BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

dublinman1990 · 12-12-2023 10:15am

I have noticed some changes carried out to some of the local bus stops in my part of Blackrock this morning.

The TFI Live android app is telling me that the real time info for the 7B and 7D to Mountjoy Square have been moved off the old Dublin bus stop located on the top of Annaville Avenue in Newtownpark Avenue.

The real time info for those routes have now been swapped over to the new bus stop which has the L25 route stopping outside the Butter Yard apartment complex. I don't know if the bus stop pole outside Annaville Avenue has been removed yet.

I would have thought this change wouldn't happen until the 7B and 7D were eventually cancelled in the much later phases of BusConnects.It is either the B or E Spine that would cover those changes from the BusConnects likely phase sticky thread here on boards.

I still don't even know what is going to the rest of the bus stops from Stillorgan Park Road all the way down to Abbey Park in Stradbrook Road. The real time info for the older bus routes like the 4, 7B, 7D & 46E are still available at these old bus stops along this section of the route.

The L26 from Blackrock to Kilternan still has to be rolled out to some of those stops in one of those later phases of the project.

Are the NTA making plans to do some more changes in swapping the older bus routes over to the new stops for the L25 route sometime before Christmas or after it?

It would be nice to hear your thoughts on these upcoming changes before the year is out.

bk · 12-12-2023 11:48am

There is a bunch of weirdness since the orbital routes were introduced that needs cleaning up.

For instance on the N4, there were some new stops put in for the N4, where the 16 and 14 pass these stops, but don’t stop at them! Even though it would make sense for them to do so. That has been the case for more than a year now.

jd · 12-12-2023 1:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486038#Comment_121486038

Yeah, I think they want to move the bus stop outside Magner's Pharmacy further south, with some other bus stop adjustments too

cgcsb · 12-12-2023 1:25pm

Is anyone else finding bus drivers increasingly annoying? Got on one today, he was blaring rubbish music on the radio and piddling down the road at about 15kmh, getting overtaken by pushbikes then singing along to said **** music.

I wouldn't be permitted to carry on like this at work, just another load of sh1t dumped on the commuting public.

mikeybhoy · 12-12-2023 1:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486378#Comment_121486378

He was more than likely ahead of schedule so had to slow down. You'd be complaining if he ran early which resulted in you missing the bus.

FTBr · 12-12-2023 1:42pm

Will any of the nitelink routes survive at the end of this rollout?

For example will the 69n still exist seeing as it won't be replaced by a 24hr service?

Midnight_EG · 12-12-2023 1:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486378#Comment_121486378

You'd be the first to complain if the bus was running ahead of schedule and you'd to wait 20 minutes for your connection... Or is it just your own personal situation that matters and not the public at large?

LXFlyer · 12-12-2023 3:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486038#Comment_121486038

We have been through this before.

They are adding new stops for the BusConnects routes, but it would appear that they will only add them to the other routes once they have been “BusConnected”.

I suspect that the simple reason for this is that adding an extra stop to a route isn't as straightforward as before and does now involve far more work, as it means an entirely new stop-by-stop timetable has to be prepared for each route. I would guess that they are just focussing on the revised routes rather than having to change all of the pre-existing ones, and that they will change when the A Spine is implemented.

Hotblack Desiato · 12-12-2023 3:06pm

Being ahead of schedule doesn't explain the blaring radio and singing.

LXFlyer · 12-12-2023 3:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486452#Comment_121486452

I suspect that there might be a small number of Nitelink routes left, but equally you could end up with a situation such as the C5 which is a night time only route that merges several others together.

We will only find out as the new network rolls out.

john boye · 12-12-2023 4:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486829#Comment_121486829

And that's one thing but one of the tenets of Bus Connects was reducing the number of bus stops clumped close together. Now that's obviously easier said than done but instead we've done a complete 180° and started adding more unnecessary (disconnected) stops. Some of them along the S4 are simply ludicrous.

LXFlyer · 12-12-2023 4:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487247#Comment_121487247

Well until we get to a point where there are only “BusConnected” routes it won’t be clear exactly which stops will be staying.

I’d expect that some of the older ones may go when later phases happen.

cgcsb · 12-12-2023 4:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486483#Comment_121486483

I was more annoyed by the radio and the squaking, the slow pace was only a secondary irritant. Not very nice for pax with sensory issues

dfx- · 12-12-2023 4:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121482166#Comment_121482166

As you say it is your guess, what are you basing your guess on? Planning applications? Required staffing?

