BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

Isnt the 161 meant to be replaced by the L35 when the Southern Orbitals roll around?

I remain of the opinion that L1/L2/L3 will most likely go to DB, but more so on the basis of the most senior of all senior men on the 84 rather than any practicality.

Admittedly though it has been my balancing argument for the rumours of the 71 going to GAI, given its routing by the garage it would make some level of sense (may I even dare suggest interworking it with the 72?).

I've been told a few days ago that DB have published new timings for the N4, on the 10th apparently. 30-40 minute gaps at termini are gone, as well as overtaking by 15+ minutes at running time band changes.

That would be the wrong reason for doing what is accidentally the right thing. The fact that the route is driven by "senior men" (and woman) shouldn't be part of any decision. The archaic working practices of Dublin Bus shouldn't be part of the NTA's thinking.

Sharing the L1/L2 between DB and GAI would provide a golden opportunity to compare the performances of both operators on a level playing field.

It's not my reason though - I just see the practical aspect of having what's meant to be two interworked routes operated by the same Operator when dealing with Operator-based scheduling (given the right intermediate timing mess on 59 O'Connell Street... well, I had one look at the AVL 33 timings versus the 33A when the latter changed hands and it said it all), but in the end the 84 seniority would be very high on DB's list of arguments.

The entire "single rota template for all" thing is rather archaic IMHO (yes, I am purposefully disregarding Mon-Fri drivers and bogeys). I get service rewarding (I don't agree with DB's methods of it but whatever), but a little more flexibility wouldn't hurt so that we wouldn't have a concept of completely "spare" duties. This is where GAI has to be commended - their rotas don't follow set templates for the sake of a set template, but are of adjustable length to account for and fully include the actual number of duties in service, rather than DB's approach of "fit as much as we can into these five-week template blocks and leave the scraps to the spare staff".

There'd be an actual GAI announcement over it, unlike DB's silent update ;)

Never thought Ide say this but I left Dublin Bus 2 weeks ago, so called job for life. Got a job in a warehouse Mon-Fri better money. Madness.

was it really that bad?

Does anyone have any idea when the A spine, N2, 19 and 24 routes will be introduced?

I remember seeing a plan (years ago) with the expected dates for each phase but I can't find anything now.

Thanks for that info.

I'm not too concerned with the A spine but would be satisified if the airport/Swords buses actually ran. I'm in the airport area frequently for leisure and work. A few weeks ago there was a 45 minute wait in Drumcondra for a bus to the airport. Three 16s in a row were cancelled. I had to wait 40 minutes for a bus on the way home last week due to a combination of cancelled buses and the buses that actually ran being completely full. There must be serious staff shortages.

It's nowhere near as bad though on the routes I get to go in to town. You'd think they could prioritise the airport more considering how limited the public transport is and the shortage of parking.

There are express coach services for getting to and from the airport. DB PSO routes are local services.

I have no problem doing that but those buses are just as bad for being cancelled or full.