BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

tnegun

I submitted a suggestion this afternoon re the arrival time of the service at 8.38am being tight to make the start of class at 8:48 in both schools and asked them to consider advancing the departure so the arrival was closer to 8.30. I didn't expect to get prompt response quickly but got one just now to say "The Authority will carry out a review of all comments received during the initial period of operation, and you comments will be considered as part of this review." So it does appear they are open to suggestions/alterations at least outwardly!

LXFlyer

The destinations on the timetables on the bus stops are coming from the bus stop name, rather than a separate database which gives a general description.

It’s basic stuff.

Qrt

Some new flags along Brookfield Road with the W62 added.

mikeybhoy

If Dublin Bus is so short on drivers why are they still running DoDublin tours? Those are all drivers that could be freed up to drive PSO service routes as was the case during covid.

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120747856#Comment_120747856

More time to run southbound makes sense given they're routing it through the Snugborough Road bridge mess...

Stephen Gawking

Bus connects will never reach its full potential until Dublin city centre & its issues are addressed. Dame st/College Green & the bus gate. Zero enforcement of road traffic by the gardai, also; the sheer volume of taxis choking up the same areas especially at the weekends results in even headway going out the window. Both factors out of the control of the bus companies & to be honest i think they prefer it that way.

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120742520#Comment_120742520

I think you took me up wrong, I'm not suggesting the W61 serve both Adamstown and Hazelhatch, I'm suggesting forget about Hazelhatch and just route via Adamstown, ideally in a form of the originally planned full W6 route such as I suggested earlier.

As you say, Hazelhatch and Adamstown are served by all the same trains (bar a tiny number of very early morning services) so train connectivity would be maintained. Hazelhatch is already well served (overserved outside of 'rush hours' IMO) by the L58/L59. Hazelhatch is a rural area with little non-train station local demand versus the 1000's of people in the new Shackleton areas of Adamstown West of the current C2/L51/L52 routes with zero services at the moment which could have benefited from a route via there.

(edit for typos)

tnegun

The Manor Mills stops are at the Church/Boys School wearing the Manor Mills SC name I believe this is temporary while the Council look for the funds they lost to upgrade Mill Street but the NTA/GoAhead doesn't appear to know this and put up these signs/map showing the stop in the wrong location is very disheartening

d51984

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752262#Comment_120752262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120752262#Comment_120752262

Do Dublin is operating at a profit, in fact its making a big profit at the moment. During winter and off peak tourist season drivers do transfer and operate normal routes, some Do Dublin tour drivers are working OT on PSO routes at the moment.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Three C4s to Maynooth in a row cancelled this afternoon. 2 hours between buses. Another Saturday where it's a nightmare to get to Celbridge.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758708#Comment_120758708

Just like last summer, once the drivers’ summer holidays kick in, the impact of the driver shortage gets far worse across the entire network.

But there should never be three cancellations in a row.

OscarMIlde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758708#Comment_120758708

That's dreadful, particularly in this heat. There were cancellations to L58 buses running between Leixlip and Hazelhatch today also, so anyone trying alternate bus services as a get around would have been further affected. A two hour wait for a bus is the inevitable impact on services when disruptions happen on very low frequency routes. The fact that a town as large as Celbridge has only two buses an hour to the city centre, and those buses come through large population centres such as Maynooth, Palmerstown, and Lucan on either the inbound and outbound routes, is absolutely ridicuous. More C3 and C4 buses would be heavily utilised and and in terms of passengers/towns served per bus a very good use of resources.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120760830#Comment_120760830

The Pride parade also caused havoc with the schedules today, with numerous cancellations across the city due to buses being stuck in traffic while rolling diversions were in place.

DaBluBoi

Anyone else find it odd that Google Maps still don't have the new Western Orbitals in their databases? In the last few phases, they had the routes and their stops 3 days out at least, but we are not even 12 hours away from them launching and yet they are nowhere to be found in the search results or the bus stops

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120761036#Comment_120761036

I would suspect that the last minute re-write of the new schedules meant that they were delayed in exporting them.

They only finalised them on Thursday and I understand that there's a longish lag before google maps can upload the info.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120761036#Comment_120761036

Google maps still doesn't even have the changes to the 133 that happened back in April...

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120761227#Comment_120761227

Add that to the long list of NTA, and I’ll be polite, “issues”.

I hadn’t spotted that. Unreal.

ITV2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120758901#Comment_120758901

Drivers forced to take holidays as from 2023 by DB.. we've no choice.

AngryLips

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120760913#Comment_120760913

A completely unforeseen and impossible to anticipate annual event that no one could possibly plan for /s

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120761876#Comment_120761876

My comment was not about drivers taking their holidays - of course they should be doing so.

I was commenting on how the side effect of it, in the absence of reduced summer schedules, was to exacerbate the numbers of cancelled departures because quite simply the cover isn’t there.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762330#Comment_120762330

Well the best laid plans and rolling street closures by the Gardai don’t always go arm in arm.

Daith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762407#Comment_120762407

I doubt they were the best laid plans now. Hopefully Dublin Bus learn some lessons from it but I'd say we'd be having the same conversation next year.

Not just Dublin Bus though. Good few people waiting at an Aircoach stop on O'Connell St that had to be told the stop wasn't in use by people walking past.

Hippodrome Song Owl

The W61 towards Maynooth is running just 6-7 minutes behind the C4 according to today's timetable. I hope the scheduling is better for other days.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Also the timings for the W61 are quite different than the C4 for the same journey. From Celbridge Main Street to Maynooth Station on Monday morning, the C4 is scheduled to take 12-13 minutes while the W61 is scheduled to take 18 minutes. This longer timings for W61 seems consistent regardless of day/time.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Not looking good for staggered scheduling from Hazelhatch Station either.

Qrt

I had a look at the W4's stops earlier, timetables not printed yet, and the Tallaght-bound Luas stop placement makes no sense. Not a single passenger on any of the buses but then again there's been little or no leafleting or signage in the area. Frequency is fairly good, 15 min headways during some of the peak hours.

murphaph

Any idea why the W62 doesn't run to Hazelhatch? Great new service for Newcastle especially. I suspect very many commuters will favour the W62->Luas at Saggart than taking a bus in all the way to the city centre, as it should be! When the W62 runs via Hazelhatch the same will apply of course.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766103#Comment_120766103

Issue with the width of the bridge (and it's approaches) over the canal at Hazlehatch means there isn't room for two buses to pass. For now the route is split in two, but once remidial works are done (scheduled for early 2024), the W61 & W62 can be joined back up into one route (the W6).

murphaph

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766458#Comment_120766458

Ah it's the canal bridge at Hazelhatch that's the problem. Gotcha. Yeah sure two cars can't even pass each other there at the same time but the bridge is signal controlled these days. Aren't canal bridges generally listed? Any idea what the actual plan is there?

Citrus_8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766686#Comment_120766686

I looked on the Google maps as a satellite view and see the approach is too short and too steep meaning for a car it's an easy approach due to axes are being very close to each other. But there's a risk for a bus to get stuck if the bottom of the body touches the elevated part of the road surface. Imagine it as a very high speed bump. It might not make any damage, but there's a risk.