BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

Its a pity it went out of business. I think these routes need state subsidises that help keep the services going. I'm surprised there's no talk of more buses like these going to the big suburbs in Dublin especially over the summer months.

I think they were referring to the A3 linking the DCU Glasnevin and St Pats campuses, which only the 19 does now (and the 44 but that's not frequent enough to be very useful).

Yesterday afternoon, I saw SG390 (a Donnybrook based bus) in Phibsboro heading north - "Entering Service", presumably going to Northwood to take up a duty southbound, after running all the way from Donnybrook on a 'dead-run'. I therefore presume that the referse is true, with Harristown buses running 'dead-runs' all the way to Dun Laoghaire. What a crazy and inefficient way to run a schedule. Surley the E1 and E2 schould have been a combined roster zone, with both Donnybrook and Harristown splitting it beween them - Harristown buses taking up in Harristown and Northwood, with Donnybrook buses taking up in Dun Laoghaire and Bray.

Another crazy thing I noticed is that Harristown hand-overs are done on Parnell Square! Which means unproductive travel time allowances added to the duty roster.

No wonder they need so many drivers, if one third of the working day duty is spent on 'dead-runs' and travel allowance time between the depot and the take-up point.

I should have been clearer, that's the point I was making

Donnybrook already did this with the 155, I've previously seen some of their buses running special via the Port Tunnel to go start a service out at IKEA.

Interestingly, I was looking at a bus on bustimes the other week that stayed tracking after finishing an E1 at Northwood & going OOS. It tracked all the way back to Donnybrook Garage, and it went via town (via Gardiner Street, Merrion Square & Ballsbridge) rather than the M50.

Yes, I'm aware the schedule ramps up at various times during the day. The point I am making is that the 'dead-runs' are overly long, because Dublin Bus decided not to inter-work the E1 and E2 routes, between garages. I saw the exact same inefficiencies when the 13 was worked from Harristown (all hand-overs where essentially pull-ins). But you would have a 'dead-run' from Harristown to Grange Castle, and then a scheduled working from Grange Castle to Harristown, where the bus would pull in for a hand-over, meaning that half of this half duty is unproducitve. There is an old industry say - that a bus is only making a profit when it's in service. When you saw this type of shoddy scheduling design - it just makes no sense.

I'm aware of how the zones work, and I'm also aware of how to design schedules, and duty rosters. As a matter of fact I figured out the entire 151 M-F schedule and Broadstown part of the 15 which are zoned together, just using Bustimes Org. and a photo someone sent me of the Duty Roster.

Conyngham road is tiny,and by all accounts is already sold, so it's days are numbered...Donnybrook has acres of space for lots of routes.

Also,driving a bus on the M50 is a nightmare...67km/h feels like you are going in reverse when everyone is flying past you and it can be quite dangerous at times.

Coming back special from Ballinteer to Broadstone, I've used the M50 a couple of times and it's never ending !!

I saw a GAI bus broken down in the hard shoulder on the M50 one day. Say that was was a fairly scary experience for the driver.

It would have to be temporary - it would make no sense to operated the D-Spine from Donnybrook - with nearly and hour 'dead-run' in each direction. As another poster mentioned, there isn't the space at Connyngham Road, but Phibsboro/Broadstone would have made more sense. There are 143 buses in Phibsboro, and yet they only operate the C-Spine, 9 and 122, this definitely doesn't make up 143 buses. So they obviously operate a lot of what used to be know as Euro duties. Some of these perhaps could have gone to Donnybrook.

Broadstone, must also have space; considering the amount of withdrawn buses that are there, the PVR for the 13 is just 16 buses.

Due to having chargers in Phibsboro and Summerhill there capacity was reduced as buses can be parked close enough together

I heard that Bus Eireann had purchased a big chunk of land somewhere in the docklands and Broadstone would be expanding to take over their current section.

Also the offices in O'Connell Street will be moving to Broadstone eventually when it gets renovated, so space and parking will be needed for those staff.

You can't move in Broadstone at the moment, there's no room to swing a cat. I can see more buses going to Jamestown road aswell,as it nears completion.

The 16 is rumoured to be going to Harristown before August, to make room for the F-spine.

What time is this at? If I set it to 9am, it gives me the S8 as an option. Whereas if I set it to now, it will show me the 15→E2, as they're both 24 hour routes.

Ah that makes sense.
I had just put in “now” when I done the search which was probably after the S8 had finished up for the day.

I was planning a possible trip out there for tomorrow but the weather might put that to bed by the looks of things.