BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

None that I can see on the data for Friday Saturday anyway.

Either way, what's your obsession with an AX ?

Having an AX on a route isn't doing much for capacity at all

This user's a bus fan clouded by their obsession at, you guessed it, a fanatic level rather than an objective analysis of operational requirements, which promptly invalidates most of their arguments.

I may have this wrong but I think the issue with Omni Park was that it was quite far away from the terminus. Unless I'm thinking of another 16 destination.

With the latest phase having been in existence for a week now, I thought I’d give my experience of them so far.

X1/2 - busses have been bunching far more than previously, even in the evening despite services operating at 20 minute intervals. Also a lot of drivers seem to be stopping at every N11 stop.
A lot of disquiet about the X2’s detour to Cherrywood, which has added on around 10 minuets even in light traffic. A colleague even said their southbound X1 overtook an X2.

Still, people are alighting for the Luas at Brides Glen, and I’d imagine more will make use of the connection over time.

The removal of the off-peak departures is also unpopular, especially the 10:30 departure which was often full.

Timings are also off, with 2 minuets given for an X2 to get from Cherrywood to Bray’s Southern Cross. I don’t see why old running times can’t simply be copied from overlapping parts of the old route (same for E1 and E2).

L1/2 - Lots of cancellations, but gives a good frequency from Greystones to Bray, with Sundays seeing big improvements - you could hardly make it to Bray by pt on a Sunday pre 9am before. Haven’t seen any single deckers on the route.
L1 screens and route maps saying Newcastle Hospital is misleading, and is baffling as it’s essentially a carbon copy of the 184, with the same operator (also noticed bus stop timetables saying valid from 30/06/2024 :).

L3 - have seen about 2 people use it, and surprisingly some double deckers on it.

E-Spine - lots of bunching with convoys of E1’s followed minutes later by a heard of E2’s.

Overall, there’s a welcome increase in buses in Greystones, but the implementation has been awful. The city’s bus network can’t fall apart every time a new phase is rolled out. The sloppy running times and cancellations are mostly avoidable, and just damage the public’s opinion of BusConnects.

Regarding the E spine, I have had some issues with them, though most of this is caused by the messed up schedules.
I think I mentioned it here a couple days ago, but on one day I had my E1 get overtaken by the next one near UCD, yet mine continued to crawl along while the next one went ahead. Then on the way back it was the opposite, where I had freshly missed two E1's leaving DCU, yet the next bus overtook both of them in city centre and arrived to Bray first.

E1's also have a huge issue with the timetable, where the northbound buses are scheduled to wait for 8-15 minutes in Foxrock, though this often doesn't matter, as the buses are late enough coming into Foxrock that they are still behind schedule even after getting to that stop.
It does, however, form a problem southbound, as that 8-15 minute waiting point is just a couple stops after the terminus, so most buses just shoot ahead and become 10 minutes early, which obviously breaks RTPI and makes it a complete guessing game when the next bus will arrive to DCU.

The E2 also seems to get randomised (at the very least southbound) due to many buses having a driver change at Parnell Square, and then you get 2-3 of them all leaving city centre at the same time, even though I haven't personally seen them bunch up before DCU.

I feel like the bunching on the E spine is even worse than it used to be on the 145 and 46a, with large gaps followed by several E1s/E2s a couple minutes apart, if not directly one behind another.

I have seen a handful L1/L2s showing up as heavily delayed, though I haven't seen many cancellations on those routes so far (though I haven't yet been on these two routes, my observations just come from waiting for other buses at stops also served by the L1/L2)
The L12, operated by Dublin Bus, seems to be running well enough so far, the buses are fairly busy for such a short route.

a classic :-)

Looks like the E1 timetables have been updated. No longer showing the large holding time at Foxrock northbound and ballymun southbound

oh really? It's due for renewal in April so are you saying I should just get my usual Train/Dublin bus and then it will be auto-upgraded?

Mayhem this morning at Dublin airport at the stop used by the 16/41 heading into town. A bus parked at the stop moves forward but no destination displayed. Doors open, people start to tap on. Then after a minute or so display goes up to say it's a 19. Most of the passengers then pile off.

Thought that the 19s were supposed to use a different stop at the airport to hide them away. RTPI displays at the stop were only showing 16s and 41s. Also noticeable that 19 bus had no room for luggage.

The 19 is supposed to use a different stop. The driver must have made a mistake.

The 41 rarely has luggage racks and the 16 doesn't always have them.