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Throwback Thursday

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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back thirteen years to 2009 and RV 356 on Nassau Street. The bus is dressed for route 172 to Dunard. This route started on 15th December 1998, running between Middle Abbey Street and the Dunard Estate. In August 1999 the route was rebranded Museumlink and moved its city centre terminus to Kildare Street. It provided a connection between a number of museums in the city, and received a specially-branded minibus to operate the service. When the minibuses were withdrawn the Olympian double-deckers too over. The route was never very busy and when the recession hit, it was an obvious one to cut to save money. The route ceased to operate on the 25th April 2009.

    RV 356 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1997. Like the 172, it was also withdrawn in April 2009, after operating the route on the last day. 

    05/03/2009



    Post edited by Csalem on


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back ten years to VT 8 on route 46A. St. Patrick's Day is a good day to see buses on diversion, as the parade through the centre of Dublin closes off main arteries for bus services. With O'Connell Street closed for the parade, a lot of the bus routes (such as the 46A) are diverted onto Gardiner Street on their journey across the city. The 46A started running between the city centre and Dun Laoghaire in 1936. In 2010 it was extended to the Phoenix Park, replacing route 10 under Network Direct changes. It is still running between the Phoenix Park and Dun Laoghaire today.

    On the other hand, the same cannot be said of VT 8. This Enviro 500 was one of twenty delivered to Dublin Bus in 2005. A further 50 were delivered in 2007. The first twenty were all withdrawn in 2018, and inroads have been made into the final 50 in recent years (although there are still a handful in service). VT 8 was sold on to Ensignbus in the UK initially, before ending up with Travelmasters of Sheerness. 

    The ad on the side of the bus is for AIB mobile banking. At the time this was a relatively new concept (doing banking through a phone app), unlike now where it is almost the default practice.

    17/03/2012




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are only going back eight years to AV 364 on route 120 to Ashtown Station. The bus is seen crossing Reilly's Bridge over the Royal Canal. This bridge dates to the 1790s, and provided bit of a bottle-neck on the Ratoath Road in more recent times. Not only was this a narrow hump-bridge, but behind the bus was a level crossing over the Dublin to Sligo railway line. In 2013 construction started on a new, wider, bridge that went over the railway line and canal, just to the east of this location. When it opened in 2015, the level crossing and the 18th Century bridge closed to traffic, and the 120 used the new bridge.

    Route 120 itself started in 1993 as a City Imp route to Ratoath Road, using mini-buses. In 2004 it was extended to Ashtown Station (the actual stop being a small distance from the station), and around this time double-decker buses started to replace the minibuses on the route. In 2011, certain morning and evening departures were extended to Ballsbridge. 

    AV 364 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2004. It was withdrawn in 2018, and sold on to an operator in the UK. 

    24/03/2014




  • Registered Users Posts: 12,894 ✭✭✭✭Losty Dublin


    120 was one of those weird routes that promised a lot but which couldn't get it quite right. Excellent in theory to serve the estates of Broombridge, Rathbourne and Ashtown; however at peak times it was useless once it hit Cabra Road and commuter traffic. Even then it only got you as far as Parnell Square bar the couple of extended services, leaving you a long way from anywhere in An Lár unlike the other routes along it's corridor which take you closer by.

    Between the train options that have improved since it began along with the recent Luas extension, it's loadings must be taking a hit.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,814 ✭✭✭rx8


    Yeah, they are carrying very few these days. It's now based out of Broadstone Garage since it moved from Summerhill in November 2021.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 12,894 ✭✭✭✭Losty Dublin


    As a general on all routes, have numbers on board improved by much?



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,037 ✭✭✭mikeybhoy


    Supposed to getting replaced by the 36 under Bus Connects with an extension to Ballsbridge wonder will that fare any better



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,814 ✭✭✭rx8


    Numbers are definitely picking up.

    On one journey into town this week I had about 80 on board. Haven't seen that many in quite a while.

    (Maybe I was just in a gap)!😬



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,814 ✭✭✭rx8


    It's a very senior route... so they won't like being busy if it's carrying loads.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back forty years to 1982 and D 638 on route 42A. This bus was delivered new to CIE in 1975. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1994 and sold for scrap.

    Route 42A started operating between the city centre and Kinsealy / Malahide in 1926. In 1953 it was cut back to Coolock, and in 1954 to Artane. In 1966 it was extended to Harmonstown. In 1988 it was merged into (and replaced by) the 42B, before reappearing again in 1996 as the service to Blunden Drive. In 2005 it was extended to Beaumont Hospital and in 2011 it was removed from the network again under Network Direct.  

    The bus is seen at the terminus on Talbot Street, and this is still used by route 42 to Malahide today. 

    31/03/1982




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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back thirteen years to 2009 and RV 586 in Drumcondra on route 116. The 116 is one of those peak-hour only routes that has a complicated (and confusing) history. It started in 1999 running between Whitechurch and the city centre, using the new Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor. From then it started to expand, with variations serving different places and using different routings. From 2000 one of those variations was Clonskea to DCU (Dublin City University) in Whitehall. This lasted until around 2010. Now the 116 only operates once more between Whitechurch and the city centre.

