Bus Eireann routes 109/109A Changes

I'm not a user of the 109, but to me, the sensible answer to the problems of Blanchardstown would be very simply solved if the NRA updated the access roads into the area from the n/M3. Whoever designed the Mulhuddart entry and exit system should be removed from the job, and replaced with someone who knows how to design a road system that works. Both ends of the shopping centre are appallingly badly designed and operated junctions that are slow at the best of times, and almost static at peak times. A real help would be to put another junction on to the M50 on the Cappagh road, to facilitate the massive numbers of people working on the Industrial Parks around that area, the present access roads are a disaster.

As for now, if the inbound entry and exit were reversed, and a second bridge put in, it would be very easy to come off the N3, stop, and drop straight back on again without the queuing that happens at the moment as a direct result of the ignorant design of that junction.

In the same way, if a new entry slip on to the outbound N3 was put in by the Quinn building, and make the circulatory system one way, and put a bus lane in by Currys, and make it a change point for the system so that people wanting to go to other places in the area, or even places like the Southside, could get a link connection there.

I suppose what I'm saying is that there are a lot of places that people work in that are outside of the very narrow corridors covered by BE services, and those areas could be much better served if there were a few interchange points on all of the services where it would be possible to change from one service to another and get connections to places like Sandyford, Tallaght, the Naas Road area, without having to go into the centre of town and out again.

Another option would be to make more use of the Clonee Park & Ride area as an end point for some of the bus routes, so that it could act as a feeder to other areas of the city.

It may well be that doing some of these things would increase the demand for the 109, which might then justify a 109X, and maybe a couple of other options, the 109A from the Airport to Ashbourne seems to work, a 109B as a local service using the old N3 through Dunshauglin, Bracetown and Clonee, a 109X express, using the M3 and Port Tunnel, and if people want to get off between Blanchardstown and Phibsborough, then that's what Dublin bus and the Leap Ticket is supposed to be for. In the same way, Bracetown, and Clonee are also on the 105 route, so maybe one stop at the Park & ride, if an interchange at the Park and Ride was properly in place with Rail, and Dublin bus routes.


Fundamentally, the whole Bus system needs to be revised, and made fit for purpose. It's crazy that BE serves Ashbourne, when DB serves places like Maynooth, Balbriggan and Blessington, all of which are further out. Another option for the 109 would be for passengers for the 109 to get the 105 at Blanchardstown, or Clonee, or Ashtown, and change to the 109 at Clonee Park and Ride, and make the Park and Ride the last stop inbound, and the first stop outbound. I suspect that there would be takers for the Rail link if it was operating at convenient times,

I don't want to derail the 109 thread, but a closer look at the 103/105 and 109 as a combined entity, with interlinks and a similar concept to the LEAP would help.

The DB routes in and out of the city are too much hub and spoke, with the emphasis on the centre of the city, and the way Dublin has changed, a lot of people now work in places like Sandyford, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Parkwest, Citywest and other places, and there is no service worth talking about from the Northside of the city to any of those places, and commuting via the city centre, regardless of the ongoing route via bus or LUAS or DART, having to go to the city centre first is a total killer, in that the ongoing journey back out, or in at the other end of the day, makes for missed connections, or a very long journey, hence the high car usage to cover the areas that just are not public transport friendly.

the very valid issues of the 109 are just a small part of a much wider issue, the needs of a modern city that have not been properly addressed in over 20 years by a transport system that is not evolving in a rapid enough way to meet the real needs of the people of the city. In over 20 years living in Ashbourne, apart from a massive increase in frequency, the only changes have been the very welcome introduction of the 109A in the last while, and the extension of 1 bus every 2 hours on the 105 to Ashbourne that serves Ratoath and Blanchardstown.