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Dublin's 24h bus services

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  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 11,565 Mod ✭✭✭✭devnull


    41 is a very good choice, Swords could really do with a round the clock airport link, with the number of airport staff living there and the Santry area as well as the population of the area overall.

    Whilst the South of the city has the likes of Aircoach, Dublin Coach and Airport Hopper serving various parts of it, there is a real dearth of such services on the north of the city which means taxi is the only option.


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 17,129 Mod ✭✭✭✭cherryghost


    It's fine but I wish there was a slightly bigger scale. Means anyone else looking for 24hr will probably have to wait well over a year now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 308 ✭✭LastStop


    It's fine but I wish there was a slightly bigger scale. Means anyone else looking for 24hr will probably have to wait well over a year now.

    They've been talking about this for years, the unions agreed terms with the company over 12months ago and the first route will be ready to go LATER this year, not even saying when! terrible management in DB


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    It's fine but I wish there was a slightly bigger scale. Means anyone else looking for 24hr will probably have to wait well over a year now.

    To be fair it's probably only a trial run with the 41 which I'm sure will be a success. They could announce it for a whole heap of routes and it would not be a success meaning it would be scrapped altogether. Personally I believe aswell as the 41 the 15, 16, 27, 39a, 66, 140, 151 and 155 have the strongest potential to become 24 hour routes.

    I would assume the 41n would be scrapped as soon as the 41 becomes 24 hours.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,925 ✭✭✭GM228


    LastStop wrote: »
    They've been talking about this for years, the unions agreed terms with the company over 12months ago and the first route will be ready to go LATER this year, not even saying when! terrible management in DB

    The decision on when the service starts is ultimately for the NTA, not DB, only a little over 12 months ago the NTA began discussing this with DB.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 10,655 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    GM228 wrote: »
    The decision on when the service starts is ultimately for the NTA, not DB, only a little over 12 months ago the NTA began discussing this with DB.

    DB could go commercial no?

    I don't know a lot about DB or NTA but suspect DB were not particularly forceful on the matter. One year plus is more than enough to discuss and commence operations.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,925 ✭✭✭GM228


    Jamie2k9 wrote: »
    DB could go commercial no?

    Reality is I don't know a lot about DB or NTA but suspect DB were not particularly forceful on the matter. One year plus is more than enough to discuss and commence operations.

    They could, but they would then need a licence to do so and permission to use PSO buses on it or buy their own.

    The 24 hour service will be PSO so down to the NTA.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,655 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    GM228 wrote: »
    They could, but they would then need a licence to do so and permission to use PSO buses on it or buy their own.

    The 24 hour service will be PSO so down to the NTA.

    How does Nightlink work today, extension to these conditions.

    It might be down to NTA but DB could have gotten this over the line if they waned to. 9 months for Noel Rock's pet project 40E and the very same TD was outraged at BE in Cork started a 24h service before Dublin. DB could have used him to speed it up...


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,925 ✭✭✭GM228


    Jamie2k9 wrote: »
    How does Nightlink work today, extension to these conditions.

    It might be down to NTA but DB could have gotten this over the line if they waned to. 9 months for Noel Rock's pet project 40E and the very same TD was outraged at BE in Cork started a 24h service before Dublin. DB could have used him to speed it up...

    Contrary to popular belief, Nitelink is a PSO service, Airlink and DoDublin on the other hand is commercial with dedicated non PSO buses.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,655 ✭✭✭✭Jamie2k9


    GM228 wrote: »
    Contrary to popular belief, Nitelink is a PSO service, Airlink and DoDublin on the other hand is commercial with dedicated non PSO buses.

    I see, was aware of the Airlink. This route should be running until 02.00 in summer and terminated in the city centre instead of Heuston (after existing hours). The idea they couldn't make money on it is complete nonsense.

    Lack of bus connections early morning means other operators allow illegal standing on coaches!


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  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,350 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    First off, I'm delighted to finally hear this is happening.
    Stephen15 wrote: »
    Personally I believe aswell as the 41 the 15, 16, 27, 39a, 66, 140, 151 and 155 have the strongest potential to become 24 hour routes.

    I'd wonder, would a dedicated night route that combined parts of the 41 and 16 not make sense? But without the 16's Beaumont wanderings).

    I think the 41 is a great option. However it's starting location is poor in the city center for a late night route and one heading to the airport.

    I'd wonder could it at least pick up passengers on O'Connell St, before turning left onto Abbey Street for the return leg of the journey.

    Or perhaps even better it could circle down D'Olier Street and back up Westmoreland Street at night. At least partly take in some of the destinations that people arriving in from Airport might be heading too.

    Actually now that I think of it, perhaps they will reroute the 41 stops 24/7. It would make more sense for it to be going up/down O'Connell St.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,219 ✭✭✭markpb


    devnull wrote: »
    Whilst the South of the city has the likes of Aircoach, Dublin Coach and Airport Hopper serving various parts of it, there is a real dearth of such services on the north of the city which means taxi is the only option.