    RV 586 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1999. It was withdrawn in October 2012 and sold on to another Irish operator. 

    08/04/2009





  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are throwing back thirty-four years to D 521 on Parnell Square dressed for route 35. This route started running between the city centre and Finglas in 1952. Initially its terminus was on Ballygall Road, but in 1975 it moved to McKee Road. The route ceased to operate around 1990 when the 19A was extended to McKee Road (The 19A itself was later replaced in part by route 9).

    D 521 was delivered new to CIE in 1973. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1991.

    14/04/1988




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back forty-one years to 1981 and D 818 on the seafront (or Esplanade) at Bray. The bus is dressed for route 45A, a route that started operating between Dun Laoghaire and Bray in 1936. In 2004 it was extended to Ballywaltrim (it had previously served there too in the late-1980s/early-1990s), and in 2015 it was extended further south to Kilmacanogue. The latter change was part of a terminus swap with route 145 which moved to Ballywaltrim instead. In 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over operating the route. 

    D 818 was delivered new to CIE in 1976. It was withdrawn and sold for scrap in 1994.

    Bray Esplanade ceased to be on the Dublin Bus network in 2012 with the end of route 45. 

    21/04/1981




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back 29 years to 1993 and KC 23 at Dublin Airport. The bus is dressed for route 230. This orbital route started operating between Malahide and Dublin Airport in 1991. However, a few short months after starting it was extended to Portmarnock. The route lasted until 2008 when it was merged with route 102 (Sutton Station to Malahide) and became the new route 102 between Sutton Station and Dublin Airport. In 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over operation of the route.

    KC 23 was delivered new to CIE in November 1983. Initially it was based in Donnybrook Garage, but in 1992 it transferred to Summerhill Garage. The 230 had proved to be a very popular route, and the minibuses on it were not sufficient to meet the demand. Single-decker buses were required instead to operate it, thus the transfer of KC 23. The bus was withdrawn by 1997.

    This view at Dublin Airport changed following the construction of the multi-storey carpark that is seen in the background. 

    28/04/1993




  • Registered Users Posts: 12,894 ✭✭✭✭Losty Dublin


    Small observation to make. The 45A initially ran from Dublin to Bray via Dun Laoghaire. It was shortened during the Emergency as a temporary measure owing to fuel and tyre conservation but was never reinstated.

    As a side matter, the route made the TV news in 1987 ☺️



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,037 ✭✭✭mikeybhoy


    Bray Esplanade is actually due to make a return to under Bus Connects with route L15 operating from Palermo to Southern Cross in one direction. Return services are gonna use Meath Road.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back twenty-two years to 2000 and the final year of Bombardier bus use by Dublin Bus. KC 113 is seen at the terminus for route 51A in Lower Abbey Street. This route started operating between Dublin city centre and Beaumont in 1936. It stopped running in 1942, before resuming again in 1949. Around 1988 it was extended to Beaumont Hospital after it opened. The route ceased to operate in 2009. It was always one of the numbering oddities within the Dublin bus network as the other routes in the 51 series served Clondalkin in west Dublin. The end of the 51A also saw roads like Grace Park Road and Clonliffe Road lose their bus services.

    KC 113 was delivered new to CIE in 1986. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 2000, along with the other remaining KD and KC buses. This marked the end of the use of Bombardier / GAC buses by Dublin Bus, apart from a farewell run in January 2001. 

    This stop on Abbey Street is now the terminus for route 33. 

    05/05/2000




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back thirty-eight years to 1984 and KC 68 on Hawkins Street. The bus is operating a service on route 47B to Grange Road. This route started operating between the city centre and Grange Road in 1949. The route ceased to operate in 1999, along with the 47 and 47A. 

    KC 68 was new to CIE in February 1984. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in the late-1990s and joined the driving school. It was subsequently sold into private ownership and awaiting restoration. 

    In the background is the New Metropole cinema which subsequently became the Screen cinema. Also in the background is Hawkins House. Both were demolished over the last five years with a new development currently under construction on the site.

    10/05/1984




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back eight years to 2014 and Dublin Bus GT 39 at Sutton Station. This bus is waiting to depart with a service on route 102 to Dublin Airport. This route started operating in 1986 between Malahide and Sutton. It was one of the new DART Feeder services introduced around that time to connect people with the new suburban rail service. In 2008 it was extended from Malahide to Dublin Airport when it merged with route 230. Then in December 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over operation of the route. 

    GT 39 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2012. It was part of the first batch of GT Class buses delivered to Dublin Bus, the first type of bus since 1999 to be delivered with front and middle doors. In total 160 of these buses were delivered to Dublin Bus, but 12 subsequently transferred to Go-Ahead Ireland. GT 39 was not one of them. 

    17/05/2014




  • Registered Users Posts: 18,921 ✭✭✭✭BonnieSituation


    This route is completely new to me. I have no recollection of it.

    Just catching up on 7 months of this thread. Great reading.

