Train and bus connecting.

LeoB

Have I just been unlucky or this every night?

On two occasions recently I witnessed the last bus 33 going past Rush/Lusk railway station about 12.14am, the driver, lets say was "in a hurry"!! The train then pulls in about 12.16am. I saw about 25/30 people get off the train, male and female on a horrible wet night some going to Lusk and some to Rush. Some were obviously out for "refreshments" after work and were then faced with quite a walk home. Bad enough for a man but to see women having to walk home was shocking because our public transport cant connect with each other. Unlike years ago when I would gladly give anyone a lift I only gave one chap a lift who I knew.

It seems crazy to have people face this walk home for the sake of a few minutes. A good few dont have cars and some are trying to use public transport. It is a dangerous road and people get soaked walking in to Rush and Lusk. Yes there are Taxi there but that is not the point. We are forcing people to use public transport but them fail to provide a proper service. Most will have commuter cards or leap cards so shpouldnt have to pay €10 for a taxi.

Is this a regular problem?

I messaged Dublin bus, TFI and Irish rail but got no reply

the_amazing_raisin

Back in ages past there was the concept of guaranteed connections, where the bus or train would wait for you even if they were late

As you can see, that isn't the case here

Since I don't know the bus or train timetable, I'm going to assume the train was late, the bus waited for a few mins bus realising he was also late and not being paid extra to wait around, he took off at speed to make up time

There's a lot of folks from across the political spectrum will say that this is because the transport system is unionised and the bus driver should be flogged for causing a national catastrophe, or because the transport system has been privatised to the point that there is no form of central planning or communication

Who should you believe? Well that's up to you

My personal take; public transport in this country is an afterthought, underfunded by successive governments and held together mostly by inertia and lack of credible alternatives

Is this the best we can do? No

Will anyone in a position of power change things? No

Will anyone in any current opposition party make a difference were they in power? No

Will you get a meaningful reply from TFI or any other transport body? Probably not, but I wish you luck

LXFlyer

Just to be clear, neither the 33 nor the 33a bus routes are timed to meet trains at Rush & Lusk station, nor were they ever, apart from the Rush Town-Station local bus in days long gone by.

The bus services and the trains are timetabled independently of one another. The 33 is far too long a route for it to be practical for buses to wait for trains at the station, and while the 33a might be easier to do this with, to be honest if you are going to have guaranteed connections, you'd really need a dedicated shuttle that ran between the station and Rush and Lusk towns, and not buses that are travelling much further, as if the train is late then people already on the bus or waiting further along the route end up with longer journeys home.

The buses are timetabled at every single stop now, no longer operating on the basis of terminus departure times only.

With regard to the timetables, the last northbound train is scheduled to arrive after the last northbound 33 and the last southbound 33a have passed Rush & Lusk station. The train is now timetabled later than it used to be which causes the missed connections.

The train is due at 00:17 at Rush & Lusk Station, but the last northbound 33 (23:30 from city centre) is due to pass it at 00:09, 00:11 or 00:14 depending on the day of the week, and the southbound 33a (23:44 from Balbriggan) passes at 00:15.

There is a later 33a at 00:56 towards Skerries but that's a LONG wait!

Get in touch with the NTA at info@nationaltransport.ie, and ask if the bus timetables can be changed at all to pass Rush & Lusk Station later, or at least when BusConnects reaches North County Dublin and the L85 replaces the 33 and 33a.

It may well not be something that can be done overnight, as it may have implications for bus driver hours, which are governed by the EU working time directive.

shesty

Brought up in Lusk, moved to Rush mid 20s.

No, the bus and train do not intentionally connect ever.By that I mean that any "connection" that does occur is by fluke.I used to get the train home from school in Balbriggan in the 90s.Every day I would get off the same train round 4.25.Every day I would watch 4 or 5 people from Prosper Fingal run (as best they could) from the bus stop on the Rush side of the station, down the carpark to catch the train I was getting off.Every.bloody.day.Some days they made it - some days they didn't.And not all of them were as physically able to run, as you and I might be.It was a bit heartbreaking to see and the bit that annoyed me most was that I bet the same driver was on the bus and on the train every day, and knew those 4 or 5 people would be trying to make that connection.