    Those are a terrible comparison. They are dedicated airport services, they can't be used to go anywhere else.


  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 11,565 Mod ✭✭✭✭devnull


    markpb wrote: »
    Those are a terrible comparison. They are dedicated airport services, they can't be used to go anywhere else.

    Of course they're not exactly comparable, my point is, that for the North of the city you have a choice of taxi for the whole journey from the airport or the taxi for the whole of the journey, there is not any other choice at all.

    Both the South and the North of the city need proper night buses, I totally agree with that, my point was that at least the airport has some Southbound services, there is no transport to/from the airport to the Northside of the city whatsoever, which is why it's vital that Swords is served, because they'd get huge passengers from airport staff working and living in Santry/Swords etc.

    If they chose the 16 and not the 41, it would be hard to understand why, ideally they'd combine both and run the route from Swords to Ballinteer as that would open up many possibilities that are not there now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,228 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    No mention of frequency. The Cork 24hr route only runs every hour after mid night and it's wedged apparently. Launching one route 'hopefully by the end of the year' is a poor show, it's already years over due.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    bk wrote: »
    I'd wonder, would a dedicated night route that combined parts of the 41 and 16 not make sense? But without the 16's Beaumont wanderings).

    I think the 41 is a great option. However it's starting location is poor in the city center for a late night route and one heading to the airport.

    I'd wonder could it at least pick up passengers on O'Connell St, before turning left onto Abbey Street for the return leg of the journey.

    Or perhaps even better it could circle down D'Olier Street and back up Westmoreland Street at night. At least partly take in some of the destinations that people arriving in from Airport might be heading too.

    Actually now that I think of it, perhaps they will reroute the 41 stops 24/7. It would make more sense for it to be going up/down O'Connell St.

    Yeah I was thinking the same alright it would be better if it was cross city route. As a southsider who generally uses the Aircoach or drives to the airport I'm not exactly familiar with the 16 or the 41 and wasn't exactly familiar with the routing of either route.

    The 16 and the 41 merging together at night Ballinteer to Swords would certainly be a good idea perhaps number it the N16 to avoid confusion with current nitelink routes by having the N prefix before rather than after the number.

    Rerouting the 41 into O'Connell Street/College Green area during the day might not be such a good idea as it would only put more buses into an area that already badly suffers from bus congestion obivously not an issue late at night but during the day certainly an issue. Also where would you terminate said buses as there is little space to lay buses over in the city centre anymore.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,071 ✭✭✭questionmark?


    cgcsb wrote: »
    No mention of frequency. The Cork 24hr route only runs every hour after mid night and it's wedged apparently. Launching one route 'hopefully by the end of the year' is a poor show, it's already years over due.

    Before the late night bus service in cork it was €20 for a taxi to Ballincollig it's now less than €2 with a Leap Card! I can see why it's popular.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    cgcsb wrote: »
    No mention of frequency. The Cork 24hr route only runs every hour after mid night and it's wedged apparently. Launching one route 'hopefully by the end of the year' is a poor show, it's already years over due.

    I'd imagine it's busy on Fri/Sat night alright as there's no nitelink in Cork midweek less so I'd guess the hourly frequency likely serves the demand during the week already some of the nitelinks are rammed going out of town.

    Obivously most would agree that there needs to be a proper full time night time bus network serving Dublin it may be a poor show but it's a step in the right direction.


  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,350 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    Stephen15 wrote: »
    The 16 and the 41 merging together at night Ballinteer to Swords would certainly be a good idea perhaps number it the N16 to avoid confusion with current nitelink routes by having the N prefix before rather than after the number.

    Nice idea on the N16 or N41. I was going to say that it would fit nicely with the new route names under BusConnects, e.g. A2, A4, etc. but now that I think of it, it would clash with the N2, etc. orbital routes.

    Which brings me to a second thought. The aim is probably to make this night route the proposed A4 route.

    A4 is proposed to go Swords to Rathfarnham, with it passing by O'Connell Bridge and along the Quays.

    Sounds like that would make for the ideal initial night route, with it taking in Swords, The Airport and many city center destinations and hotels.

    Actually as I think about it more, it makes perfect sense to start with the 41 and then expand it to the A4 once that starts. It would be a way of selling the A4, there is little or no difference between the A4 and 41 on the northern end, so no one would complain when it changes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,784 ✭✭✭thomasj


    Am I the only one that is shocked that there is no urgency at this progressing. Again, three years after first been touted , and the best line they can come out with is that they hope to have the first route up and running by the end of the year.

    I'm shocked that they seem to be basing the demand for Dublin based on service in cork? Surely Dublin should have been launched first?

