Go-Ahead Dublin City Routes - Updates and Discussion

ax586 · 14-04-2019 01:36PM

soundman45 wrote: »

Agreed. So silly having double deckers work the 63 for example, its only done as 63/75/59/45a are all on same rota. Also the 45a must be quieter now with the 155 working alongside it for most of the route.

What makes you think that I left bray full the other day on 45A sure people are still letting the 155 go by and wait for the145/45A

14-04-2019 03:24PM

ax586 wrote: »

What makes you think that I left bray full the other day on 45A sure people are still letting the 155 go by and wait for the145/45A

Was my mistake earlier. I thought 155 followed 45a route to DL then into town same as 7. My bad.

Yer Da sells Avon · 14-04-2019 07:04PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

DB used to put VTs on the 63 the odd time now and again so I'm sure a Streetlite would manage as one of the Saturday departures was part of a 46a duty usually the driver would swap a VT for whatever was allocated to the 63 usually an AV, AX or EV but if neither was available the VT would work it.

I've driven a Streetlite out-of-service on the 63 route and didn't have any problems. The stretch between Cornelscourt Hill and Glenamuck Rd North would be tricky enough in heavy traffic though.

CramCycle · 14-04-2019 07:17PM

The 145 won't be abandoned now, the 155, from Bray onwards is maiNly working as a 145 relief bus, which was needed desperately anyway.

GM228 · 14-04-2019 08:12PM

AlekSmart wrote: »

The Go-Ahead experience in Singapore......

At this stage the thread should be retitled Go-Ahead Ireland & Singapore.

Stephen15 · 14-04-2019 08:34PM

CramCycle wrote: »

The 145 won't be abandoned now, the 155, from Bray onwards is maiNly working as a 145 relief bus, which was needed desperately anyway.

The Bus Connects E1 is more or less the same as the 155 bar a slight extension to Northwood.

p_haugh · 14-04-2019 10:06PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

The Bus Connects E1 is more or less the same as the 155 bar a slight extension to Northwood.

The E1 will be like the 155, but it goes to Northwood instead of IKEA.
The E2 will be the 46a into town, then follow the routing of the 155 to IKEA, and will extend to Charleston Shopping Centre.

dublinman1990 · 20-04-2019 03:02AM

I was walking around Dun Laoghaire this evening to get a taxi home from Marine Road. I saw two teenage young fellas hanging off the very back of an SG while it was on the 75 to Tallaght. There was two young fellas chasing after the other two hanging onto the bus going down Georges St. I saw the bus with the young fellas pass me by outside Shaws. One of them was chasing on foot; the other one was on a mountain bike.

They were both saying the two other fellas would be f*cked if they were caught by the bus driver or by anyone else. I was completely disillusioned when I saw it. Unfortunately the bus was going through a clear road without any traffic. I couldn't stop the bus on time. I don't know if the bus driver caught them doing the act at the next stop outside Argos. I did see the bus past by me again when I was in the taxi at York Road. But they had both disappeared by then.

punisher5112 · 20-04-2019 11:25AM

dublinman1990 wrote: »

I was walking around Dun Laoghaire this evening to get a taxi home from Marine Road. I saw two teenage young fellas hanging off the very back of an SG while it was on the 75 to Tallaght. There was two young fellas chasing after the other two hanging onto the bus going down Georges St. I saw the bus with the young fellas pass me by outside Shaws. One of them was chasing on foot; the other one was on a mountain bike.

They were both saying the two other fellas would be f*cked if they were caught by the bus driver or by anyone else. I was completely disillusioned when I saw it. Unfortunately the bus was going through a clear road without any traffic. I couldn't stop the bus on time. I don't know if the bus driver caught them doing the act at the next stop outside Argos. I did see the bus past by me again when I was in the taxi at York Road. But they had both disappeared by then.

Catch them?

They would tell the driver to fcuk off and laugh while running away.

Anyone that thinks this is on deserves to face plant the tarmac.

Only issue being they will get a considerable amount of money in compo if they survive.

So much for every SG getting a new modified rear bumper to stop people doing this.

Terribly designed and why any previous buses had a flat rear with no grooves or places to grab onto.

Qrt · 20-04-2019 11:50AM

punisher5112 wrote: »

So much for every SG getting a new modified rear bumper to stop people doing this.

Terribly designed and why any previous buses had a flat rear with no grooves or places to grab onto.

Maybe these models still have the original bumper? After all the 75 is a GAI route now, and if this particular bus was never with DB, it was probably never altered.

Scutting in Jobstown is virtually nonexistent these days.

Stephen15 · 20-04-2019 11:59AM

Qrt wrote: »

Maybe these models still have the original bumper? After all the 75 is a GAI route now, and if this particular bus was never with DB, it was probably never altered.

Scutting in Jobstown is virtually nonexistent these days.

They all had the ledge beside the reg plate removed including GAI vehicles afaik. It's still happening as they can cling on to the top of the engine cover. I thought Ringsend solved the issue by allocating GTs to the 27.

devnull · 20-04-2019 12:26PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

They all had the ledge beside the reg plate removed including GAI vehicles afaik. It's still happening as they can cling on to the top of the engine cover. I thought Ringsend solved the issue by allocating GTs to the 27.

