BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

it aint even tendered as far as I can see , N2 needs it as well

I was watching a video from sinn Fein about the N8 bus and the NTA told them that the current status of the N8 is quarter 1 of 2026

Obviously take that with a pinch of salt and id say it's safe to say will be pushed out again.

I wonder does that target timeline of Q1/26 apply to B spine or just the N8?

Very helpful, thanks. Any idea how frequent the 11 will be from Infirmary Road? It's replacing the 46a which is fairly frequent and always extremely busy. And it doesn't look like the O is ready to launch any time soon.

Off-peak, the N11 can easily afford to lose 3.5 buses per hour. It probably means you'll have two half-full E2s and an E1 running together instead of three 46As, two 145s and a 155. And the 84 carries fresh air between Bray and Blackrock for much of the day, so that will be largely unmissed. The success hinges on somehow getting them to run on time, rather than early, late or in a convoy. Outside of the "QBC" it's hard to see how that can be done without giving buses full priority over other traffic.

This is why it's so important to eliminate (by whatever means) the effect that cars have on bus journeys. Councils should be ensuring that buses never have to sit behind queues of cars. It doesn't mean having bus lanes absolutely everywhere - it means having them in strategic places, leading to busy junctions, etc. Buses should always (not just on the N11, but everywhere) be able to skip to the front of the queue, where the traffic light automatically gives the bus priority as soon as possible. They should never have to wait for "permission" to exit a bus stop either. It's truly bizarre how it's considered acceptable for bus users (i.e. people who are doing the right thing) to be forced to sit behind queues of people who very much are not doing the right thing.

As somebody who has stood many many mornings on the N11 for 2 or 3 buses to go past full and be waiting 20-30 mins to then get on and stand on a packed bus, I worry too

It can depend what stop you get on at in terms of loading and alighting, and it is easy to talk about empty stretches but when it gets past DL it gets very full for some parts until people get out UCD If you are in the stretch between DL and UCD it can be very difficult getting on at morning peak

Don't operate on the N11 though. The main reason I mentioned it was because you mentioned the 84/a. Many times I've gone to get a bus to DL from Foxrock Church or Deansgrange and the 75 has been the first bus to show up now only the 46a is on that road. It helped ease some of the pressure on the 46a.

Not really that relevant example I know but neither is the 84/a which doesn't go into the city centre. 84/a is hourly only duplicates for the 145/155 for a small enough stretch and takes a detour to serve Cherrywood which the 145/155 do not.

Absolutely agree with you on people using the different modes and the 90 minute fare. It's made a massive difference . I do it myself when heading into work .

Am looking forward to seeing the UCD interchange when it's done , it's already making a massive difference with more services coming from different areas accessing it .

Hopefully they correct the imbalance of services on the N11. I'm sure they've been given feedback on it. Time will tell.