I'm not criticising your post by the way...it's very likely correct, moreover the lack of official information for something that is being asked more frequently...

LXFlyer · 12-12-2023 5:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487455#Comment_121487455

An internal NTA document was posted on social media some time back indicating the order of the new network phasing in broad terms (which spine or orbital group of routes at each phase), and along with various other pieces of information that appeared on social media, I was able to pull most of the list together.

Going down to the level of detail by individual route is basically me sitting down using that information and then also using my knowledge of the network (which to be fair is probably better than most!) to figure out what would happen to each route at each phase.

It also involves some common sense - maintaining half-routes to ensure continuity of service between phases for example.

But being honest, most of it is pretty obvious once the broad phases are known.

mikeybhoy · 12-12-2023 5:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487371#Comment_121487371

Sounds like your just moaning about bus drivers for the sake of it

p_haugh · 12-12-2023 5:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121486882#Comment_121486882

It would be great for any of the few remaining Nitelink routes to run every night and treated as normal stopping routes in both directions (like the C5 as you said) rather than drop-off only out of town.

IMO a version of the 84n would need to be kept to keep a night service to North Wicklow, and probably merged with the variant 7n routing through Killiney, Dalkey, etc. to cover off the night time service lost there (assuming the B4 is made 24 hours). Even if it only ran from Dun Laoghaire, where it'd link with the E1/B3 for further travel to/from town.

p_haugh · 12-12-2023 5:56pm

Will be interesting to see what happens with the 46N once the E-spine launches, as the section between Cournelscourt & Dundrum would still need to be covered off. Even when the A-spine launches, Cournelscourt -> Stepaside could still do with that night time connection.

Midnight_EG · 12-12-2023 5:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487371#Comment_121487371

So a driver can't be happy, got it

StreetLight · 12-12-2023 6:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487371#Comment_121487371

Sensory issues, FFS. Some passengers would make more noise than a bloody cab radio.

Citrus_8 · 12-12-2023 6:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487690#Comment_121487690

Sensory is not just about volume. Firstly educate yourself before say something like that.

C14N · 12-12-2023 6:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121482166#Comment_121482166

I could find the big picture map and frequencies no problem, the stuff I was looking for was really a timeline or order of what new routes to expect (is each of these 1 phase at a time or are some of them expected to take multiple phases?), and more detailed local maps of what changes will be done to the new routes. When I moved into the area I'm in now, the estate agent for a nearby house we looked at told us that some of our front road would be taken away, but we'd get a payout for it and we could lookup the maps for what the changes would look like, which I did at the time. I can't find those maps anywhere now.

StreetLight · 12-12-2023 6:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487727#Comment_121487727

Read the post again. The issue is the radio and the perceived volume emitted. What else does a radio do?

LXFlyer · 12-12-2023 6:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487740#Comment_121487740

Well, as has been repeatedly stated, and which I explicitly stated in that thread, no one can give any form of timeline as the implementation is entirely dependent on when there are sufficient driver resources available in the bus companies to put them into effect. Driver resouces are the big challenge right now.

I would expect the phasing to happen in the order that I’ve listed and that each phase will take place in full - the routes in each phase are interdependent on one another happening at once.

Local area maps of the new network are at the bottom of this page:

https://busconnects.ie/initiatives/new-dublin-area-bus-network/

The infrastructure changes are a separate project, and there are currently 12 planning applications with An Bord Pleanála - they won’t start implementation until they start coming out of ABP.

Again, trying to be specific about dates is impossible - ABP is way behind in terms of working through planning applications. But to get through all 12 corridors will probably take up to 8-9 years I suspect.

The individual planning applications are linked to in the drop down “menu” on the page below:

https://busconnects.ie/cities/dublin/core-bus-corridors/

p_haugh · 12-12-2023 6:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487644#Comment_121487644

Also, slightly off topic, but it seems like the map of the Nitelink network is no longer available on the Dublin bus website, the "Night Time Services" section only has links to the timetables for the 24 hour & nitelink routes (the latter of which are in the classic Dublin Bus timetable styling), along with fare info for each.

mikeybhoy · 12-12-2023 7:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487644#Comment_121487644

My guess would be that Nitelinks serving the further out destinations like the 33n, 84n and 88n (unless they make the 103 24h) will be the last nitelinks to survive. They could always have B3 or E2 night time departures extend to Dalkey number them B5 or E3.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121487651#Comment_121487651

Might be a good idea to make the 87 24 hours to make up for the loss of the 46n in Stepaside and it would also serve as a night time replacement for the Luas between the city centre and Balally.