Trouble is that you need a gap somewhere to have a gap to allow for ventilation for the engine else on a warm day the engine is going to overheat which is obviously not a good thing.

There would have to be a more substantial re-design of the bottom of the rear of the vehicle to avoid this, with both a new engine door and the surrounding bodywork to be modified and that wouldn't be a really cheap job.

Even if they put a grille in like the Enviro 400 MMC people are still going to be able to hang on that so it's not going to fix the problem and I've seen it done once myself on the GT as people just latch under the Wright logo.

Best way of around it are probably lots of narrowly spaced grilles with the gap between them so small that you are not going to be able to get your fingers between them. That's one thing that the ALX400 does well, but the problem with that is that it restricts airflow far more. This was a problem with the early ALX400s with the initial cooling set-up which is why so many of them roared.

john boye · 20-04-2019 12:38PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

They all had the ledge beside the reg plate removed including GAI vehicles afaik. It's still happening as they can cling on to the top of the engine cover. I thought Ringsend solved the issue by allocating GTs to the 27.

I've seen scutting on GTs and pretty much every other type. It's not restricted to the SGs.

punisher5112 · 20-04-2019 12:51PM

Qrt wrote: »

Maybe these models still have the original bumper? After all the 75 is a GAI route now, and if this particular bus was never with DB, it was probably never altered.

Scutting in Jobstown is virtually nonexistent these days.

They were all changed and the new ones don't stop it hence why I said pointless changing them.

Stephen15 · 20-04-2019 04:08PM

devnull wrote: »

Trouble is that you need a gap somewhere to have a gap to allow for ventilation for the engine else on a warm day the engine is going to overheat which is obviously not a good thing.

There would have to be a more substantial re-design of the bottom of the rear of the vehicle to avoid this, with both a new engine door and the surrounding bodywork to be modified and that wouldn't be a really cheap job.

Even if they put a grille in like the Enviro 400 MMC people are still going to be able to hang on that so it's not going to fix the problem and I've seen it done once myself on the GT as people just latch under the Wright logo.

Best way of around it are probably lots of narrowly spaced grilles with the gap between them so small that you are not going to be able to get your fingers between them. That's one thing that the ALX400 does well, but the problem with that is that it restricts airflow far more. This was a problem with the early ALX400s with the initial cooling set-up which is why so many of them roared.

Judging by the back of an SG I don't think it be possible to put a grille on the ledge as this would impede on the ability to open the engine cover. Sure there was a picture doing the rounds of someone on rollarblades clinging on to the handle of the engine cover on an AX so no design is really going to eliminate all risk.

Qrt · 20-04-2019 06:41PM

punisher5112 wrote: »

They were all changed and the new ones don't stop it hence why I said pointless changing them.

I wouldn’t call it pointless considering scutting on the 27 hasn’t been an issue since they changed them.

Stephen15 · 20-04-2019 09:39PM

Qrt wrote: »

I wouldn’t call it pointless considering scutting on the 27 hasn’t been an issue since they changed them.

Pointless maybe not it may mitigate the issue but it hasn't gone away. Also how do you know it's not still happening just because you haven't seen it or seen any videos or witnessed it dosent mean it isn't happening. I have never seen this happening but don't doubt it does happen, have you?

Qrt · 20-04-2019 10:35PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

Pointless maybe not it may mitigate the issue but it hasn't gone away. Also how do you know it's not still happening just because you haven't seen it or seen any videos or witnessed it dosent mean it isn't happening. I have never seen this happening but don't doubt it does happen, have you?

It's my bus, couple of stops from the terminus, so any time the bus is curtailed, I notice it, ask, and DB usually give me an answer. The bus was being curtailed every second day when the scutting fad was at its height, now it's once a month or so.

Stephen15 · 20-04-2019 10:55PM

Qrt wrote: »

It's my bus, couple of stops from the terminus, so any time the bus is curtailed, I notice it, ask, and DB usually give me an answer. The bus was being curtailed every second day when the scutting fad was at its height, now it's once a month or so.

Out of curiosity what would be the usual reason given I would've thought it would be stone throwing. Scutting is a bit of weak reason as if one of the scrotes falls off then it's only themselves that gets hurt whereas with stone throwing it actually puts passenger and the drivers safety at risk.

I've heard some bus drivers over in the UK say they're happy when their bus get's stoned as they can go back to the garage and in many cases go home early isn't the old saying for bus drivers an empty bus is a happy bus.

Qrt · 20-04-2019 11:19PM

Stephen15 wrote: »

Out of curiosity what would be the usual reason given I would've thought it would be stone throwing. Scutting is a bit of weak reason as if one of the scrotes falls off then it's only themselves that gets hurt whereas with stone throwing it actually puts passenger and the drivers safety at risk.

I've heard some bus drivers over in the UK say they're happy when their bus get's stoned as they can go back to the garage and in many cases go home early isn't the old saying for bus drivers an empty bus is a happy bus.

