late-1950s.

28/11/2010

https://flic.kr/p/2o7jFRE

crosstownk

Happy Christmas @Csalem

Savage weather back in 2010. The only white Christmas I've ever experienced.

Many thanks for the 'throwback' photos every week. Have a great Christmas!

clunked

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120025882#Comment_120025882

It also would have displaced the last of the Metsec Ds in P/boro

Csalem

This week we are going back twenty-eight years to 1994 and Dublin Bus AD 58 on Pearse Street. The bus is dressed for route 14A to Churchtown. This route started running between the Phoenix Park and Churchtown in 1965. In the late-1980s it was cut back from the Phoenix Park to the city centre and in 1995 it was extended to Ballinteer. From 2005 to 2011 it operated to Dundrum, but was subsumed into new route 14 under Network Direct, 

AD 58 was one of seventy DAF / Alexander Setanta single-deckers delivered to Dublin Bus between 1994 and 1995. It was delivered in unbranded City Swift livery and initially operated out of Donnybrook Garage. Around 2006 it transferred to Bus Eireann along with a number of other AD buses that joined the school fleet, but it was withdrawn by 2011. It ended its days at Rosslare Harbour.  

29/12/1994

https://flic.kr/p/2o8BwFa

rx8

It's fitting that you end the year with one of the most technologically advanced and by far the fastest bus that was ever in service in the city. There was so many switches and settings that you could use to the right of the driver, that it would take you most of the day to figure out what everything did. I used to go to Conyngham Road for my rest-day to drive them on the 78A. The last bus from Kilcock always had one, and he would fly into town to work the staff special which I regularly travelled on. Going along the N4 at over 80mph was like being in a Ferrari.

Thanks for all the pics, and Happy New Year to one and all.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045346#Comment_120045346

The days before the buses were covered in cctv if there'd been an accident too

rx8

Well it would have been nearly 1.00am, so no traffic on the road...

Csalem

This week we are going back fourteen years to 2009 and AV 264 in Parnell Square. The bus is operating a service on route 5 to Sandyford Industrial Estate. This route started operating between the City Centre and Kilmacud in 1952. In the mid-1970s its terminus was moved to the junction of Lakelands Avenue / Upper Kilmacud Road. In 1987 it was extended to Sandyford industrial Estate but in 2011 the route was withdrawn from the network. Throughout its entire existence, the route operated via The Rock Road and Ballsbridge.

AV 264 was new to Dublin Bus in 2002. It was withdrawn in 2016 and sold on to another Irish operator. In 2023 it is still in service with Airside Coaches. 

06/01/2009

https://flic.kr/p/2o9Vd2p

Csalem

This week we are going back twenty-five years to 1998 and KC 173 at Connolly Station, dressed for route 27B. This GAC bus was delivered new to CIE in 1986. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus during 2000 and moved to Bus Eireann's school fleet, based out of Tralee in County Kerry. It was withdrawn after 2002. 

Route 27B started running between the city centre and Castletimon in 1971. In 2004 it was extended to Harristown (via Swords Road), following the opening of the bus garage there.

KC 173 is parked on what was known as "The Ramp" which led up to Connolly Station. This was demolished in the early-2000s to make way for the Luas tram stop which is level with Amiens Street.

12/01/1998

https://flic.kr/p/2ob9zbw

Csalem

This week we are going back a mere five years to 2018 and Dublin Bus WS 2 at the bus terminus in Dundrum. The bus is seen prior to departing for Glencullen on route 44B. This route started operating between Glencullen and Dublin city centre in 1953. In 2001 some short workings were introduced so every service did not go all the way into the city, with some terminating at Dundrum, Eglinton Road, Sandyford, Ranelagh, Kilcross and Dundrum. In 2009 the route was rationalised further, with only the Dundrum to Glencullen part kept, with a few services in the morning and a few in the afternoon, weekdays only.

As the route makes its way up part of the Dublin mountains, only single-deckers can be used on it. In recent years it has been the last outpost for single-deckers within the fleet of Dublin Bus. Up until December 2017 three WV Class buses outlived the other members of the fleet to operate the 44B (though they also popped up on the 59 and 111 as only one bus is needed to operate the 44B). However, as they were sixteen years old at that time, they needed replacement. Dublin Bus purchased two StreetLites from Wrightbus, WS 1 and WS 2. These were the short-wheelbase version of this type. Bus Eireann operated the mid and full length version (WM and WL classes) and Go-Ahead Ireland also received 40 full-length versions to operate the orbital routes in and around Dublin (It is unknown why the 44B was not included with the tender for the orbital routes that Go-Ahead Ireland won). The WS Class entered service in December 2017 and in 2021 they were repainted in the new TFI green / yellow livery. Although bought for the 44B, they have turned up on other routes occasionally. For a period before Covid-19, one was a regular performer on the 61 in the morning, which brought the Dublin Bus single-decker into the city centre.

19/01/2018

https://flic.kr/p/2ocmB9b

Csalem

This week we are only going back a short hop to four years ago, and GT 22 on route 40 at Liffey Valley. The 40 reached Liffey Valley in November 2011, under Network Direct. Prior to that it had operated since 1925 between the city centre and Finglas. Route 78A was merged into it through Network Direct making it a cross-city route from Finglas to Liffey Valley. Then in November 2022, the route was split again, with the city centre to Liffey Valley part becoming route G2 under Bus Connects, and the 40 again becoming the city centre to Finglas route.