Drives me cracked.And I can also bet any email will get the resonse that the bus has to connect with the train at Skerries train station.The bus stops at the Rush station appear to be irrelevant.

shoegirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058252406/train-and-bus-connecting

Before the LUAS was built, the very last Cork train was scheduled to arrive in the station 10 minutes after the last bus went by. This is the way CIE schedulers "think."

Wishbone Ash

I don't see why the bus should wait if the train is late. That would be unfair to the passengers already on the bus or waiting to board at stops further out. I often get the last bus from Rush to Skerries and would be a bit pissed off if I was left standing in the rain while the bus waited for a delayed train.

Wishbone Ash

It is a dangerous road

Jesus, it's hardly dangerous. There is a footpath all the way to Lusk or Rush (unlike the road from Lusk to Skerries or from Rush to Skerries where there is no footpath for much of the way).

LeoB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399448#Comment_119399448

It is a dangerous road for a few reasons. The footpaths are a mess because FCC dont maintain them. There are a number of places along the road where water gathers on the path and people step out on the road. If the paths were cleaned back it would be a lot safer. Since the new path was put in about 15years ago I dont think FCC have cleaned it once. The ditch is gradually getting closer to the road and covering the footpath. It is actually a health and safety issue. Very disappointed since I raised it that not one local politician I contacted bothered to respond.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399420#Comment_119399420

I wouldn't expect anyone to have to stand around on a wet night but neither should people especially women be expected to walk either road. Either send the train 5 minutes earlier or bus 5 minutes later. They want people to use public transport but cant get the bus and train service to work together.

The bus went by on one occasion and I would be shocked if the bus was within the speed limit. Not sure if all the buses have transponders but if this one had it is a serious issue.

Dub13

I haven't been out that way in a long time but from memory I don't think there would be a safe area for the bus to pulling in and wait, certainly not Rush bound direction anyway.

bikeman1

Surely the same people could board the 33 in Abbey St and avoid any walk home from the station? It sounds like and from the timings at that time of night it is nearly as fast as the train?

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693115#Comment_119693115

The train only takes a half an hour from Connolly. The bus is at a minimum twice this.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693327#Comment_119693327

I think you need to look at the 33 timetable again, as the last bus is certainly faster than you think!

The last 33 from Abbey Street is at 23:30 and is due outside Rush & Lusk station at 00:13, that’s only 43 minutes.

The train is 23:47 from Connolly and gets to Rush & Lusk Station at 00:17 (that’s 30 mins).

deirdremf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399420#Comment_119399420

There's a whole range of problems here, but one of my pet peevs is that our planners pretend not to understand that rain is a frequent occurrence in our climate. All sorts of facilities are unpleasant to use much of the time. Cheap bus shelters would solve this particular problem that you mention.

LeoB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693115#Comment_119693115

No problem doing that if you are northside but I was getting it from Pearse street.

LeoB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693389#Comment_119693389

It was the same Thursday night this week. Bus goes by about 3 minutes before train pulled in. Shocking to see females walking home at this hour. No way I would go into city without car if I was on last train.

This is most basic bit of organizing that needs to be looked at. Its a no cost fix to put it right and keep people on public transport. As I said before a 5 minute tweak to timetable solves it.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119810736#Comment_119810736

Have you got in touch with the National Transport Authority about it as I suggested?

People along the Northern Line campaigned for a later train ex-Pearse, so this issue is a result of that change.

Even though it’s only five minutes, it would still be a change to driver rosters on the 33 and they’d have to look at it as driver hours are governed by EU working time directives.

But the NTA call the shots on the schedules now and they are the people to highlight this to.

seagull

The flip side is that you might have people wanting to take the bus to catch the train.