It's usually stone throwing or someone having a go at the driver. If there's scuttung it either bypasses the estates and goes straight to the Terminus (just off the N81) or it's stopped short. The bus doesn't go out of service, just diverted.

punisher5112 · 21-04-2019 03:05PM

Qrt wrote: »

I wouldn’t call it pointless considering scutting on the 27 hasn’t been an issue since they changed them.

But I've seen people sitting on the new bumper.

Annasopra · 22-04-2019 10:36AM

Is it true Go Ahead have lost nearly 50 drivers in the last few months?

Yer Da sells Avon · 22-04-2019 11:38AM

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Is it true Go Ahead have lost nearly 50 drivers in the last few months?

I don't know the exact figure, but it wouldn't be far off that. Could even be more, I don't know. All I know is that it's growing and growing...

Stephen15 · 22-04-2019 12:01PM

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

I don't know the exact figure, but it wouldn't be far off that. Could even be more, I don't know. All I know is that it's growing and growing...

But more relevant to the discussion is have they managed to replace the amount of drivers they've lost

.G. · 22-04-2019 12:07PM

As long as they pay less than their counterpart they'll lose drivers.

22-04-2019 01:43PM

Its not just about the pay rates, its how drivers are treated. Drivers on Bray routes have to use a chipper beside the station for breaks. Drivers are left in DL after shifts because they cannot cover routes let alone have a driver for a ferry car for staff. When a driver needs time off they dont accom holiday requests and there is no recognition of experience or talent within the industry. One depot supervisior got the job as the person could not follow the 63 route from DL to Kilternan, the result of this was instant promotion. This was after only passing the test with GA and 1 days failed driving experience and suddenly given a position of authority in the depot.Alot of experienced drivers were well p###ed off over that. And if you happen to take a sick day be prepared for a grilling as to why. All in all a shambles.

Dravokivich · 22-04-2019 01:49PM

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Is it true Go Ahead have lost nearly 50 drivers in the last few months?

Drivers aren't going to stick around. I know one who's pursuing Dublin bus. His main gripes are the shifts, they cant get enough drivers in, so it pushes work towards those around and the organisation within the depots isn't any good.

I expect a lot will just use it as an entry level spot, start in go ahead and move onto another operator after a bit of time there.

.G. · 22-04-2019 01:55PM

soundman45 wrote: »

Its not just about the pay rates, its how drivers are treated. Drivers on Bray routes have to use a chipper beside the station for breaks. Drivers are left in DL after shifts because they cannot cover routes let alone have a driver for a ferry car for staff. When a driver needs time off they dont accom holiday requests and there is no recognition of experience or talent within the industry. One depot supervisior got the job as the person could not follow the 63 route from DL to Kilternan, the result of this was instant promotion. This was after only passing the test with GA and 1 days failed driving experience and suddenly given a position of authority in the depot.Alot of experienced drivers were well p###ed off over that. And if you happen to take a sick day be prepared for a grilling as to why. All in all a shambles.

Sounds like a right sh!t show alright.

Here we go · 22-04-2019 06:29PM

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Is it true Go Ahead have lost nearly 50 drivers in the last few months?

I heard it was more 60/to 80 it would be more but for DB strict medical they are still training drivers and they seem to be able to cover a majority of shifts but slots of people being asked to do over time and some ferry duty's in car given to office staff

Yer Da sells Avon · 22-04-2019 10:16PM

soundman45 wrote: »

Its not just about the pay rates, its how drivers are treated. Drivers on Bray routes have to use a chipper beside the station for breaks. Drivers are left in DL after shifts because they cannot cover routes let alone have a driver for a ferry car for staff. When a driver needs time off they dont accom holiday requests and there is no recognition of experience or talent within the industry. One depot supervisior got the job as the person could not follow the 63 route from DL to Kilternan, the result of this was instant promotion. This was after only passing the test with GA and 1 days failed driving experience and suddenly given a position of authority in the depot.Alot of experienced drivers were well p###ed off over that. And if you happen to take a sick day be prepared for a grilling as to why. All in all a shambles.

The only parts of that I can confirm as being true are the lack of canteen facilities in Bray and getting a bollocking for taking sick days. The Bray situation particularly bad if a 184/185 driver has an early break because that chipper (which isn't great anyway) doesn't open until around noon. If the driver is lucky enough to have the same bus for the day, they at least have somewhere to eat their lunch. If not, then tough. The company (belatedly) sorted out a perfect canteen for Dun Laoghaire drivers, so there's no excuse for not having one in Bray.

The sick day grilling is mainly to discourage drivers from 'using their sick days' - it constitutes an informal chat with a manager, who ticks a few boxes and asks bullsh*t HR questions like "is there anything we can do to help". It's annoying, but not a big deal.

It's extremely rare that there isn't a car or bus to drop a driver back to the garage. It happened to me once in over six months, and as soon as I rang them they sent a car out to me.

I've requested days off and swapped shifts with others on numerous occasions without a problem.

Nobody has ever been promoted (not that a supervisor's role is much of a promotion anyway - I've no idea why anyone would want the hassle) as a result of "not knowing the 63 route" - or any other route, for that matter. That's just ludicrous.

Go-Ahead Dublin City Routes - Updates and Discussion

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