This bus stop has been the bus terminus at Liffey Valley since the shopping centre opened in 1998. However, work started in 2022 on a new bus interchange at the front of the shopping centre, that is also close to the bus stops on the N4 road (served by the C-Spine and other routes). This, combined with road works in the shopping centre that turned the roundabout in the background of the photo into a signalled junction, has seen the old bus terminus just become a single, regular bus stop. Although currently it is still serving as the bus terminus until the new one opens in early-2023.

GT 22 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2012. It was one of 160 such buses delivered between 2012 and 2013, and it is still in service with Dublin Bus.  

26/01/2019

https://flic.kr/p/2odyfkf

p_haugh

Apparently the new bus interchange is due to open sometime in February.

Csalem

This week we are going back twelve years to 2011 and RV 596 on Townsend Street at the terminus for route 44. The DUTC started running this route between the city centre and Enniskerry in 1936. From the early-1970s it had a terminus on Hawkins Street before moving to Townsend Street in 2002. In 2012 it replaced route 3 on the northside and was extended to Larkhill, becoming a cross-city route. Also that time it was taken out of Ballyogan, the via point on the destination in the picture. In 2014 it was extended further again in Dublin City University. 

RV 596 was new to Dublin Bus in 1999. It was withdrawn in 2012 and sold on to another Irish operator.

The building beside the bus was College House. It was built in 1974, and became known as one of the more less attractive buildings in Dublin city centre. It was demolished in 2019 and currently a new building is under construction on the site.  

02/02/2011

https://flic.kr/p/2oePX6U

Csalem

This week we are going ack twenty-seven years to 1996 and RA 236 in Dun Laoghaire. This bus is dressed for route 75 which started running between Dun Laoghaire and Tallaght in February 1990. The number had previously been used on a local Tallaght route that ran between Fettercairn and Kilnamanagh from late-1985 to late-1987. The Tallaght terminus of the newer 75 moved to The Square Shopping Centre when it opened in late-1990. Go-Ahead Ireland took over the route from Dublin Bus in October 2018.

RA 236 was new to Dublin Bus in 1995. It was withdrawn in 2007 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom.  

10/02/1996

https://flic.kr/p/2og6muH

Csalem

This week we go back thirty-two years to 1991 and KC 99 at The Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght. The bus is dressed for route 76. This route started operating between Ballyfermot and Tallaght (going via Clondalkin) in 1981, and reached The Square when it opened in 1990. For a period in the 1990s it was extended to Fettercairn but in 2012 it was moved back to The Square as part of Network Direct. At the same time the northern terminus was moved to Chapelizod. In 2019 the route passed to Go-Ahead Ireland. 

KC 99 was new to CIE in 1984 and was withdrawn by Dublin Bus around 2000.  

16/02/1991

https://flic.kr/p/2ohjCoE

Muahahaha

Think these fit here, the 65 in various guises over the years

Winter 2013

Csalem

Somehow forgot to press submit on this when I posting on Thursday.

This week we are going back ten years to 2013 and to AV 321 on Nutley Lane. The bus is about to do the Saturday-only, 16:05 departure on route 17 from Nutley Lane (although the timetable said St. Vincent's Hospital) to Rialto. The regular route 17 started operating between Blackrock and Dolphin's Barn / Rialto around 1971. Select departures to and from St. Vincent's Hospital started operating on and off from 1985. They ceased in 2019 when Go-Ahead Ireland took over the route.

AV 321 was new to Dublin Bus in 2003. This Volvo ALX400 was withdrawn in 2017 and sold on to another Irish operator.

23/02/2013

https://flic.kr/p/2oivKwf

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287771#Comment_120287771

Interestingly enough, when the 17 stops were being updated with the (then blue) TFI stop heads, the ones between UCD and Vincent's were also changed over.

However, as you said, these services were never operated by Go Ahead. Must've been a miscommunication at some stage between the various parties involved in the transition, as not long after, these stops were reverted to the Dublin Bus stop heads.

Csalem

This week we are going back twenty-seven years to 1996 and the last few days of a bus route in Dublin. RH 158 is seen parked on Marlborough Street dressed for route 44A. This route first started running between the city centre and Mount Prospect Avenue in 1936. It and route 30 ( to Dollymount) were merged into new route 130 in late-March 1996. The new route 130 was also operated by City Imp mini-buses. 44A was one of the few route numbering oddities within the bus network of Dublin city. The 44 ran to Enniskerry and the 44B ran to Glencullen, both south of the city. While the 44A terminus on Mount Prospect Avenue was within the northside suburb of Clontarf. 

RH 158 was new to Dublin Bus in 1993. It became part of the driving school in 2006 and was withdrawn in 2008 before being sold on to another operator in Ireland. 

In front of the bus is a van belonging to Telecom Eireann, the state-owned phone provider. It was privatised in 1999 and became Eircom. 

09/03/1996

https://flic.kr/p/2ombmjr