    Cheers Csalem.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back thirty-nine years to KD 345 on Abbey Street. The bus is picking up passengers while operating a service on route 39 to Clonsilla. This route started operating between Dublin and Blanchardstown in 1926. By 982 it reached Clonsilla and in 2004 it was extended to Ongar. In 2010 it's city terminus was moved to Burlington Road. It's main claim to fame was becoming the first CitySwift route 1993, with its frequency massively increased. 

    KD 345 was delivered new to CIE in May 1983, shortly before this picture was taken. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in the late-1990s. It spent a period from 1988 in an all-over ad for Coca-Cola. 

    26/05/1983




  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back twenty-six years to 1996 and KD 335 inside Ringsend Garage. This bus is surrounded by fellow members of the KD Class, the first of which were delivered in 1981. KD 335 itself was delivered new to CIE in 1983, near the end of the KD deliveries. When this picture was taken a few dozen of the class had already been withdrawn by Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann. KD 335 would make it to the end of the type working in Dublin, being withdrawn around 1999/2000.  

    The bus is dressed for route 65B. This route started operating between the city centre and Killinarden around 1984. In 1998 it was extended west to Citywest and it still operates to there to this day.

    Ringsend Garage opened in 1941, replacing another garage that was in Lime Street.  

    02/06/1996




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,814 ✭✭✭rx8


    The current routing of the 65b is via Rathmines Road and Rathgar, and if I remember correctly, the previous route went via Clanbrassil Street and Harold's Cross.??

    I do believe that I drove this bus to Blessington on one occasion with a big plume of black smoke coming from the back of it. 😁

    They were a great bus to drive around the city and looked like they were really high-tech with all the lights and switches on the dash,although that wasn't the case at all.



  • Registered Users Posts: 17,483 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    Yes it used to go via Harold’s X.

    I remember hearing that it was re-routed back in the 1990s partly because DB thought a private operator was going to start a service to/from Tallaght via Rathmines, but also as they felt there was an untapped market for a link between the two.

    The private service turned out to be (I think) Morton’s once a day service to/from Sydney Parade and Citywest.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,814 ✭✭✭rx8


    The bouncy,squeaky suspension was what made it so easy to manoeuvre. Also, if it sometimes failed to start,you needed to have a T key with you so you could short the starter connection and get it to a start from the back. Would love to have a spin in one again.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,724 ✭✭✭tnegun


    It could even have been the early 2000's when it was rerouted as it still went via Harolds X in 1999. I loved the sound of the KDs but dreaded them on a 65 run in the 90s if it was remotely warm outside they'd fail in a cloud of steam (Inside and Out!!) during the climb from the Embankment to Crooksling and you'd be left waiting for the bus following sometimes up to 2 hours!!



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,894 ✭✭✭✭Losty Dublin


    I thought they were rerouted because at the time Rathmines and Camden/Georges Street had the longer stretches of bus lanes unlike Harold's Cross and Clanbrassil Street. Which ironically they caught up with not long afterwards.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are only going back five years, and one year after this series started, to 2017 and GT 147 on route 9. There is nothing overly spectacular about that - route 9 having started in 2011 running between Limekiln Avenue and Charlestown. The interesting thing here is the via being displayed on the destination - the bus is showing "City Centre via Carrigstown". You would be hard-pressed to find Carrigstown on a map of Dublin, for it is the setting of the RTE soap-opera "Fair City". This television show started in 1989, set within the fictional Carrigstown located in north Dublin near Drumcondra. In the early days of the show Donnybrook Garage (located across the road from the RTE studios) used to provide a City Imp minibus for scenes shot on the exterior set, with the bus dressed for the fictional route 16B (I believe) to Carrigstown. In more recent times, it has been served by route 9 as seen on the bus display here, and on the bus stop used on the Carrigstown set. Here the destination is making an unusual appearance on the real streets of Dublin's fair city. 

    GT 147 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2013 and is still in service today.   

    College Green, 10/06/2017




  • Registered Users Posts: 5,419 ✭✭✭LollipopJimmy


    Got talking to an old boy in Howth who drove them new and the KCs, said the KC was the worst thing he ever drove with the KD a close second, I loved them though, best busses from a passenger perspective



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,859 ✭✭✭Csalem


    This week we are going back twenty-three years to 1999 and AD 19 on Hawkins Street. The bus is dressed for route 86. This route started operating between Bray and Dublin city centre as a replacement for the Harcourt Street railway line that closed on the last day of 1958. Around 1971 the terminus was cut from Bray to Cabinteely. Around 2005 the route had been reduced even further, only running between Shankill and Sandyford Industrial Estate. The route ceased to operate on the 17th April 2009. By this point the Luas Green Line had been running along the old Harcourt Street line to Sandyford for five years. A subsequent extension to the tramline saw part of extended along Hawkins Street, in the traffic lane beside AD 19 in the photo. 

    AD 19 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1994, being one of 70 that made up the AD Class. It was originally painted in CitySwift livery. By 1998 it had received two-tone green Dublin Bus livery, and when it was withdrawn around 2004 it was in Dublin Bus blue and cream livery. It then joined the Bus Eireann school fleet in Cork and was withdrawn by 2011.  

    15/06/1999




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