BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

That’s presumably a text version of the TFI produced booklet that one would hope will be forthcoming in due course.

Changes to some D-Spine and A-Spine routes have been announced on the BusConnects Dublin Network page:

https://busconnects.ie/cities/dublin/new-dublin-area-bus-network/

The detail is in the document below, linked to from that page:

https://busconnects.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/BusConnects-Route-A3-Plans_19.09.25.pdf

Route D4 will be re-routed via the current 77a route between the Greenhills Road and Killinarden and then will terminate at Fortunestown Road - it will no longer serve Kiltipper

It appears from the document that the D4 north side will terminate at Omni SC in Santry.

Route D5 will be removed - a new radial will, I suspect, replace it on the north side - we have seen a couple of additional route numbers mentioned by the NTA in correspondence

Route A3 will be re-routed from Spawell roundabout via Firhouse Road and Ballycullen Road to terminate at the current 15 terminus. It will no longer serve Tallaght.

It appears that the A3 north side will now follow the current route 1 routing in Whitehall and Santry, terminating at Shanard Road, no longer routing via Collins Avenue.

The big map on that page has yet to be updated for these changes. We really need to see a 2025 version now to get a better handle on the new network.

I’m not surprised about the changes to the service in Ballycullen - the original plan cut frequency in the area and that was never going to deal with the demand. Similarly the cut to service planned around Tymon North and Seskin View was bizarre, and this is now more than reversed.

Presumably it’s down to resources (buses and drivers) and the desire to deliver more frequency to Beaumont.

The D4 is now going to be every 12 mins instead of every 30 mins which is a big increase, or perhaps that’s a typo and they mean every 15 mins?

We don’t yet know if any other frequency changes may be happening in that phase.

Are the D1, D2 and D3 increasing to every 12 from every 15 mins for example?

There appears, from earlier reports, to be an additional radial 78 in this phase which presumably is the replacement for the northside half of the D5.

I am having to an extent do some “joining the dots” here due to the piecemeal nature of the info released and being aware of some typos.

No one is going to use the D4 from points in West Tallaght through to Tallaght Village to get to the city though?

Surely people would switch to either LUAS or the D2 at the Square, which are far more direct?

The D4 frequency delivers a necessary local service around East, South and West Tallaght, while also delivering a reasonably frequent service between the city and Tymon North and Seskin View.

Also, the more direct D2 will be serving Citywest now, not the D4.

Bear in mind the challenges that the companies are facing in recruiting and retaining staff to deliver the new network - sometimes there will have to be compromises.

No it’s not a radial - it’s integrated from a scheduling perspective with the D1, D2 and D3 along the Spine. That is the key attribute.

The B2 in Blanchardstown takes a similarly long routing all around Sheepmoor, Clonsilla and Ongar to get to Littlepace.

I don’t think that the north side D5 replacement will be going anywhere except a direct replacement for the 27a.