    The least they should be doing is extending all of the super routes to 00.30 in the short term to bring them in line with LUAS operating hours


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    bk wrote: »
    Nice idea on the N16 or N41. I was going to say that it would fit nicely with the new route names under BusConnects, e.g. A2, A4, etc. but now that I think of it, it would clash with the N2, etc. orbital routes.

    I thought that using the N prefix for day time routes is a bad idea myself as generally in most European cities N is only used to signify night buses.


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  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,350 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    thomasj wrote: »
    I'm shocked that they seem to be basing the demand for Dublin based on service in cork? Surely Dublin should have been launched first?

    The NTA seem to be using Cork to trial all new ideas and projects.

    - 24/7 bus routes
    - The new style bus stop signs first appeared in Cork
    - They trialled the new Low Emission Buses recently down in Cork.

    It makes sense, Cork is a good location to do such trials. Big enough city for a proper trial, but not so big as Dublin to be disruptive if it doesn't work.

    BTW I agree completely that all the core routes + Luas and DART should be extended to 12:30.
    Stephen15 wrote: »
    I thought that using the N prefix for day time routes is a bad idea myself as generally in most European cities N is only used to signify night buses.

    Yes, maybe a better option would be like this:
    ON2, ON4, OW2, OW4, OS2, OS4, etc.

    As in ON2 = Orbital North 2.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    bk wrote: »
    Yes, maybe a better option would be like this:
    ON2, ON4, OW2, OW4, OS2, OS4, etc.

    As in ON2 = Orbital North 2.

    Yeah they could do that or just use numbers. My personal preference would be.
    • Letter and number for core routes on key corridors eg. A1, B2 etc. as is proposed
    • 1-99 for secomdary non core radial routes serving the city centre
    • 100-199 for orbital routes
    • 200-299 for local routes
    • X prefix for Xpresso seems more logical than 3xx
    • N prefix for night time only routes eg. N16, N40 etc. continue to use daytime numbers for 24h routes


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    A few ideas for night time and 24 hour services would be. I think the 155 has good potential as a 24h route due to it's cross city nature as it would act as the one bus on the Ballymun/DCU corridor and along the N11. In failing that the 4 would be another good one as it is cross city and would add a 24h service to the Rock Road corridor and make the 145 24 hour on the N11.

    As for having some routes merge together during the night I think this would be a good idea these could run between 00:00 and 06:00. I think a good idea would be to merge the 39a and the 46a as a single Ongar to DL night route.

    For the Lucan corridor I'd say the 66 would be a better night route than the 25a/b as it continues further out to Leixlip and Mynooth. The 15 is another route that has good 24 hour potential I'd say.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,256 ✭✭✭Thrashssacre


    All 24 hour routes need to be cross city there’s gonna be no traffic so it will decrease the amount of routes and busses needed. personally I’d have a malihide to tallaght, Howth to clondalkin, ringsend to maynooth, swords to sandyford and blanch to bray route


  • Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,098 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Anything with shift work generators is likely to be the early targets so a modified 66/66b to get HPE as well as Intel would be logical enough


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 17,129 Mod ✭✭✭✭cherryghost


    All 24 hour routes need to be cross city there’s gonna be no traffic so it will decrease the amount of routes and busses needed. personally I’d have a malihide to tallaght, Howth to clondalkin, ringsend to maynooth, swords to sandyford and blanch to bray route

    +1 on those routes. Gets as much coverage across the city and suburbs within reason.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,229 ✭✭✭LeinsterDub


    cgcsb wrote: »
    No mention of frequency. The Cork 24hr route only runs every hour after mid night and it's wedged apparently. Launching one route 'hopefully by the end of the year' is a poor show, it's already years over due.

    Have lived in Dublin for circa 30 odd years I'm happy enough to wait a other 6 months to get this right at launch


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,228 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Have lived in Dublin for circa 30 odd years I'm happy enough to wait a other 6 months to get this right at launch

    Some of us aren't even that old. 'Get it right'? it's a bog standard double decker bus service that just runs at a different time of day. Like the night buses they had in London in the 80s it's not the Mumbai hyperloop.


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,032 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    cgcsb wrote: »
    Some of is aren't even that old. 'Get it right'? it's a bog standard double decker bus service that just runs at a different time of day. Like the night buses they had in London in the 80s it's not the Mumbai hyperloop.

    We already have night buses running here in Dublin with nitelink, so these new 24 hours services aren't very different to that. I agree, we shouldn't need months and years to do this right.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,907 ✭✭✭Stephen15


    We already have night buses running here in Dublin with nitelink, so these new 24 hours services aren't very different to that. I agree, we shouldn't need months and years to do this right.

    Only runs two nights a week in one direction with different routes albeit similar to regular routes and charges a premium fare so a bit different to running a 24 hour service the same as a regular daytime service with the same fares at reduced frequency.


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